2008 Summer in the City Series Schedule

The Summer in the City Series, a joint program of the Center for Community Health and the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, has released its schedule for 2008.  The series consists of lunch-hour discussion on a variety of public health topics.

Unless noted, the discussions are from 12:00 to 1:00 PM and are held in Room K-307 in the Medical Center and include a light lunch.  The schedule is as follows:

July 8: Health-e-Access: Using Technology to Increase Care for Children

Ken McConnochie, M.D., MPH, director, Health-e-Access Telemedicine Network and professor of Pediatrics (Please note that this session only is scheduled 12:15 to 1:15 pm)

July 15:  Nourishing our Neighborhoods

Chris Hartman, co-manager, South Wedge Farmers’ Market

Eleanor Coleman, Southwest Area Neighborhood Association

Katrina Korfmacher, Ph.D., community outreach coordinator; research assistant professor, Environmental Health Sciences Center

July 22: Creating Urban Villages in the Rochester Children’s Zone (RCZ)

Ellen Lewis, interim team leader, RCZ

Rev. Glenn Alexander, pastor, Holy City International Church of God in Christ; board member, RCZ; Sector 10 Co-Chair, North East Neighborhood Alliance

July 29: Teen Smart Driving: What Parents Should Know

Anne Brayer, M.D., associate professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics

Lynn Babcock-Cimpello, M.D., associate professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics, co-directors, Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Rochester

For more information: CenterforCommunityHealth@urmc.rochester.edu or 276-3056

CDC Survey Details Teen Behavior

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released its 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The news is decidedly mixed. The number of teens smoking, drinking, and having sex is down, but risky behavior (drug and alcohol use and attempted suicides) remains high among Hispanics. This is of particular concern as Hispanics are one of the fastest growing populations.

The survey also shows that efforts to convince teens to delay or practice safe sex appear to be faltering. After several years of declines, the sexual behavior rates have leveled off and there is evidence that rates of teen sex may be going up while condom use may be on the decline.

You can find the CDC report and additional data here. You can read articles about the study in USA Today here, the Washington Post here, Reuters here, and the Associated Press here.

ABC’s Priorities

James Norman, the president and CEO of Action for a Better Community, a Rochester-based “community action agency” and frequent collaborator with the Medical Center on a number of projects, has a piece in this week’s Democrat and Chronicle about his organization’s activities.

ABC, community partners build ladders out of poverty, ill health

During May, Community Action month, more than 1,000 grass-roots agencies nationwide celebrate the victories in the war against poverty and make a special effort to raise awareness about the challenges still facing communities.

The National Community Action Partnership in Washington, D.C., of which Action for a Better Community Inc. is a member, launched an ambitious campaign in January titled “Rooting Out Poverty.” This bold initiative draws from the experience of the national network of community action agencies. Including five action themes, the campaign is a call to action, inviting local agencies like ABC to take this national campaign to the local level. The five themes are:

• Maximize participation.
• Build an economy that works for everyone.
• Invest for the future.
• Maximize equality of opportunities.
• Ensure healthy people and places.

These themes are only the framework; the real work can only be done locally, tapping into this community’s ingenuity and collaborative spirit to find solutions for our unique challenges.

Public Health Grand Rounds: Breaking the Cycle of Violence

The next installment of the Public Health Grand Rounds (Act Locally/Act Globally, Partnering for Healthier Communities) this Friday will focus on violence.  The forums are jointly sponsored by the Center for Community Health and the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine.

The topic of this week’s discussion is “Breaking the Cycle of Violence: A Hospital and Community Program for Victims of Violence.”

Large and small communities across the United States continue to struggle with the epidemic of violence. The experience in Rochester is no different. In fact, Rochester has had one of the highest per capita murder rates in NY State during the past decade. There is an increasing realization of the need for communities to respond to the violence in a coordinated manner. Hospitals can and should play a vital role in this response by establishing crucial community linkages to address the needs of injured victims of violence. Strong Memorial Hospital has partnered with local community service providers in an effort help stop the violence.

The event is Friday, May 2, 2008 from 12:00 to 1:00 PM in the Upper Adolph Auditorium (Room 3-7619).  All are invited to attend!  Light lunch will be provided

Presenters include Mark Gestring, M.D., director of Adult Trauma at Strong Memorial Hospital, Jeff Rideout, LMSW, Social Work, Golisano Children’s Hospital, Paula Jarquin, Child Protective Services,  Monroe County Department of Human and Health Services, James McCauley, PAVE, Camp Good Days and Special Times, Mike Brooks, Pathways to Peace, City of Rochester, Office of the Mayor, and Michael Scharff, M.D., Children and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Rochester

This seminar series is funded in part by Cooperative Agreement which is shared by the American Association for Medical Colleges and the Centers for Disease Control.

Report: 90K US Infants Abused, Neglected Every Year

Reuters has a story today on a joint CDC/DOH analysis of data from state child protection agencies that reveals that 1 in every 50 infants are abused or neglected by their first birthday.   According to the report:

Physical abuse included beating, kicking, biting, burning and shaking, and neglect included abandonment, maternal drug use or failing to meet basic needs like housing, food, clothing and access to medical care, according to the report.

The findings were particularly troubling because children who suffer such abuse tend to go on to have numerous health and other problems, officials said.

“The findings do demonstrate a clear pattern of early neglect and physical abuse that is largely preventable,” Ileana Arias, who heads injury prevention efforts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters.

You can read the entire Reuters story here.