2005
USF AHEC Program Affiliate Gulfcoast North AHEC Center Breaks Ground on New Facility to Serve Five Counties
USF Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Program participates in Health Literacy Month
Tampa, FL (October 18, 2004) - October is Health Literacy Month across the nation, bringing attention to the issue of low health literacy and the impact that low health literacy has on Florida's families.
"It is important that every Floridian understand the health information they receive to stay well or get better," said Department of Health Secretary, John O. Agwunobi, MD, MBA, MPH. "When visiting a doctor, nurse or pharmacist, it is important to ask questions. Health care practitioners want patients to get the information they need to maintain good health and eliminate health disparities."
The Department of Health in conjunction with Governor Bush's Just Read Florida! created the Read for Health program in 2002 to educate the public and health professionals about the importance of reading to good health.
The goal of Read for Health is to promote and improve literacy among Florida families, enabling them to access health care, understand and follow basic health care instructions, interact with their children in ways that lead to growth and development, and make decisions for a healthy lifestyle.
In an effort to promote health literacy statewide and educate health professionals on the topic, the Florida Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Network has developed Health Literacy: A Prescription for Clarity. The curriculum, which consists of a PowerPoint presentation on CD and a speaker/trainer guide, addresses the magnitude of the problem of low literacy, while teaching health professionals how to examine health literacy in their practice settings as well as strategies to help low-literate patients, including verbal communication techniques, written patient education materials and the creation of a shame-free environment, all of which are obstacles encountered by those with low health literacy.
USF's Gulcoast South AHEC in Sarasota took the lead in developing Health Literacy: A Prescription for Clarity. Edna Apostol, MPH, Executive Director, and Samantha Haigler, MPH, Clinical Training Coordinator, will be conducting a "train the trainer" session at the upcoming Florida AHEC Network meeting in Tampa in November in order to train AHEC staff from around the state on use of the curriculum. The Florida AHEC Network will then coordinate a minimum of ten regional trainings (a minimum of one within each AHEC service area) on the topic of health literacy using the new Health Literacy: A Prescription for Clarity curriculum materials.
The trainings will target health care professionals and health professions students/residents. Information will be disseminated about the trainings to Reach Out and Read coalitions, county health departments, children's medical services clinics, and other partners. USF Health Sciences students will be involved in the project as volunteers to support this program. The Health Sciences Center students will collect books to distribute for the Reach Out and Read program and volunteer their time reading to patients at local Bay area hospitals.
American International Health Alliance (AIHA) and the USF Health Sciences Center to Host Delegation from Uzbekistan
Tampa, FL (October 7, 2004) - The University of South Florida Health Sciences Center and the American International Health Alliance (AIHA) are pleased to announce that its 2004 Open World delegation of community leaders from Uzbekistan, will arrive at Tampa International Airport Sunday, October 10, for a week long stay. After a two-day briefing in Washington, DC , they will begin their introduction to American-style democracy and free enterprise, especially as they relate to building the capacity necessary to provide comprehensive, accessible healthcare services to their citizens.
A total of 10 health leaders from communities spanning this Central Asian nation will travel to Tampa as part of AIHA's partnership with the Open World Leadership Center at the United States Library of Congress. Since it's inception in June 1999, Open World has offered a hands-on introduction to American style democracy and free enterprise to more than 8,000 emerging leaders from all 89 Russian regions. The program will begin in Washington , DC, with targeted training on U.S. health systems, strategic planning and capacity-building related to finding viable solutions to health service delivery problems.
The University of South Florida Health Sciences Center will facilitate an exchange that focuses on public and rural health issues, where they will address community-based approaches to improve health services and the health status of their citizens. A week of training sessions and site visits are being planned for the visitors. They will visit and tour the USF campus, San Jose Mission in Dover , Suncoast Community Health Centers in -Ruskin , Hillsborough County Health & Social Services, Hillsborough County Health Department and the University Area Community Center Complex.
As part of their cultural experience, the delegation will be hosted by USF Health Sciences Center faculty and staff in their homes. They will enjoy American traditions such as dining, shopping and then celebrate week's end by attending the USF Bulls Homecoming Football Game at Raymond James Stadium. "Our Uzbek guests will speak limited English, however, we will provide our hosts with fun activities to help overcome the language barrier," said AHEC Program Director, Dr. Cindy Selleck.
