March 2002 A Publication of the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies Vol. 4, No. 1. Web Site:

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1 March 2002 A Publication of the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies Vol. 4, No. 1 Web Site: Alaska Center for Rural Health College of Health, Education and Social Welfare University of Alaska Anchorage 3211 Providence Dr., Suite 530 Diplomacy Building Anchorage, AK Center for Alcohol & Addiction Studies TASK FORCE ADDRESSES NURSING SHORT- AGE T he University/Industry Nursing Education Task Force has been meeting since January to discuss strategies to help decrease the escalating nursing shortage being experienced by Alaskan health care facilities. The health care industry is seeking to collaborate with the University of Alaska system to expeditiously double the capacity and output of its nursing education programs. The highly productive, twenty-member Task Force drawn from facilities and campuses statewide, has considered the extent and complex causes of the shortage, preferred characteristics for Alaskan nursing education programs, issues and barriers to be addressed, alternative curricular models, strategies, and costs. The task force completed its schedule of meetings, and will fulfill its charge with the preparation of a paper documenting the deliberations of the group and related research. The results of Task Force work will be used to design and implement educational and related institutional strategies to address the nursing shortage in Alaska. ANHB TRAINS INTERVIEWERS FOR THE ALASKA TRADITIONAL DIET PROJECT The Alaska Native Health Board (ANHB) is conducting a study addressing the safety, health benefits, and contamination risks of traditional foods. The goal of the Alaska Traditional Diet Project (ATDP) is to obtain data on the dietary patterns of residents of rural Alaskan communities by targeting the types and amounts of foods consumed. Reports of contaminants in the environment and the food chain have raised questions about their potential contributions to a variety of diseases such as cancer and diabetes. The results of the study will address the concern of Alaska Native communities to help them make informed decisions regarding traditional food use while preserving the important benefits associated with the traditional food lifestyle. Thirteen communities were awarded grants to conduct the dietary surveys, and local residents were selected to conduct the interviews. The Alaska Native Health Board held a training session for the interviewers on March 4-5, 2002 in Anchorage. The training was conducted by ATDP nutrition consultant Dr. Kari Hamrick of the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies. It provided an overview of standard dietary interview skills, introduced survey instruments/interview tools, discussed survey implementation and fidelity, and gave examples of how to maximize the information gathered on the survey instruments. NOW AVAILABLE: "UAA Research & Grant- Based Projects/Programs Related to Alaska Native Peoples ," a report by Elenor Hadden and Kerry Feldman is now available. This report was prepared for Chancellor Gorsuch in June For more information, contact Carl Hild, (907) or ancmh@uaa.alaska. edu.

2 ALASKA RURAL HEALTH CONFERENCE TO TAKE PLACE IN ANCHORAGE, APRIL Join us for the first statewide rural health conference in a decade, at the 2002 Alaska Rural Health Conference, "New Resources, New Opportunities: Rural Health in the 21st Century." This two-day conference will address issues relating to funding opportunities, the workforce, telemedicine and technology, and ways to improve the statewide system. Be at the forefront of addressing the rural health challenges facing your community, patients, and health workforce by attending the conference. Alaska State Lt. Governor Fran Ulmer, and possibly U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski, will share their vision for Alaska's rural health system. In addition, the conference will feature national speakers and a large number of speakers from rural Alaska. Featured speakers will include: n Dr. Elizabeth Duke, Administrator of the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), which supports much of Alaska's rural health delivery system; n Dr. Marcia Brand, Director of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy; n Dr. Sam Shekar, Associate Administrator of the Federal Bureau of Health Professions; n Eugene Smith, Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Maniilaq; n Stewart Ferguson, Associate Project Director and Director of Technology for the Alaska Federal Health Care Access Network (AFHCAN); n Ethel Lund, former CEO/President of the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Corporation (SEARHC); and n Bruce Amundson, M.D., former President of the National Rural Health Association. Participants are also invited to take part in pre-conference workshops on Wednesday, April 24. Most are free of charge and some are available for a nominal fee. Topics will include hospital performance improvement, applying for Community Health Center funds, information on the National Health Service Corps, medical practice and financial management, and teaching evidence-based medicine. The Alaska Primary Care Association will host a reception for participants on the evening of April 25th. The King Island Dancers and Singers will open the conference and Pamyua will be featured in the closing ceremony. This event is sponsored by the Alaska State Division of Public Health, CHEMS, as well as the Alaska Primary Care Association and the Alaska Center for Rural Health. Health agencies collaborating to plan the conference are: Alaska Division of Public Health; Alaska Federal Health Care Partnership; Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority; Alaska Native Health Board; Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium; Alaska Primary Care Association; Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association; South Central Foundation; and Alaska Center for Rural Health, University of Alaska. Continuing education credits will be available for nurses and health educators. Access to this conference over live webcast will be available for those unable to attend. The conference will take place April 25th - 26th at the Millennium Hotel in Anchorage, AK. Conference costs include: early bird registration (on or before April 2): $100; regular registration (after April 2): $120. For more information about the conference, or if you or your agency is interested in exhibiting or conducting poster sessions, please contact Lornay Hansen of the Alaska Center for Rural Health at (907) , or check out our website at for detailed information and online registration. 2

