Rural Health Information Hub Latest News

APHA Healthiest Cities & Counties Challenge

The American Public Health Association (APHA) has a new Healthiest Cities & Counties Challenge, perfectly aligning with the Pennsylvania Public Health Association’s (PPHA) January theme of Healthy Communities. APHA, in partnership with the Aetna Foundation — a private foundation affiliated with CVS Health — and National Association of Counties, will provide $100,000 in funding and nonfinancial support to selected communities to address access to foods that support healthy eating patterns and access to health services through systems-level approaches and resident engagement over a two-year period.

The Challenge invites applications from cities, counties and federally recognized tribes with a population of up to 600,000 in California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia that are prepared to work across silos in order to advance health equity and prevent chronic diseases.

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Pennsylvania State Data Center Call for Presentations

The Pennsylvania State Data Center (PaSDC) is seeking presenters for the 2020 Pennsylvania Data User Conference. This year’s event will be held on May 14, 2020, at Penn State Harrisburg. The annual Data User Conference serves as Pennsylvania’s most comprehensive single-day forum for research and developments in demographic data.

The PaSDC Data User Conference seeks to educate its audience on the demographic and socioeconomic research and policies affecting Pennsylvania. Past presentations have focused on research themes (e.g. aging, prison populations, labor force, and rural Pennsylvania); community development (e.g. case studies and community planning); innovations in technology (e.g. database and data visualization software), and other data-related topics.

Sessions at the Conference are non-commercial and vendor-neutral. Under no circumstance should a session be a direct promotion of an organization’s product, service, or monetary self-interest. The emphasis should be on the application of the demographic/socioeconomic data, technology, and other data-related topics.

Submission Details – Team, individual, or panel proposals, which include the proposed topic and a brief description or outline, should be e-mailed to Jennifer Shultz (jjb131@psu.edu) by Wednesday, February 26, 2020. All selected presentations will be published in conference publications and on the conference website. The PaSDC will notify all selected speakers by March 4, 2020.

Presentation Rules:
Presentation proposals will be reviewed by the conference planning committee and selections will be made based upon desired topics, flow of content, educational value, and understanding of the content. All selected content will be published in Conference publications and online.

Agenda Schedule – The conference organizers will set the day and time for each presentation, in order to optimize the sequencing and flow of content and tracks. Sessions will end by 4:00 pm on Conference Day.

Speaker Benefits:
The PaSDC does not pay fees or travel expenses to its speakers. All speakers will receive a complimentary Conference registration including meals. Speakers will be featured in the Conference publication and on the Conference website. The above benefits speaker(s); not support staff or colleagues who may accompany the speaker(s).

The PaSDC reserves the right to decline a submission for presentation at the 2020 Pennsylvania Data User Conference.

Census Bureau Releases New Content in 59 Languages

The U.S. Census Bureau launched an update to 2020census.gov that includes content in 59 languages, including language assistance guides and videos that explain how to complete the 2020 Census questionnaire online, by phone or by mail when it becomes available in mid-March. People can respond to the census online and by phone in 13 languages. The expansive site includes in-depth information in both English and Spanish (full story).

New brief highlights historic population trends for Commonwealth and its regions

In anticipation of the 2020 decennial census, we look back at trends in Pennsylvania’s population. Our latest brief tracks population change from the start of the 20th century to the most recent decennial census data for 2010.

The brief shows that Pennsylvania’s population, while still growing, is growing at a much slower rate than it was at the start of the 20th century. The regional analysis shows that South Central Pennsylvania has been the fastest-growing region since mid-century and the only region to have maintained population growth each decade since 1900.

Click here to read the full brief.

RWJF Leadership for Better Health Programs

In an effort to extend the influence and impact of leaders working to build a Culture of Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has launched a call for applications for its national leadership programs. As an organization committed to improving health and the performance of the health system, AcademyHealth is proud to serve as a subcontractor on two of these leadership programs:

  • Health Policy Research Scholars: This is a four-year national leadership development program to train full-time doctoral students from non-clinical, academic disciplines with a policy focus who build a culture of health in their disciplines and communities.
  • Interdisciplinary Research Leaders: This program supports and expands action-oriented and community-engaged research to create healthier communities. Its goal is to produce diverse, interdisciplinary leaders who conduct and apply equity-focused health research in order to drive improvements in the health of communities and help advance a Culture of Health.

Application Deadline: Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Learn more here.

New Diabetes Resources from CMS

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released new resources for healthcare providers and patient advocates to help overcome the challenges diabetes treatment can present. The Diabetes Medication Management: Directory of Provider Resources will facilitate diabetes treatment for primary care teams, especially those working with Medicare and vulnerable populations who experience a higher prevalence of Type 2 diabetes and its complications. And last, but not least, CMS released A Culturally and Linguistically Tailored Type 2 Diabetes Resources Inventory that features a catalog of diabetes prevention resources tailored to racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ communities, people with disabilities, and people with limited English proficiency.