Maternal and Child Health Library
This and past issues of the MCH Alert are available at http://www.mchlibrary.info/alert/archives.html
November 6, 2009
1. Library Releases Online Resource Brief on Rural Health
2. Toolkit Provides Employers with Varied Options for
Promoting Healthy Child Weight
3. Brief Presents Information and Resources to Help
Families and Providers Support Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender
Children and Adolescents
4. Journal Supplement Explores Child Health Disparities
and Health Literacy in Children
5. Journal Publishes Themed Issue on Physical Activity
Research and Funding
6. Study Examines Health Care Workers' Attitudes and
Beliefs Regarding Influenza Vaccination During Pregnancy
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1. LIBRARY RELEASES ONLINE RESOURCE BRIEF ON RURAL HEALTH
Rural Health: Resource Brief is a guide to Web sites and other
resources that focus on rural-heath-related topics. The brief, produced
by the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Library at Georgetown
University, lists and describes federal agency and professional
organization Web sites containing fact sheets, data and research
findings, reports, news and newsletters, policy and issue briefs,
toolkits, presentations, databases, and multimedia sources. Information
on rural health programs, policy developments, information from state
rural health research centers, and links to state and federal agencies
and organizations that focus on rural-health-related issues and best
practices are included. Selected topics include funding sources,
agricultural health and safety, the adoption of rural health
information technology, migrant health, border health, and rural
development. Search tips for accessing citations, abstracts, and
full-text journal articles on rural health are also included. The brief
is available at http://mchlibrary.info/guides/ruralhealth.html.
MCH Library resource briefs on other topics are available at
http://mchlibrary.info/products.html#select. The MCH Library welcomes
feedback on the usefulness and value of the resource briefs. A feedback
form is available at http://www.mchlibrary.info/feedback/index.html.
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2. TOOLKIT PROVIDES EMPLOYERS WITH VARIED OPTIONS FOR PROMOTING HEALTHY
CHILD WEIGHT
Childhood Obesity: It's Everyone's Business is an action-oriented
toolkit designed to help employers address overweight and obesity in
children and the implications on health care costs and on the current
and future work force. The toolkit, published by the National Business
Group on Health with support from the Health Resources and Services
Administration's Maternal and Child Health Bureau, is built around four
key levers available to most or all employers -- benefits, employee
education, on-site facilities, and philanthropic opportunities.
Throughout the toolkit, employer case studies and examples illustrate
how strategies in place may be modified, expanded, or marketed to
promote healthy weight for children. Topics include an overview of the
problem, including statistics and key causes of the childhood obesity
epidemic; the business case for employer action; ways employers can use
benefits design or incentives to help combat childhood obesity;
educational materials and an employer case study exemplifying targeted
employee education; examples of how employers can use existing programs
or facilities; and ways companies can support the fight against
childhood obesity in their communities. A list of resources and
relevant Web sites is also included. The toolkit is available at http://www.businessgrouphealth.org/benefitstopics/et_chobesity.cfm
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3. BRIEF PRESENTS INFORMATION AND RESOURCES TO HELP FAMILIES AND
PROVIDERS SUPPORT LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER CHILDREN AND
ADOLESCENTS
Helping Families Support Their Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender
(LGBT) Children provides information about sexual orientation and
gender identity to help friends, family, and other adults support LGBT
children and adolescents. The practice brief reports research findings
from the Family Acceptance Project at San Francisco University and was
published by the National Center for Cultural Competence at Georgetown
University with support from the Child, Adolescent, and Family Branch
of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's
Center for Mental Health Services. Contents include basic information
to help families support their LGBT children; research on the impact of
families on their LGBT children's health, mental health, and
well-being; and ways ethnically, religiously, and socially diverse
families, parents, and caregivers can support their LGBT children.
Guidance for providers who work with LGBT children, adolescents, and
families is included. Family materials and provider tools such as
education materials, assessment and policy resources, research
publications, and gender spectrum education and training materials are
presented. The brief is available at http://www11.georgetown.edu/research/gucchd/nccc/documents/LGBT_Brief.pdf
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4. JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT EXPLORES CHILD HEALTH DISPARITIES AND HEALTH
LITERACY IN CHILDREN
The November 2009 supplement to Pediatrics examines health-disparity
and health-literacy issues, problems, and opportunities specific to
children and children's health. The supplement, published by the
American Academy of Pediatrics, contains commissioned articles that
were presented at two conferences held in November 2008 to increase the
attention given to health disparities and health literacy in children.
