Thursday, October 18, 2012

The Effectiveness of Collaboration



Collaborative networks are crucial

Working together is not often the smoothest way to get things done. However, collaboration by definition in emergency management is the collective agencies, departments, as well as all internal and external stakeholders working towards shared objectives, and goals. This means that collaboration takes place at all levels.

Collaboration should be taking place from agencies and organizations that hope to improve upon and make strides in effectively providing disaster aid to affected communities. To do this you need to have mutual trust in each other’s capabilities, decision support on all levels, and shared values and goals. You cannot be separate on any of the above qualities if you hope to have a collaborative network. Each of these qualities should be fostered in the foundation of each organization in the collaboration to have it be effective long term.

Further, for more insightful and effective outlooks on collaboration and its effects I suggest readingCollaboration and Leadership for Effective Emergency Management, by (Streib & Waugh Jr., 2006). The authors discuss leadership and effectiveness of collaboration in disaster situations, why they have failed in the past, and how they can improve in the future with the use of collaboration.

Whether or not you feel you know it all, it is always best to have partners, to bring in experts in different fields, and to have many stakeholders. Essentially it is important to collaborate at every level so that when you need the support you have a strong network to back up your community.

Works Cited:
Streib , G., & Waugh Jr., W. L. (2006). Collaboration and Leadership for Effective Emergency Management.Public Administration Review .




Wednesday, October 17, 2012

FYI: Minority Resources...Money & More

Link to HHS.gov

FYI: Minority Resources...Money & More

From the Office of Minority Health Resource Center's Information Services Team
October 17, 2012
 

Funding

Federal Grants

$500k or more . . .  
  • HHS/National Institutes of Health: Limited Competition: Data Coordinating Center for The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) Study (UC4) Grant. View Full Announcement
  • HHS/National Institutes of Health (NIH) & U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA): Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science for Research Relevant to the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (P50). View Full Announcement
  • HHS/National Institutes of Health: Alzheimer's Disease Prevention Trials (R01) Grant View Full Announcement
$500k or less . . .  
  • HHS/National Institutes of Health (NIH): Prevention of HIV Transmission/Acquisition through a better understanding of Reproductive Health (R01). View Full Announcement
  • USDA/National Institute of Food and Agriculture: Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program Grant View Full Announcement
  • Delta Regional Authority: Health IT Workforce Revolving Loan Fund. View Full Announcement

Non Federal Grants

$500k or less . . . 

Resources

  • HHS/Administration for Children and Families: Funding resource guide now available. A Guide to Resources and Funding for Community & Faith-Based Organizations. Learn More [PDF | 1.16MB]

Scholarships/Fellowships

Resources

  • CDC: New digital press kit available. Multistate Meningitis Outbreak. Digital Kit includes: quotes, resources, websites, and more. Learn More

American Indians/Alaska Native Health

Events

  • CDC/NCEH-Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry/APHA: Webinar. This is the fourth in a four-part series. When Every Drop Counts: Initiatives in Indian Country Monday, Oct. 22, 1 p.m.- 2 p.m. EDT. Learn More Exit Disclaimer

Cancer

  • Office of Minority Health Resource Center: October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Find action Steps for your community, resources and more. Learn More
  • HHS: App challenge. Reducing Cancer Among Women of Color. The challenge invites developers to create an application (app) for mobile devices that can help improve the prevention and treatment of breast, cervical, uterine, and ovarian cancer. Learn More

Diabetes

Events

  • American Diabetes Association: 5th Disparities Partnership Forum. Overcoming Diabetes: Diabetes Care in High Risk Populations. October 22 - 23, 2012 in Washington, DC. Learn More Exit Disclaimer

Health Care

  • AHRQ: New toolkit released. The CUSP Toolkit includes training tools to build the capacity to address safety issues by combining clinical best practices and the science of safety in order to improve the foundation of how physicians, nurses, and other clinical team members work together. Learn More
  • The Commonwealth Fund: New report brief released. The Impact of Health Reform on the Medicare Advantage Program: Realigning Payment with Performance. Read Full Report Exit Disclaimer

