Local Public Health

Welcome to News You Can Use, an e-bulletin brought to you by the Office of Local Public Health at NJDOH!

CALL TO ACTION

• The Futures Initiative: Revisiting the 10 EPHS – Engaging the Field to Shape the Future of Public Health

The Public Health National Center for Innovations (PHNCI) has partnered with the de Beaumont Foundation to review and potentially revise the 10 Essential Public Health Services (EPHS). The Futures Initiative: Revisiting the 10 EPHS is aimed at bringing the Essential Services national framework in line with current and future public health practice. Because this important initiative is intended to support the public health practice field, we want to ensure that the framework is created by the field. PHNCI and the de Beaumont Foundation need your input. You can contribute through a variety of mechanisms, including a virtual townhall series, an online questionnaire, and live crowdsourcing and other in-person events. Click to learn more. READ MORE +

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

• Local Health Department Approaches to Opioid Use Prevention and Response: An Environmental Scan

The National Association of County & City Health Officials (NACCHO) recently published a report on the types of opioid use and abuse activities that local health departments around the country are involved it. NACCHO distributed an environmental scan survey in January 2019 to local health departments that had been previously identified through their biannual 2017 Forces of Change study as agencies that reported conducting activities to address opioid use and abuse. Throughout the report, statistics are compared across three categories of population size, and the relationship to state health department. The topics covered include workforce, programmatic services, clinical services, policy, communications, partnerships, data collection, and evaluation. Read the full report here

• County Health Rankings

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin released the latest County Health Rankings, which helps counties understand what influences how healthy residents are and how long they will live. The Rankings are unique in their ability to measure the current overall health of each county in all 50 states. They also look at a variety of measures that affect the future health of communities, such as high school graduation rates, access to healthy foods, rates of smoking, obesity, and teen births. Take Action to Improve Health is a hub of information to help any community member or leader who wants to improve their community’s health and equity. The ranking of NJ counties is available online.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

• Hantavirus and Lassa fever Training

Watch CDC's new hantavirus disease and Lassa fever training videos for medical providers to learn about the epidemiology, clinical presentation, and treatment of these infectious diseases. Earn free CE.

RESOURCES

• New and Updated ASPR TRACIE Resources

Did you know? After completing its 57th comprehensively developed Topic Collection in August, ASPR TRACIE has begun working with subject matter experts to refresh these resources. Check out the most recently refreshed Collections today including Alternate Care Sites (ACS). Two of New Jersey Department of Health’s resources are included. Medical Needs Shelters (MNS) in New Jersey and the Role of the MRC (Medical Reserve Corps) in Medical Needs Shelters: A 59-minute webinar discusses medical needs sheltering, meeting the needs of the whole community, and medical needs shelter templates. Though focused on New Jersey’s plans, information may be adapted by other jurisdictions. Alternate Care Site/Expanded Treatment Area Planning Template: This resource includes considerations for selection, operations, communication, human resource management, logistics, and legal and regulatory issues related to alternate care sites.

• Performance/Quality Improvement Course “Introduction to System Thinking”

This one-hour self-study course introduces learners to the fundamental tools of Systems Thinking. Systems thinking provides a framework for identifying and addressing the underlying causes of complex problems. Take this course from the New England Public Health Training Center to learn key concepts and tools related to a systems thinking approach, and how to apply them to your work. This approach minimizes responding to problem symptoms and the associated unintended consequences of quick fixes. This training will provide an overview of key concepts and specific tools for use with a systems thinking approach. Systems thinking skills were identified as one of the top new skills needed by the public health workers in a recent report “Building Skills for a More Strategic Workforce” from the National Consortium for Public Health Workforce Development. To access the course content, create an account or log in and visit the course link for more information.

• Building Awareness of Immunizations & Vaccines Training Plan

This training plan developed by the Public Health Foundation provides professionals in the field with an introductory overview on immunizations and vaccines. Trainings include vaccinations, specific diseases, and vaccine hesitancy.

• Online Healthy Eating Resource

The American Public Health Association is introducing a free, evidence-based* online resource MENUChoices.org that really works to promote healthy eating. People gained almost 1.5 servings of Fruit and Vegetables with MENUChoices --- and kept it up for a whole year! Try this interactive, self-paced program to see all it offers – including strategies to increase intake of fruits and vegetables, tips to build motivation, and support for improving eating behaviors. Watch a brief introduction video (length 2.5 minutes) on YouTube at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qHR-mo9PN08. Here's to good eating!

• The CDC Clear Communication Index (Index) & Everyday Words

The CDC Clear Communication Index (Index) is a research-based tool to help you develop and assess public communication materials. The Index has 4 introductory questions and 20 scored items drawn from scientific literature in communication and related disciplines. The items represent the most important characteristics that enhance and aid people’s understanding of information. Everyday Words for Public Health Communication CDC offers expert recommendations from CDC’s Health Literacy Council and other agency communicators on how to reduce jargon and replace problematic terms in order to improve real comprehension. 

• CMS Opioid Prescribing Mapping Tool Improved with Medicaid and Rural Data

CMS released an expanded version of the Opioid Prescribing Mapping Tool, ensuring that you have the most complete and current data to effectively address the opioid epidemic across the country. This update further demonstrates the agency’s commitment to opioid data transparency and using data to better inform local prevention and treatment efforts, particularly in rural communities hard hit by the opioid crisis. For the first time, the tool includes data for opioid prescribing in the Medicaid program. Additionally, users can now make geographic comparisons of Medicare Part D opioid prescribing rates over time for urban and rural communities. See the full text of this excerpted CMS Press Release.

• Choosing a Primary Clinician in MyMedicare.gov: New Video for Your Patients

Your Medicare patients may be interested in a new video titled How to Choose a Primary Clinician on MyMedicare.gov - Opens in a new window . This video shows people with Medicare the step-by-step process on how to choose or change their primary clinician—a doctor, physician assistant, clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner, or Federally Qualified Health Center/Rural Health Clinic practitioner—on MyMedicare.gov. Choosing a primary clinician gives a person’s primary clinician access to more tools and/or services to coordinate patient care, especially if you participate in an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) or other Medicare alternative payment model(s). Choosing a primary clinician does not change a person’s Medicare benefits or limit what clinician he/she can see. The video describes a primary clinician; explains that a primary clinician may be best able to help make health care decisions, which can improve coordination and lead to better results. View the video, How to Choose a Primary Clinician on MyMedicare.gov - Opens in a new window , on YouTube and on the For Beneficiaries webpage on the Shared Savings Program website. A Spanish translation - Opens in a new window  is also available.

New Jersey Department of Health

Office of Local Public Health

P.O. Box 360

Trenton, NJ, 08625-0360

http://nj.gov/health/lh