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Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Invites Proposals for Health Disparities Research Program
he Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change program seeks to improve the quality of health care provided to patients from racial and ethnic backgrounds likely to experience disparities.
The Finding Answers program will grant funds to discover and evaluate practical and replicable solutions designed to reduce and eliminate disease-specific racial and ethnic health care disparities; focus on interventions aimed at healthcare delivery for cardiovascular disease, depression, and/or diabetes; conduct systematic reviews of the literature regarding racial and ethnic healthcare disparities interventions; and disseminate results from these research efforts and systematic reviews to encourage healthcare systems to address racial and ethnic gaps in care. Applicants may define a specific population group or subgroups to be targeted.
Only organizations that administer and directly provide an intervention to the target population are eligible to apply. ...
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The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
The Fellowships are grants for up to two years of graduate study in the United States in any professional field (e.g., engineering, medicine, law, social work, etc.) or scholarly discipline in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Each year Fellows receive a maintenance grant of $20,000 and a tuition grant of one-half the tuition costs (up to a maximum of $16,000 per academic year). Thirty Fellowships will be awarded each year.
Applicants must be:
A New American [an individual who (1) is a resident alien, i.e., holds a Green Card; or, (2) has been naturalized as a US citizen, or (3) is the child of two parents who are both naturalized citizens.] who retain loyalty and a sense of commitment to their country of origin as well as to the United States, but is intended to support individuals who will continue to regard the United States as their principal residence and focus of national identity.
Either have a bachelor's degree or be in her/his final year of undergraduate study. Those who have a bachelor's degree may already be pursuing graduate study and may receive Fellowship support to continue that study. ...
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BAGNC Call For Applicants
Call for Applications
BAGNC Scholarship and Fellowship Programs
BAGNC is seeking nurses who are committed to advancing the field of advancing geriatric nursing.
For more information and to apply, please see www.geriatricnursing.org/applications
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Finding Answers Launches Third Call for Proposals (CFP)
Finding Answers Launches Third Call for Proposals (CFP)
Seeking Solutions from Nurses
The CFP requests submissions for projects to evaluate interventions with the potential to reduce racial and ethnic health care disparities in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, depression and diabetes.
Finding Answers seeks proposals that evaluate policy, organizational, provider, patient, or community focused interventions. All interventions must be integrated into a system of ongoing medical care.
Nursing interventions may be particularly promising for reducing disparities. Therefore, we are especially looking for interventions involving and led by nurses.
Proposals from community-based organizations, employers and health plans are also encouraged.
Grants awarded through the Finding Answers initiative range between $100,000 and $275,000.
Please carefully read the CFP for all eligibility criteria, selection criteria and proposal submission instructions. Please note:
Brief proposals are due September 18, 2008.
Two applicant Web conferences will be held to allow potential applicants to ask questions about the CFP.
Download CFP...
Omega-3s Display Surprising Effect on Wound Healing
Americans are urged to consume a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids because these fish-based polyunsaturated fats have been found to minimize inflammation and promote healing. Omega-3 supplements and foods fortified with omega-3s are widely available.
A new study, however, says that we may want to omit our omega-3 supplements a few days ahead of elective surgery in order to speed the healing process. This surprising conclusion comes from a study that was expected to document the healing powers of omega-3s during the healing of small, acute, blister wounds on the arms of study participants. Instead of speeding the healing process, the blisters on the study participants taking omega-3 fish oil supplements actually got off to a slower start than participants taking placebos.
Upon microscopic examination, the blister fluid in participants taking supplements was found to contain a greater number of proteins that actually promote and sustain inflammation. The average healing time was just over 10 days for both groups, in spite of the presence of the inflammation-encouraging proteins in the group taking fish oil supplements. ...
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Making patients move requires the right exercise advice
It is common knowledge that regular exercise supports physical and mental well-being. Despite this and recommendations from health care providers, the majority of patients with chronic illnesses remain inactive.
In a new study, University of Missouri researchers found that adults with chronic illness who received interventions focused on behavior-changing strategies significantly increased their physical activity levels. In contrast, interventions based on cognitive approaches, which attempt to change knowledge, beliefs and attitudes, and are most commonly used by health care providers, did not improve physical activity.
"The information that physicians are giving patients isn't working. Patients are not motivated when they hear 'exercise is good; it will improve your health.' What works is providing patients with simple, action-orientated strategies to increase their activity levels," said Vicki Conn, professor and associate dean of research in the MU Sinclair School of Nursing.
Behavior strategies include feedback, goal setting, self-monitoring, and stimulus or cues. ...
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Schools lack resources to graduate more nurses
As the shortage of nurses threatens to reach crisis proportions, more people are willing to enter the demanding but recession-proof career. So why are nursing schools turning away record numbers? "We don't have enough faculty, and we don't have enough physical space," says Kathleen Dirschel, dean of the Cochran School of Nursing, part of St. John's Riverside Hospital in Yonkers, N.Y.
Dirschel said that in the next five years, she might have to reduce her program to 220 from 350.
"There's a nursing shortage, yes; but worse, there's a terrible nursing teacher shortage," she said.
To Regina S. Cunningham, the chief nursing officer at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick, that is simply unacceptable.
"The shortage of nursing poses a substantial threat to the health of the nation. Work environments and workload issues have led to dissatisfaction and burnout among many talented professionals over the past few decades," says Cunningham, who also is an assistant professor of family medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. ...
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Culturally Sensitive Health Education Improves Diabetes Outcomes, Study Suggests
A study published recently in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews suggests that culturally sensitive diabetes education can help to improve short-term clinical outcomes for minority patients with type 2 diabetes, Reuters reports. Led by a team of researchers from Cardiff University in Wales, the study is based on an analysis of 11 randomized controlled trials comparing the efficacy of culturally tailored diabetes education against standard diabetes care. The studies included 1,603 minority patients ages 16 and older from middle- or high-income nations. According to the analysis, patients receiving culturally sensitive diabetes education reported clinically significant improvements in glycemic control at three months and six months, while patients in the standard care group reported no change. In addition, participants in the culturally tailored intervention group displayed increased understanding of diabetes and healthy lifestyles for a full year following the intervention. However, the researchers note that there was no improvement in other clinical measures, including cholesterol, blood pressure or weight, or in quality of life among patients in either group. ...
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Impact of Telehealth on Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Heart Failure
he purpose of this randomized field study was to determine the effects of telehomecare on hospitalization, emergency department (ED) use, mortality, and symptoms related to sodium and fluid intake, medication use, and physical activity. The sample consists of 284 patients with heart failure. The authors used logistic regression to study the effects of telehomecare on health services utilization and mortality and a general linear model to analyze changes in self-reported symptoms. On average, patients in the telehomecare groups had a lower probability of hospitalizations and ED visits than did patients in the control group. Differences were statistically significant at 60 days but not 120 days. Results show a greater reduction in symptoms for patients using telehomecare compared to control patients. The technology enables frequent monitoring of clinical indices and permits the home health care nurse to detect changes in cardiac status and intervene when necessary.
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NCEMNA Congratulates:
Debra Toney RN, PhD. On being named to the NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women's Health. Way to go Debra!
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