Health Equity

Events

  • Institute for Healthcare Improvement: Health Forum. 24th National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care. December 9-12, 2012, in Orlando, Florida. Scholarships available for NAPH members. Learn More Exit Disclaimer

Heart Disease

  • HHS: App Challenge. The Million HeartsTM Risk Check Challenge invites developers to create a mobile app that will help consumers take a heart health risk assessment, find places to get their blood pressure and cholesterol checked, and use the results to work with their health care professional to develop a plan to improve their heart health. Learn More

Hispanic/Latino Health

Events

  • AARP/Latino Magazine: No Mas Hambre Forum, is part of a nationwide initiative launched to raise awareness of hunger in the Latino community. October 24, 2012 in Atlanta, GA Learn More Exit Disclaimer
  • HHS: Webinar. Who’s Leading the Leading Health Indicators? Webinar: Substance Abuse. October 24 from 12:00 to 12:45 p.m. EDT Learn More

HIV/AIDS-STDs

  • CDC: New data report released. HIV Testing at CDC-Funded Sites, United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, 2010. Read Full Report [PDF | 691KB]

Infant/Child Health

  • Office of Safe and Healthy Students: New training toolkit available. Creating a Safe and Respectful Environment in Our Nation's Classrooms. Learn More
  • National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition-Perinatal Nutrition Working Group: New consumer guide available. A Seafood Lover's Guide to Eating During Pregnancy. Learn More Exit Disclaimer
  • Society for Public Health Education: October 15-19th is National Health Education Week (NHEW) 2012. Adolescent Health: Planting Seeds for a Healthier Generation. Resources now available. Learn More Exit Disclaimer
  • Health & Disability Working Group: New report released. Financing the Special Health Care Needs of Children and Youth in Foster Care: A Primer. Read Full Report Exit Disclaimer

Events

  • March of Dimes: 2012 March of Dimes Perinatal Conference for Health Professionals. Delivering Change. November 7, 2012 in Overland Park, KS 66210. Speakers include: Tonya Lewis Lee, National Spokesperson for OMH's "Healthy Baby Begins with You" campaign. Learn More Exit Disclaimer
  • The Prematurity Prevention Network: Webinar. The Puzzle of the Early Detection of Preterm Labor and Prevention of Preterm Birth. October 26th from 12:00pm-1:30pm EDT. Learn More Exit Disclaimer

Mental Health

  • SAMHSA: Annual Report to Congress 2010 released. Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program, Evaluation Findings. Read Full Report

Substance Abuse

  • SAMHSA: A new online analysis system now available allows researchers to produce frequencies and cross-tabulations using restricted-use data files. Restricted-Use Data Analysis System (R-DAS). Learn More Exit Disclaimer

Violence Prevention

  • SAMHSA: October is Bullying Prevention Awareness Month. Latest resource now available. Learn More

Vision

  • White House: President Proclamation. Blind Americans Equality Day, 2012, which is honored on October 15, 2012. Learn More

Managing compassionately. Wisdom without compassion is ruthlessness, compassion without wisdom is folly


