Programs and Resources
VAPHA's goal is to promote effective or promising cutting-edge strategies to improve public health in Virginia. It will engage in partnerships to seek funding for such strategies and may foster the discussion around these issues and solutions.
Some of the important public health resources available on line include:
- The National Association of Count and City Health Officials (NACCHO) recently launched a new online data query system, Profile-IQ, that provides access to statistics on local health department finance, workforce, and activities based on NACCHO’s 2010 National Profile of Local Health Departments (Profile) study. Profile-IQ is useful to practitioners and policymakers at the local, state, and federal level; researchers; students; the media; educators; and the public. For more information about Profile-IQ, click here.
- The National Uninsured Resource Directory from the Patient Advocate Foundation has compiled a variety of resources for those who are uninsured or underinsured in one convenient location.
- The Columbia Regional Learning Center (CRLC), based in the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, has launched a new learning management system that is available here. The resource has more than 34 free online courses, webinars and lectures designed to meet the training needs of public health, health care, home health, medical reserve corps and emergency management staff. Course progress can be tracked within the system, with many courses developed by Columbia faculty, providing a certificate of completion. All of the CRLC’s certificate courses are based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention competencies and PHEP capabilities.
- APHA's Public Health Newswire is an online news source to help the public follow important public health issues facing communities across the country. The tool is devoted to sharing the latest news and information on what’s happening across the industry -- from covering breaking news and delivering insights from leaders in the field to exploring new and emerging health trends. Check out Public Health Newswire.
- Health Providers Against Poverty has tools and resources intended for use by primary care health providers in assessing and treating patients who live in poverty.
- The Center for Science in the Public Interest, The Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, in collaboration with the Harvard School of Public Health, recently launched the website www.SNAPtoHealth.org. “This website is a ‘virtual town hall’ for public discourse about innovative strategies to promote health and prevent obesity in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamps Program. The website provides a forum for dialogue among a diverse range of stakeholders, including SNAP participants, researchers, state and federal program administrators, advocacy groups, retailers, food industry representatives, and the general public."
- The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) Profile of State Public Health, Volume Two, gives critical insight into how governmental public health is structured and organized at the state and territorial level and is a data source on state and territorial health agency responsibilities, resources, planning and quality improvement activities, and information exchange methods. Volume One is also still available, along with other resources, on the ASTHO website.
- America’s Health Rankings, 2011, from United Health Foundation, American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention was released. The report provides a state-by-state snapshot of population health based on 23 measures, and looks at four groups of health determinants that can be affected: Behaviors, community and environment, public and health policies, and clinical care.
- The ninth annual Ready or Not? – Protecting the Public from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism, from Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, finds that key programs that detect and respond to bioterrorism, new disease outbreaks and natural or accidental disasters are at risk due to federal and state budget cuts.
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Advancing the Movement announced the launch of the Beta 2.0 version of the Community Commons suite of tools and resources, including a more dynamic Map of the Movement with information on what local initiatives are doing to make their communities more health and sustainable. The tools allow users to quickly find and share data, maps, stories, videos and other information about the number, scope, and results of community-related prevention and health-related programs in numerous geographic areas. There are hundreds of searchable profiles of community initiatives with promising strategies, stories, and impacts.
- The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has released its Health at a Glance 2011 report. It provides the "latest comparable date on different aspects of the performance of health systems in OECD countries.
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The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has released its policy brief, Return on Investments in Public Health: A Summary of Groundbreaking Research Studies, which "highlights recent evidence that strategic investments in proven, community-based prevention programs could both save lives and result in significant U.S. health care cost savings and overall economic cost savings.
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Rural America at a Glance, 2011, highlights the most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas for use in developing policies and programs to assist rural areas. The 2011 edition focuses on the U.S. rural economy, including employment trends, poverty, education, and population trends.
Some partnerships VAPHA has joined include:
This section also includes information on funding opportunities, links and other community resources.
