The First Response for Veterans: Crisis Intervention and Supporting the Unique Health Care Needs of our Veterans

Statistics show veterans who have returned home from war have a notably
higher risk of suffering from mental health issues than average citizens.

The goal of this symposium is to build the capacity of our region’s emergency personnel, first responders and mental health workforce to better serve our returning veterans and their families. It is course designed for EMS, Emergency Department, First Responders, physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers, mental health providers, VSOs and veterans.

This event is happening on November 5, 2019 and will be a regional discussion with various speakers to engage conversation around veteran health. It will take place at the Baystate Education Center, 361 Whitney Ave, Holyoke, MA 01040.

Click here for more details

PCORI Research Grants – Improving Healthcare Systems

Letters of Intent, October 1.  The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) will make grants to study alternative features of healthcare systems that have the greatest potential for sustained impact and replication.  Priority research areas include patients’ access to care, professional decision-making on the basis of patients’ personal values, and the efficiency of healthcare delivery.  Populations of interest include residents of rural areas, racial and ethnic minority groups, low-income groups, and individuals with low health literacy.  Any public or private research organization is eligible to apply for awards of up to $3 million for a three-year project.

Letters of Intent are due Tuesday, October 1, 2019, by 5:00 p.m. ET.
Those selected to submit a full application will be notified by Tuesday, October 29, 2019.
Full applications will be due Tuesday, January 14, 2020, by 5:00 p.m. ET.

Click here for further details.

Food is Public Health: Oversight Hearing, September 27

When: September 27, 2019 • 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Greenfield Community College, 1 College Drive, Greenfield, MA 01301

This oversight hearing will look at the impact of food insecurity and inequitable access to nutritious food on public health. Experts on the food system and its impact on public health will discuss how state, federal, and non-profit programs work together to improve the health of the Commonwealth. Topics will include food as medicine, food deserts and healthy food access, the role of agriculture in public health, and school food programming. The event will be followed by a local farm tour

For more information contact Sam Hopper at (413) 367-4656 or Samantha.Hopper@masenate.gov..

This event is hosted by: Joint Committee on Public Health, Massachusetts Food Systems Caucus, Greenfield Community College, Massachusetts Farm Bureau, The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, The Food Systems Collaborative, CISA, and The Northeast Organic Farming Association, Massachusetts.

Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science: Advanced Methods Conference

The Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science (CANS) advanced methods conference will be held in Washington, D.C. on October 23-24, 2019.

If this is of interest to you, you can find more details & register here (early bird registration ends soon): https://www.nursingscience.org/events/2019advancedmethods.

The Expanding Science of Sensor Technology in Research

Recent advances in electronic technology and data science have enabled monitoring of many human biological, behavioral characteristics, and symptoms, as well as environmental factors in real time and during daily life, as well as in health care settings.  Coupled with advances in data science, sensor technology provides many opportunities for nursing science, including collection of data on temporal patterns and changes in these phenomena over time, remote monitoring, self-monitoring, and opportunities for feedback and communication between health care professionals and patients, among others.  Emerging technology may present new opportunities to address research questions in novel ways and to stimulate new areas of inquiry. The purpose of this advanced methods conference is to provide a forum to assist participants in understanding the use of sensor technology in nursing research.

Topics of the conference are:

  1. The application of new and emerging sensor technology to nursing research.
  2. Approaches to selecting sensors that best address the nature of the phenomena to be studied, the physical nature of the sensors, human subjects and investigator needs, and approaches to data analytics.
  3. The principles of user-centered design in designing, selecting and applying sensor technology.
  4. Innovative approaches to data collection, data management, and data analysis using sensor technology.
  5. Areas of nursing research that would benefit from emerging sensor technology and data analytics.

Barriers and facilitators to success at mid-career for nurse scientists

Mid-career nurse scientists are invited to participate in the research study “Barriers and facilitators to success at mid-career for nurse scientists” being conducted by mid-career nurse scientists from the Southern Nursing Research Society.

Challenges for mid-career nurse scientists is a national concern. The goal of this study is to learn more about what those challenges are and how nursing organizations can address those challenges and facilitate support. You may participate in this study as a self-identified mid-career.

If you are interested in participating, please copy/paste the link or follow this link to the survey: http://ucf.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eeQnji3ldHn210h

NINR Director’s Lecture: “Matters of the Heart: A Research Journey Uncovering Signs of Heart Disease in Women”

September 17, 2019
10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Lipsett Amphitheater
Clinical Center (Building 10)
NIH Campus – Bethesda, Maryland

In this NINR Director’s Lecture, Dr. Jean C. McSweeney will discuss her program of research that focuses on the symptoms of heart disease in women. The lecture will also be broadcast live and archived at http://videocast.nih.gov.

