Prevention of FAS Addressed in a Report to the President!

The President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities has submitted a report to the President.  The Promise of Research and Prevention includes a lengthy section entitled, Defeating the Single Most Preventable Cause of Intellectual Disabilities in the United States: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.

Click  2008-pcid-report-to-president.doc to access the report.

Racial Disparities Reduced in Injury Related Mortality

When it comes to injury-related deaths, the gap between black and white American youths is narrowing, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study found that between 1999 and 2005 injury-related deaths among blacks ages 15 to 24 decreased, while injury-related deaths among whites increased. The findings are published in the June, 2008, edition of Injury Prevention.

“Between the years of 1999 and 2005 the injury mortality rates among black males have experienced a steady decline,” said Susan Baker, MPH, an author of the study and professor in the Bloomberg School’s Center for Injury Research and Policy. “During those same years, the injury death rate among white males increased by 7 percent. When compared to rates in 1999, the gap between injury rates of black males and white males decreased by 24 percent.”

Using WISQARSTM, a web-based injury statistics query and reporting system, as well as mortality data from several agencies, researchers examined injury mortality rates among Americans between the ages of 15 and 24. Mortality resulting from the ten most common causes of injury-related death was analyzed by race, sex, age, type of injury and state.

The researchers found that the reduction in racial disparity resulted from a decrease in motor vehicle crashes and firearm suicides among black males and an increase in suicide by suffocation (typically hanging) and unintentional poisoning, such as a drug overdose, among white males. Among young women, black females experienced a decrease in the rate of firearm suicide, while white females experienced an increase in unintentional poisoning and suicidal suffocation.

“The total injury mortality rate among whites did not change significantly; however, there was an 11 percent decrease among blacks,” said Guoqing Hu, PhD, lead author and postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Health Policy and Management. “The reduction could be due to a number of preventive efforts, as well as demographic and economic changes. In two of the ten injury categories, increases in mortality rates among whites were alarming. Unintentional poisoning among males and hanging among females both doubled. The underlying reasons for these increases are unknown but deserve further exploration.”

“Reducing Black/White Disparity: Changes in Injury Mortality, Ages 15 – 24, United States, 1999-2005” was written by Guoqing Hu, PhD; and Susan P. Baker, MPH.

The researchers were funded by a grant from the Center for Injury Research and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Healthy Homes Alliance Alert: RI Court Case, Lead & Criminality, Air Freshener Lawsuit, and More!

The Healthy Homes Alliance Newsletter (July 2008) is now available!

New Jersey Office of Child Advocate’s Annual Report

New Jersey’s Office of Child Advocate has released it’s Annual Report for 2007. You can read this insightful report by clicking on the link below.

715-oca-annual-report.pdf

Going on Vacation? Some Tips to Keep Your Children Safe!

The U.S.Consumer Product Safety Commission’s effort to help families stay safe while on vacation this summer has developed a new poster with child safety advice that is often put into place at home, but also needs to be considered when staying at a hotel, motel, campsite, or relative’s house.  CPSC has numerous reports of children drowning in resort or motel swimming pools, children falling out of hotel windows or off balconies, and kids seriously injured from skateboard or ATV incidents that occurred while on vacation. Please take a moment and download our new Safe Travels poster and share it with your family, friends and community: www.cpsc.gov/nsn/safetravels.pdf Thank you and have a safe summer.

Latest News from the FASD Center for Excellence

SAMHSA FASD Center for Excellence
Update

• 1. New Books Related to FASD
  2. Recent Study on Building FASD Clinical Capacity in Western and Northwest Canada Published in the Canadian Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
  3. Updated SAMHSA Directory of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Treatment Programs Now Available
  4. America’s Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2008 Report Now Available Online
  5. AHRQ Small Grant Program
  6. Ladder to Leadership Project
  7. The 21st Annual NPN Prevention Research Conference
  8. ARC of Illinois Conference
  1. New Books Related to FASD—The Long Way to Simple by Stephen Neafcy and Jodee Kulp (2008 ) is the story of  Stephen Neafcy, a member of the FASLINK Listserv, who  was diagnosed at age 43 with fetal alcohol effects (FAE). The book also provides practical advice for others with FAE. Where the Pavement Ends by Marie Wadden (2008) focuses on addiction and recovery. The author discusses FASD and the effort that First Nations are making to overcome the stigma of FASD and address problems related to those exposed to alcohol in utero. Both books are available through bookstores and online booksellers.

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2.      Recent Study on Building FASD Clinical Capacity in Western and Northwest Canada Published in the Canadian Journal of Clinical Pharmacology—An article written by Dr. Sterling Clarren and Jan Lutke, was recently published in the Canadian Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. The article highlights a study conducted to determine the FASD clinical activity in Canada Northwest.  An abstract for the article and information for obtaining the full text can be accessed at http://www.cjcp.ca/hm/?id=343.