Jeff WeinerJeff Weiner  October 15, 2012

Of all the management principles I have adopted over the years, either through direct experience or learning from others, there is one I aspire to live by more than any other. I say "aspire" because as much as I'd like to do it consistently and without fail, given the natural ebb and flow of day-to-day operations and challenges, and the subsequent range of responses that follow, I find this particular principle harder to practice consistently than others. That principle is managing compassionately.  
There are three elements of managing compassionately I've learned through the last decade or so that have very much influenced my career path and management style. They are the meaning of compassion, and specifically how compassion differs from empathy; the fact that compassion can be learned, and is not solely innate; and the importance of striving to achieve both compassion and wisdom, and not one without the other. 
The meaning of compassion 
Through reading the book “The Art of Happiness” -- the teachings of the Dalai Lama as told to author Howard Cutler -- I learned the difference between compassion, defined as walking a mile in another person’s shoes, and empathy, which is feeling what another person feels. Though oftentimes used synonymously in western culture, the contrast between the two is an important one. As the Dalai Lama explains, if you are walking along a trail and come along a person who is being crushed by a boulder, an empathetic reaction would result in you feeling the same sense of crushing suffocation and render you unable to help. The compassionate reaction would put you in the sufferer's shoes, thinking this person must be experiencing horrible pain so you're going to do everything in your power to remove the boulder and alleviate their suffering. Put another way, compassion is a more objective form of empathy. This idea of seeing things clearly through another person's perspective can be invaluable when it comes to relating with others, particularly in tense work situations. 
For example, when strongly disagreeing with another, most of us have a tendency to see things solely through our own world view. In those situations, some will immediately assume that the other person is ignorant and/or has nefarious intentions. Your mind immediately turns to the thought, "How could they possibly not agree with me?"
In these circumstances, it can be constructive to take a minute to understand why the other person has reached the conclusion that they have. For instance, what in their background has led them to take that position? Do they have the appropriate experience to be making optimal decisions? Are they fearful of a particular outcome that may not be obvious at surface level? (Ray Chambers refers to this process as being a spectator to your own thoughts, and offers a good illustration here). Asking yourself these questions, and more importantly, asking the other person these questions, can take what would otherwise be a challenging situation and transform it into a coachable moment and truly collaborative experience. 
Compassion can be taught
Once I had started to fully appreciate the significance of compassion, I oftentimes wondered whether or not it was a quality that could be taught. It turns out the answer is yes; a realization I came to serendipitously.
One night while traveling on business, I was having trouble sleeping and came across a PBS Frontline documentary that has stuck with me to this day. The program was entitled “A Class Divided” and was about Jane Elliott, a third grade teacher in an all-white town in Iowa. The day after Martin Luther King Jr. was shot, she divided her class into blue-eyed and brown-eyed students.
On day one, the blue-eyed children received first class treatment at the expense of the brown-eyed. On day two, she flipped everything, so that those who had been subjugated were now in the privileged class. Watching the reaction of the kids in this situation was truly awe-inspiring. The documentary tracked down the students many years later, well into adulthood, and almost to a student, they were advocates of the civil rights movement.
Compassion can and should be taught, not only throughout a child's K-12 curriculum, but in higher education and corporate learning and development programs as well. I can’t think of a more worthwhile thing to teach. 
Wisdom without compassion is ruthlessness, compassion without wisdom is folly
After having worked at Yahoo for seven years and making the decision to leave, I started to think a lot about what I wanted to do next. I've long been interested in education reform, and specifically the democratization of knowledge, which was one of the primary dynamics that drew me to the consumer web, and digital media and search specifically. It had occurred to me that as much value as Google created by organizing the world's information and making it universally accessible, there was still much more to be done in the category. The thinking was that on a classic Information Science continuum, i.e. data > information > knowledge > wisdom, as valuable as information was, it was putting that information into context -- knowledge and ultimately wisdom -- that created true insight.  
The challenge at the time (early 2004) was that for all of the billions of information artifacts that had been indexed by the world's leading search engines, the vast, vast majority of all human knowledge still remained in people's heads. The idea was to make it easier for people to share that knowledge in a universally accessible repository and to not only make use of it, but to expand it as well. Bear in mind, this was long before social platforms and sharing content had reached critical mass on a global basis. Today, this is common practice, and increasingly influences the way in which we find what we are looking for, whether through more socially influenced results produced by search engines or the knowledge being shared directly through social platforms (Fred Wilson shares a great example of the latter here.) However, at the time I was leaving Yahoo in 2008, this was still an evolving concept and one I was passionate about pursuing. I went so far as to draft a personal vision statement: to expand the world's collective wisdom.  
A few weeks later, I found myself at dinner one night with my friend Fred Kofman, founder of Axialent, author of "Conscious Business", and one of the most enlightened people I've met throughout my career.  After sharing my objective with him, he said, "That's very powerful, but bear in mind, wisdom without compassion is ruthlessness, and compassion without wisdom is folly." The line stopped me cold in my tracks. It was so elegant in its simplicity that it required no debate or follow-up. Withhout any further discussion I said I was amending my initial vision to read "to expand the world's collective wisdom and compassion." That objective has influenced every aspect of my work ever since.   
http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20121015034012-22330283-managing-compassionately?trk=NUS_UNIU_PEOPLE_FOLLOW-megaphone


