Job Opportunity: Project Coordinator

Job Title: Project Coordinator
Employer: The California Center for Physical Activity
Job Description: This person will coordinate and/or develop and expand four dynamic projects aimed at increasing physical activity among children and their families. In addition, incumbent will write grant proposals, negotiate budgets, monitor and evaluate work plan activities, prepare project reports, develop issue briefs and white papers, present at state and national professional meetings and conferences, and develop expertise in innovative project areas.
Location: Sacramento, CA
Requirements: Bachelors degree in Public Health, Urban Planning or a related field and three years of related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience; Background in community design, education and community capacity-building helpful; Excellent written and verbal communication skills required; Masters degree highly preferred.

For more information, individuals can apply at: http://ucsfhr.ucsf.edu/careers/ The req number is 23168BR and job code and title is 7236: Analyst III.

Job Opportunity: Project Coordinator

The Kids' Plates program is looking for a full time staff member to work as a Project Coordinator based in Sacramento, CA. Job responsibilities include Identification, networking, and collaboration with new and existing partners and funders to increase and build upon the local, regional, and statewide capacity of child and adolescent injury control, for current and potential Kids' Plates grantees; Identification of new and emerging Kids' Plates program needs. Research and development of innovative IP programs, issues and resources; and coordination and dissemination of current and upcoming information relevant child and adolescent injury prevention through the statewide injury prevention website.

If you are interested in the position or want to find out more, go to: https://jobsfoundation.sdsu.edu/ then click on "search jobs" and go to job 070120 Project Coordinator at the Center for Injury Prevention Policy and Practice.

Healthy You-Keeping Kids Safe on the Road

In the June/July issue of APHA's newsletter, "The Nation's Health," the Healthy You section is all about easy steps to keep children safe on the road. The article stresses the importnace of seat belt use, talking to teens about driving and safe behaviors, and tire tips to keep your car running safely. You can download free copies of Healthy You every month. (May have to wait for updates on the site)

Click here to see this month's Healthy You

Drug Overdose Deaths

In April, New Mexico enacted a law that would protect thosewho contact emergency services for a friend or family member experiencing drug overdoses. This law was made to decrease the death rate of those experiencing drug overdoses. By not charging or prosecuting those people in possession of illegal substances, New Mexico hopes that more people will be willing to call in a drug overdose so that the number of preventable deaths due to overdoses decreases.

To read more about this law, visit the APHA's newsletter, "The Nation's Health"

Familicide

Familicide is the term used to describe the killing of one's entire family and oneself. The majority of US familicides are committed by the father and it is usually triggered by financial hardship. Mothers that commit familicides usually only kill the children and not the spouse because they believe that the husband can cope and move on but that the children would be left in a cruel world so that it would be better for her to take them with her. Familicide is seen as an extended suicide of the perpetrator. although familicides are infrequent, the majority of mass suicides (the killing of 4 or more people in less than a 24 hour period) committed in the US are familicides.

To read more about familicides, click here

Parents, Kids, and Media Content

The Kaiser Family Foundation has just released a report on parents and their control over sex and violence in the media. The study involved 1,008 parents of children ages 2-17 years old. The study found that two-thirds of parents are concerned about the amount of sex and violence in the media today but only 20% of parents think it is their problem. The majority of parents believe that they are doing a good job of controlling the amount of sex and violence their kids are exposed to at home. They do so buy blocking certain channels, closely monitoring Internet use, and by talking to clerks at video game stores about ratings and appropriateness. However, parents are concerned about their children once they step outside the house and away from their watchful eyes.

Two-thirds of parents want stricter government policies on TV content but say that the educational programing on TV is a positive factor in the development of their child. The majority of parents also believe that despite the negativity of the dangers of the Internet, they believe that it is largely a positive force in the education of their children.


To read more about the study, click here.

Ten Road Commandments

The Vatican has released the Ten Road Commandments which are aimed at promoting safer driving practices. This release comes from the office for migrants and itinerant people. The head of the office, Cardinal Renato Martino, felt like this was neccessary because driving has become such a large part of daily life. The ten Road Commandments are as follows:

1. You shall not kill.
2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.
3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.
4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.
5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.
6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.
7. Support the families of accident victims.
8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.
9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.
10. Feel responsible toward others.

To read more about the Ten Road Commandments, click here.

Free Playground Training in Los Angeles

Play (WE Play!) Training

Los Angeles, CA

July 18, 2007

This free workshop is hosted by KaBOOM! The training will prepare you to build great playspaces such as playgrounds, skateparks, sports fields and ice rinks in your community. Here are a few topics you'll master at WE Play!

* Using the community-build approach that both reduces cost and engages your community
* Safety considerations and choosing the right playground equipment
* Planning effective fundraising events and writing successful grant proposals
* Evaluating and selecting equipment vendors

Registration is free but space is limited.

Click here to register and to find out more information.

Summer is the Most Dangerous Time for Kids Playing In and Around Cars

According to the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety (ACTS), summer is the most dangerous time of the year for children playing in and around cars. This is because the children are out of school and most likely outside with little or no supervision. Each year hundreds of children suffer injuries or death from vehicles backing out of driveways, being trapped in hot vehicles or in car trunks, being strangled by power windows, or in vehicles inadvertently put in motion by children moving the shift lever.