3.      Updated Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Directory of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Treatment Programs Now Available—An updated guide to finding local substance abuse treatment programs is now available from SAMHSA.  The National Directory of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Treatment Programs 2008 provides information on thousands of alcohol and drug treatment programs located in the 50 states, District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories.  For more information, visit SAMHSA’s Web site at http://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/advisories/0806125344.aspx.

4.      America’s Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2008 Report Now Available Online-The 2008 report serves as a report card     on the status of the nation’s children and youth, presenting statistics compiled by a number of federal agencies as one convenient reference and includes       information on adolescent alcohol use.  The report is compiled by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, a working group of      Federal agencies that collect, analyze, and report data on issues related to children and families, with partners in private research organizations. The full   report can be accessed and downloaded at http://childstats.gov/pubs/index.asp.

5.      AHRQ Small Grant Program—The Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) will award grants to nonprofit organizations and others who want to run conferences that disseminate research-based information on healthcare best practices. The Small Grant Program for Conference Support offers grants of up to $50,000 to nonprofits; tribal, State, and other governments; schools; and public-housing agencies. The application deadline is October 20, 2009. The full grant announcement can be accessed at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-06-074.html.

6.      Ladder to Leadership Project—Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Center for Creative Leadership have launched the Ladder to   Leadership: Developing the Next Generation of Community Health Leaders, a project designed to improve the leadership capacity of community-based        nonprofits serving vulnerable populations, including people with addictions. The project will provide a 16-month leadership-development curriculum to   selected professionals in the following priority communities: New York; Cleveland, Ohio; Birmingham, Alabama; Albuquerque, New Mexico; eastern  North Carolina; Portland, Oregon; Mid South (western Tennessee, eastern Arkansas, northern Mississippi); New Jersey, and Starr County, Texas. Up to     30 early- to mid-career professionals will be chosen from each community based on their record of accomplishment, future leadership potential, and proven       commitment to serving vulnerable populations and improving health outcomes. Application deadlines vary.  For more information, visit the RWJF’s Web site        at http://www.rwjf.org/applications/solicited/cfp.jsp?ID=20281%20.

7.      The 21st Annual National Prevention Network (NPN) Prevention Research Conference—The NPN Prevention Research Conference will be held August 24-27, 2008, in Indianapolis, Indiana. The conference theme is “Prevention Research: Driving Successful Outcomes.”   The conference will         highlight and introduce evidence-based programs, innovations, practices, and principles moving toward high quality prevention program implementation. For       additional conference information, visit the Southwest Prevention Center’s Web site at http://swpc.ou.edu/npn.

8.      Arc of Illinois Conference—The Arc of Illinois has been awarded a conference grant from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and will sponsor Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Conference: Prevention, Information & Education. The conference will be held in Alsip, Illinois, August 26–27, 2008.  For additional conference information, visit the Arc of Illinois’ Web site at http://www.thearcofil.org/document.asp?did=1303.

Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence: Major Public Health Problems

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is pleased to announce the availability of two new publications that address intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence (SV)—two serious public health problems throughout the United States. According to the National Violence Against Women Survey, 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime. The same survey found that women experience about 4.8 million intimate partner-related physical assaults and rapes each year. Men are the victims of about 2.9 million intimate partner-related physical assaults. IPV and SV have lasting harmful effects on the victims, their friends, families, and the surrounding community.

IPV and SV disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minorities. Recognizing the need for programs that address prevention in minority populations, the CDC funded 10 demonstration projects in Fiscal Year 2000 to develop, implement, and evaluate culturally competent IPV/SV prevention strategies targeted for specific racial/ethnic minority groups. Preventing Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence in Racial/Ethnic Minority Communities: CDC’s Demonstration Projects summarizes the work of the funded projects. The purpose of the document is to describe approaches and highlight challenges and lessons learned in the development, implementation, and evaluation of IPV/SV prevention programs for racial/ethnic minority populations.

The Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Programs Evaluation Guide presents an overview of the importance of evaluation and provides evaluation approaches and strategies that can be applied to SV and IPV programs. Chapters provide practical guidelines for planning and conducting evaluations; information on linking program goals, objectives, activities, outcomes, and evaluation strategies; sources and techniques for data gathering; and tips on analyzing and interpreting the data collected and sharing the results. The Guide discusses formative, process, outcome, and economic evaluation.

Hard copies of these publications can be ordered on-line at http://wwwn.cdc.gov/pubs/ncipc.aspx.  Additional information on IPV and SV can be found on-line at www.cdc.gov/ncipc. We hope that you’ll join CDC in our efforts to promote healthy relationships and prevent IPV and SV.

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