Contents include nine articles and discussant comments on
conceptualizing child health disparities and approaches to solving
them. Recommendations for research on child health disparities and the
infrastructure (funding and training) to support it are also addressed.
The supplement also includes a systematic review of the literature on
the relationship between health literacy and child health outcomes and
recommendations for action. Additional topics include literacy and
learning, the importance of encouraging and enabling health literacy
among children and adolescents, parents' health literacy,
pediatricians' health literacy and communication skills, the
relationship of pediatric health literacy to child health promotion and
prevention and targets for interventions, and the relationship between
health literacy and quality of care, with particular reference to
children with chronic illnesses and patient safety. The supplement
extracts and abstracts are available at http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/vol124/Supplement_3/index.dtl
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5. JOURNAL PUBLISHES THEMED ISSUE ON PHYSICAL ACTIVITY RESEARCH AND
FUNDING
Forum on Physical Activity Research and Funding: Prioritizing Physical
Activity Promotion: A Public Health Imperative focuses on the role of
physical activity research in the current U.S. scientific environment.
The October 2009 themed issue of Preventive Medicine contains 23 papers
on the role of physical activity as a positive health determinant, its
fundamental importance, and its amenability to prevention policy.
Topics include the need and opportunity for action, defining and
shaping the government's role in promoting physical activity and
facilitating physical activity promotion, using research to guide
policy and practice, and new contributions to theory and research. The
full-text issue is available to subscribers at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=PublicationURL&_tockey=%23TOC%236990%232009%23999509995%231536096%23FLA%23&_cdi=6990&_pubType=J&_auth=y&_acct=C000035538&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=655954&md5=591b5708543049d53bcef3a20646fe85
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6. STUDY EXAMINES HEALTH CARE WORKERS' ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS REGARDING
INFLUENZA VACCINATION DURING PREGNANCY
"The results of this study show an alarming lack of knowledge and
confidence regarding the influenza vaccine in pregnancy among obstetric
health care workers," write the authors of an article published in the
November 2009 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology. In 2004, the Advisory
Committee on Immunization Practices began recommending routine
influenza vaccination for healthy pregnant women during the influenza
season. However, in 2005, the United States achieved just 16 percent
influenza vaccination coverage of pregnant women, and it is estimated
that less than 10 percent of pregnant women who are at highest risk for
influenza receive the vaccine. The aim of this study was to estimate
whether health care workers' attitudes could represent a possible
barrier to vaccination coverage.
This cross-sectional study was carried out at two sites: Women and
Infants Hospital in Providence, RI, and Magee-Women's Hospital in
Pittsburgh, PA. Health care workers (registered nurses, certified
nursing assistants, medical assistants, receptionists, and clinical
administrators) completed an anonymous survey with questions on
demographic and occupation information, general beliefs about vaccines,
and knowledge about influenza and beliefs regarding influenza
vaccination in pregnancy. Nurse practitioners, nurse-midwives, and
physicians were excluded. A total of 267 surveys were completed.
The authors found that
- Almost one-third of health care workers at both sites failed to
agree with the statement that vaccines are a safe and effective way to
decrease infections.
- A minority of health care workers definitely believed that
vaccines were safe in pregnancy (35.8 percent Women and Infants, 33.7
percent Magee-Women's).
- A high percentage of health care workers at both sites knew that
influenza vaccination is recommended for pregnant women (78.4 percent).
- Just over half (56.6 percent) of health care workers knew that
pregnant women are at increased risk of complications from influenza.
- Less than half of health care workers were able to correctly
identify influenza symptoms (45.9 percent).
- At both sites, health care workers were similarly unwilling to
recommend or receive a vaccine that had not been tested in pregnancy
during an outbreak of avian influenza (12.0 percent).
The authors conclude that "health care workers play a central role in
trying to achieve high vaccination coverage rates. Intervention at the
level of the obstetric health care worker might remove a previously
unrecognized barrier."
Broughton DE, Beigi RH, Switzer GE, et al. 2009. Obstetric health care
workers' attitudes and beliefs regarding influenza vaccination in
pregnancy. Obstetrics and Gynecology 114(5):981-987. Abstract available
at http://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/Abstract/2009/11000/Obstetric_Health_Care_Workers__Attitudes_and.5.aspx
Readers: More information is available from the following MCH Library
resources:
- Preconception and Pregnancy: Knowledge Path at
http://mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/kp_pregnancy.html
- Immunizations: Bibliography at
http://mchlibrary.info/databases/bibliography.php?target=auto_search_immuniz
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and
Child Health and Georgetown University. MCH Alert is produced by
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