You can register for this event here.

I-Corps Program at the UMCCTS

Fall 2019 course starts October 25th, 2019

The I-Corps Program at the UMCCTS, a joint MassTERi/UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science (UMCCTS) initiative, is designed to support the translation of biomedical research by providing early-stage education and strategic guidance to faculty, staff and students during the ideation phase of technology development.

Designed specifically for the biomedical researcher at UMass, it guides interdisciplinary teams through a hands-on process of understanding the market for their technology utilizing a proven customer discovery methodology.

This short course is a pre-cursor to a selective and intense set of courses run by the NIH and NSF and known as I-Corps. The I-Corps Program at the UMCCTS is designed to give teams a feeling if they and their opportunity are ready to apply for the national classes held by NIH and NSF. This short course maintains the intensity of the full I-Corps program but limits the time commitment.

For more details and to register, click here.

UMass Boston: Addiction and Substance Use Disorders Conference

Saturday, September 28, 2019
8:00am – 4:30pm
Class #: 1700
Fee: $100

Mt. Vernon building
150 Mt. Vernon Street
Dorchester, MA 02125

Offered by the College of Advancing and Professional Studies and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Department of Nursing, University of Massachusetts Boston

This conference provides an overview of current topics and methodologies and best practice models geared towards nurses. It is designed in an interactive format. It encourages nurses to enhance their existing knowledge base by focusing an all-day program geared specifically in the domain of Addictions treatment. The faculty will review the existing research that will equip nurses to provide professional up-to-date care to those with Substance Use Disorders. Each faculty member will share their cutting-edge knowledge, strategic tactics, and collaborative networks to implement for each attendee to utilize.

Further details can be found here. For more information contact Donna White, dwhite@prnassociates.org

APHA Public Health Fellowship in Government

The American Public Health Association has announced its call for applications for the 2o2o APHA Public Health Fellowship in Government.

Candidates must have strong public health credentials and be able to spend one year in Washington, D.C. The fellow will have the option of working in the House or Senate on legislative and policy issues such as creating healthy communities, improving health equity, addressing environmental health concerns, population health or the social determinants of health.

Training for the fellowship will begin in January 2020, so you must be able to move to the Washington, D.C., area in January and stay through December 2020. The fellowship provides a unique learning experience and demonstrates the value and need for basing policy on sound science. Throughout the year, the fellow will gain a practical knowledge of government and how the public policy process works.

To be eligible for the Fellowship, candidates must meet all of the following criteria:

  1. be an APHA member.
  2. have a graduate degree in public health or a related discipline.
  3. have at least five years’ experience as a public health professional beyond graduate or medical training.
  4. be a citizen of the U.S. or its territories or have permanent residence status in the U.S.

Applications, additional information and brief articles from previous fellows are available on APHA’s website. The application, a CV and three letters of recommendation are due to APHA by 6 p.m. ET on Sept. 4, 2019.

For more information, please contact us at aphafellowship@apha.org or 202-777-2510.

Massachusetts Community Health Initiative Funds: Funding Announcement Webinars

Are you part of a Massachusetts multi-sector partnership, community-based organization, or municipality looking to advance health equity in Massachusetts communities?

Join staff from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Health Resources in Action to learn about two exciting new Massachusetts funds focused on community health and health equity: the Statewide Community Health Initiative (CHI) Fund and the Healthy Aging Fund.

These funds provide capacity and funding in three areas:

  • Policy, systems, and environmental change approaches
  • Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) processes
  • Healthy aging

Through the webinars, you will:

  • Receive information about who is eligible to apply and what may be considered for funding
  • Understand how to share an idea to be considered for funding
  • Learn about the funds’ history, rationale, investment process, and first funding cycle timeline

Webinars
Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change Funding Announcement Webinar
August 13, 2019, 2:00 – 3:00 PM | Register here: http://bit.ly/policy-chi
Healthy Aging Funding Announcement Webinar
August 14, 2019, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Register here: http://bit.ly/healthy-aging-chi
Community Health Improvement Planning Processes Funding Announcement Webinar
August 15, 2019, 12:00 – 1:00 PM | Register here: http://bit.ly/chip-chi

For further questions, contact StatewideCHIFund@hria.org or HealthyAgingFund@hria.org.
For additional information, visit https://hria.org/projects/massachusetts-chi-funds/.