Jeff Weiner

Jeff Weiner

CEO at Linkedin


 

Investigators Visit Company Tied to Meningitis Cases

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/17/health/investigators-visit-office-tied-to-meningitis.html?_r=0


Criminal investigators from the Food and Drug Administration were at the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass., on Tuesday, officials said, in the first public indication that the federal government was preparing a case against the company linked to a deadly meningitisoutbreak.
Barry Chin/Boston Globe
Federal investigators closed off access to the offices of New England Compounding in Framingham, Mass., on Tuesday.

Related

Federal and state officials have said they believe that contaminated pain medicine from New England Compounding had caused the deaths of 16 people and sickened more than 200. And while investigators from the F.D.A’s regulatory section have been in and out of the company’s offices since early October, Tuesday appeared to have been the first time criminal investigators were on site.
The F.D.A. is a regulatory agency, but embedded within it is a section devoted to criminal prosecutions. The agents at the company Tuesday were from that section.
An agency spokesman, Steven Immergut, confirmed that agents from the F.D.A.’s Office of Criminal Investigations were at the company on Tuesday, but gave no details. The office looks into suspected violations of federal laws meant to protect public health. Among the possible violations it investigates are making and selling unapproved drugs, and illegally importing F.D.A.-regulated products.
A spokesman for New England Compounding, Andrew Paven, said that agents had come with a warrant. Images of the entrance of the company cordoned off with yellow tape were shown on television news.
Late on Tuesday, the company’s lawyer, Paul Cirel, objected to what he called a “search” by federal agents, but said the company would cooperate.
“It is difficult to understand the purpose of this search, since we have been clear that New England Compounding Center would provide, and has provided, anything requested,” he said in a statement. “We’ve been clear that warrants weren’t needed; asking would have produced the same result.”
A spokeswoman for the United States attorney’s office in Boston, Christina Sterling, said the warrant was sealed, and its details were not publicly available. The attorney’s office also announced that it was investigating New England Compounding, Ms. Sterling said, though no officials from that office were at the company.
The action comes as Representative Edward J. Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts who represents the district where the company is based, sent a letter to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., demanding an investigation into whether the company had violated laws on which controlled substances can be sold. Last week, Richard Blumenthal, a Democratic senator from Connecticut, demanded that Mr. Holder begin an investigation into New England Compounding.
Also last week, Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts said that New England Compounding had “misled” investigators, engaging in what appeared to be legal violations by selling large quantities of drugs without an individual patient name for each prescription.
But federal officials on Tuesday warned the public not to jump to conclusions. In a statement, United States Attorney Carmen Ortiz said, “I think that it is entirely premature to suggest what the results of the investigation will be.”
The drug implicated in the outbreak is methylprednisolone acetate, asteroid.
Abby Goodnough contributed reporting.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

FDA: Recalls, Market Withdrawals, and Safety Alerts




FDA, U.S. Food and Drug Administration



Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts

The list below provides information gathered from press releases and other public notices about certain recalls of FDA-regulated products.  
 NewSearchable list of press releases related to the Sunland Peanut Butter and Nut and Seed Recall

Recently Posted Recalls

  • FDA works with industry and our state partners to publish press releases and other public notices about recalls that may potentially present a significant or serious risk to the consumer or user of the product.  Not all recalls have press releases or are posted on this page.
  • The posting of information on this page is separate from FDA's recall classification process. The weekly Enforcement Report lists all recalls after they have been classified by FDA.  For more information about FDA’s product recall authority, process and classification guidelines, see FDA 101: Product Recalls.
  • For recall notices older than 60 days, see the Recall and Safety Alerts Archive.

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