Once they return home, the delegates will join the Open World/CLDP alumni network established in both Russia and Uzbekistan , whose members are already seeing the results of their action plans for community-based health programs. The USF weeklong program was coordinated by the USF Area Health Education Center and the Center for Leadership in Public Health Practice.
For more information about AIHA, please visit http://www.aiha.com
For more information about Open World, please visit http://www.openworld.gov
National Library of Medicine Award Received by the University of South Florida AHEC Program, Gulfcoast North AHEC and All Children's Hospital
Tampa, FL (August 27, 2004) - In an effort to increase access to and awareness of professional and consumer level child health information on the Internet, the University of South Florida AHEC Program, Gulfcoast North Area Health Education Center (GNAHEC), Inc., and All Children's Hospital are expanding their support of the Florida School Nurse Project (FSNP). Included in the expansion will be hands-on workshops and other training, web-enhanced audio teleconferences, and further development of the FSNP website, www.fsnp.org, to provide up-to-date and timely information to school nurses and other school health professionals.
This newly developed program will allow us to work with school nurses in our nine-county region, training them in the utilization of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) databases and resources and other health-related information available to them free of charge. Through the FSNP website and other means, access to healthcare information will be increased. We will also be collaborating on training modules and promotion of the NLM database resources, while providing other information in support of the Florida School Nurse Project. The primary focus of this project is to educate and provide consumer health information on children to school nurses and other related professionals. "This expansion was made possible by an award from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine that was announced this month," said Jacqueline Leskovec, MLIS, MA, RN, University of South Florida AHEC Librarian.
An email discussion group is currently an active part of the FSNP website, and further development of the website is being planned. If a nurse has a student health issue occurring at his or her school, resources are available online. Questions can be posed to the discussion group so that others may respond and provide insight or advice. Physicians and experts in child health issues also belong to the group and are able to reply. School health professionals thus have a direct link to assist them in their daily work.
If you are a Florida school nurse or other related health professional who works with children's health issues, become a member of the email discussion group. Interested participants can add their email address by visiting the Florida School Nurse Project website at www.fsnp.org. More information regarding these opportunities is forthcoming via the USF AHEC Program site at http://hsc.usf.edu/ahec.
USF/AHEC Program and Gulfcoast South AHEC Host Conference Focusing on State's Medically Underserved
Tampa, FL (June 21, 2004) - The National Health Service Corps reports that 50 million people have no access to primary health care, and 108 million lack dental care. Thousands more primary care clinicians are needed to meet this demand.
Strategies to improve care for the state's medically underserved will be the focus of health care professionals attending the Florida AHEC Network Meeting July 12-14, 2004, in Sarasota, Florida. The meeting will be hosted by The University of South Florida AHEC Program and the Gulfcoast South Area Health Education Center (GSAHEC).
The agenda for this meeting includes strategic planning and an opportunity for Florida AHEC Network members to implement statewide activities for the coming year.
Two keynote speakers will be addressing "Unequal Treatment: Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities." They are Rosebud Foster, EdD, Special Assistant to the Chancellor, Nova Southeastern University, and Betty Smith, MPA, Management Analyst Office of Equal Opportunity and Minority Health, Florida Department of Health.
"Our summer conference is a great opportunity for AHEC Staff throughout Florida to come together and jointly plan with our Department of Health partners, activities that address access to health care for Florida's medically needy population," said Dr. Cynthia Selleck , Director of the USF AHEC Program. "It's also an opportunity to recognize and thank staff and partners for their dedication and support," noted Edna Apostol , MPH, Executive Director, GSAHEC.
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The University of South Florida AHEC Program within the USF Health Science Center began in 1993 and covers nine counties on the central west coast of Florida : Citrus, Hernando, Pasco , Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota , DeSoto and Charlotte counties. The mission of the USF AHEC program is to establish community academic partnerships that increase access to quality health care for the medically underserved. Specific objectives include: 1) extending academic resources to medically underserved communities, 2) influencing health professions education, 3) providing information and support for community health professionals and 4) influencing the future health professionals' workplace.