3 Get help from AHELP! Looking for health promotion resources? The Alaska Health Education Library Project (AHELP) is an electronic clearinghouse of current health promotion and health education resources that are specific to and available in Alaska. Special features include information on health promotion programs, projects, health education materials, an on-line calendar of events, a rolodex of professionals, and more. You can also join the AHELP discussion list for free and timely information. AHELP is sponsored by the Alaska Division of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more information, contact Patty Owen, or info@ahelp.org. ACRH STAFF NEWS &UPDATES... Beth Landon, MBA, MHA, took the position of Director of the Alaska Center of Rural Health in November. "I still call Denny for advice on everything from project reports to baking techniques," said Beth. Denny is actively involved in rural health conference planning and bringing parts of the rural health system together. Mariko Selle joined the team at ACRH as a Research Associate. She will be responsible for project management and research development. Mariko's past experiences include research work in the private sector with CRG of Anchorage and ACNielsen Corporation Japan. ACRH welcomes two new board members. Joe Cladouhos, President of Norton Sound Health Corporation, joined the board in November. Karen Perdue, Vice President of Health at the University of Alaska, returned to the board in January. She had been board chair before accepting the position of Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. NEW ACADEMIC PROGRAM COMING SOON: MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH (MPH) The proposal for the Master of Public Health (MPH) in Public Health Practice is winding its way through the various academic committees on campus. It is hoped that the Regents will approve it in June, and that recruitment of student applicants can begin shortly thereafter. Public health is a multidisciplinary field that strives to protect the community as a whole rather than focusing on individual patients. The emphasis in public health is typically on prevention rather than treatment. The Master of Public Health (MPH) in Public Health Practice is an interdisciplinary degree designed to provide a broad background to meet the challenges of the diverse and complex field of public health. The MPH or its equivalent is often a requirement of supervisory and leadership positions in public health. The MPH is generally considered the terminal degree in the practice of public health. The program is designed for both entry-level and mid-career students, and many courses will be taught via distance education techniques. This degree requires core courses in the following five areas basic to the understanding of public health: 1) environmental and occupational health, 2) health education and behavioral science, 3) health services administration, 4) epidemiology (the study of the distribution of disease in populations), and 5) biostatistics. For more information about the progress of the MPH degree proposal, please contact Prof. Lawrence D. Weiss: (907) or afldw@uaa.alaska.edu. 3

4 R/UOP PROGRAM PLACES RECORD NUMBER OF STUDENTS Each year the Alaska Center for Rural Health (ACRH) facilitates the placement of first year WWAMI medical students in rural and underserved sites around Alaska to spend four weeks shadowing a physician. R/UOP (Rural/Underserved Opportunities Program) is administered by the University of Washington's Department of Family Medicine. It is a four-week elective program available to WWAMI students during the summer between their first and second years of medical school. The purpose of the program is to provide students an opportunity to work with exemplary physicians and become familiar with the health care needs of rural or underserved communities. This summer, ACRH will be placing a record number of R/UOP students (9 total) in Alaskan communities across the state. In a time when reports are showing that the number of physicians choosing to practice in rural areas is on the decline, this is a step in the right direction, towards improving the future of our health care workforce. As part of a pilot program this year, ACRH is also helping to facilitate the placement of a R/UOP student in a rural community that has a mid-level practitioner (NP or PA) as the primary provider. The student placed in this setting will gain a unique perspective of the relationship between a mid-level practitioner and a distant supervising physician. GRANT INFORMATION RFP ANNOUNCEMENT... Denali Commission: Primary Care Facilities Funding for "Small Clinics." More specifically, communities ranked in Groups 3 and 4 (of the 14 groups) and construction-ready projects only. Proposals are currently being accepted; final deadline is May 15, Contact: Joel Neimeyer (907) ; web: Denali Commission: Existing clinic repair renovation - Projects for existing clinics, small or large. RFP issue date projected to be March Deadline projected be end of May Contact: Joel Neimeyer (907) ; web: 4

5 ICHS SURVEYS SMOKING POLICIES The Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies will be conducting a survey of Alaskan communities regarding their policies in regulating smoking. The Alaska Native Health Board and the State of Alaska commissioned this study in order to gain information for future program planning, resource allocation, and funding priorities for smoking-related issues. April 19-20: Juneau Public Health Fair; Juneau, Alaska; Contact: Valerie O'Hare, (907) , mohare6919@aol.com April 24-26: Alaska Rural Health Conference, New Resources, New Opportunities: Rural Health in the 21st Century ; Millennium Hotel Anchorage, Alaska; Contact: Lornay Hansen, Alaska Center for Rural Health, (907) ; web: April 30-May 3: Fifth World Rural Health Conference World Organization for Family Doctors; Melbourne, Australia; Contact: the Meeting Planners Pty Ltd, 61 (3) , Fax: 61 (3) ; web: May 15-18: 25th Annual Conference, National Rural Health Association; Kansas City, MO; Contact: National Rural Health Association, (816) , Fax: (816) , mail@nrharural.org; web: September 19-21: 2002 National Rural Women's Health Conference; Sponsored by Penn State University to take place in Washington, DC; Contact: Penn State University, (814) , ConferenceInfo1@ outreach.psu.edu October 7-8: Third International Congress of Rural Nurses, Charting the Course for Rural Health in the 21st Century ; Binghamton, NY; Contact: Decker School of Nursing, (607) , rbrundeg@binghamton.edu; web: 5

6 Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies 3211 Providence Dr. Diplomacy Building, Suite #530 Anchorage, Alaska (907) Bulk Rate U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 107 Anchorage, AK