ACTS has compiled the results of a survey done on over 900 parents with children 12 years and under about parenting behavior and supervision of their children in and around cars. Here are some of the results.

- On average, parents normally hold a child's hand in a parking lot until the child is at least 7 1/2 years old.
- Most parents require their children to be in a safety seat or booster seat until age 6 1/2.
- 9 out of 10 parents say they have never left a child under 5 alone in a car.
- Two thirds of parents thought it unlikely or very unlikely that a child in their neighborhood might die from the heat after being left alone in a car.
- Less than half (46%) thought it was likely that a child in their neighborhood might be hit by a car backing out of a driveway.
- 44% of parents surveyed have known someone whose child was hit by a car.

To read the full survey results and to visit the new and improved ACTS site, click here

Study: California's Strict Laws Decrease Illegal Firearm Purchases at Gun Shows

Injury Prevention, a peer-reviewed health journal, published a study involving field observations of gun shows across the country and the effect that California laws have on curbing illegal firearm purchases compared to other states.

The study collected data from 28 gun shows, eight each in California and Nevada, six in Arizona, four in Texas and two in Florida - between April 2005 and March 2006. California has the toughest regulations- requiring gun show promoters to be licensed whereas the others states do not have such regulations. The other states were chosen because they were the leading sources of guns used in crimes in California.

Common at the gun shows in the other states were "straw purchases," where an individual with a clean record would purchase a firearm under their name for someone with a criminal record. Also, private party sales that do not require the buyer to undergo a background check have long been suspected as a way for criminals to get guns. In the comparison states, such sales are not regulated, working under the "don't ask, don't tell policy." In California, private party sales can take place, but they must be processed by a licensed retailer, the buyer must submit to a background check, and the transaction is documented.

This study shows that regulations do work and that California, above all the other states, has the lowest number of illegal firearm transactions.

To read more about this study, click here.

2007 National Injury & Violence Prevention Research Conference

The Society for Advancement for Violence and Injury Prevention (SAVIR) along with the Columbus Children's Hospital, will host the first national injury and violence research conference on October 10-11, 2007 in Columbus, Ohio. The objectives of the conference are:

1) To identify and evaluate recent injury & violence research findings in the areas of qualitative, quantitative, and translational research,
2) To organize across disciplines to address the unique challenges faced by researchers and public health professionals in injury and violence prevention, and
3) to recognize and potentially solve methodological issues encountered in injury and violence research.

Research abstracts will be accepted until July 15, 2007.

For more information about SAVIR, click here

For the PDF/registration forfor the conference, click here

Antidepressants and the Risk of Suicide

The New England Journal of Medicine has just released an article about antidepressants and suicide entitled: "Expanding the Black Box-Depression, Antideppresants and the Risk of Suicide" by Richard A. Friedman, M.D., and Andrew C. Leon, Ph.D.

On May 2, 2007, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered that all antidepressant medications carry an expanded black-box warning incorporating information about an increased risk of suicidal symptoms in young adults 18 to 24 years of age. Also included on the label is, "depression and other serious psychiatric disorders are themselves associated with increases in the risk of suicide," which implies that suicidal thinking, feeling, and behavior are core symptoms of the disease and if you do not take the medication, there are risks.

This new label may confuse depressed patients and their families and frighten physicians from prescribing medication to their patients. However, the label does bring into light the issue of untreated depression and the importance of recognizing depression and following a patient's progress especially in the beginning of treatment.

To read the full article, click here

Heads Up! Tool for Diagnosing and Managing Brain Injuries

In the June 7, 2007 edition of the MMWR, there is a notice to readers informing them about the prevelance of mild traumatic brain injuries (MTBI) and how clinicians can help prevent MTBI or concussion and improve patient health outcomes with early diagnosis, management, and appropriate referral. Diagnosing MTBIs can be difficult due to certain symptoms that appear to be similar to those of other medical conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and headache syndromes.

To aid clinicians in the diagnosis and management of MTBIs, CDC recently updated and revised the Heads Up: Brain Injury in Your Practice tool kit. The free tool kit can be ordered or downloaded at http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/tbi/physicians_tool_kit.htm. Additional information regarding MTBI is available at http://www.cdc.gov/injury, or by e-mail, cdcinfo@cdc.gov, or telephone, 800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636).

Web Conference: The Health Care Sector: A Dialogue on Organizational Practices to Prevent Violence Against Women

On June 22, 2007 at 11:00 am PST, the Prevention Institute and the California Coalition Against Sexual Assult will host "The Health Care Sector: A Dialogue on Organizational Practices to Prevent Violence Against Women." This conference is one of a series of open dialogues that will highlight specific organizational practices from the health care sector to promote primary prevention of violence against women. The web conference is free but registration is required. All the materials for the conference are available online (click the link below).

Click here for more information and to register for the Web Conference

Report:Poised for Prevention: Advancing Promising Approaches to Primary Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence

In September 2006, Prevention Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation convened leaders from across the country to develop a vision for primary prevention of intimate partner violence (IPV). This report is a showcase of the gathering. It explores what communities can do to prevent IPV before it occurs, primary prevention efforts within immigrant communities, and recommended actions to build national momentum for primary prevention of IPV.

To read the full report, click here

Planning Communities: What Health Has to Do With It

One of our members, Nancy Baer, along with Tracey Rattray, has just released "Planning Communities: What Health Has to Do With It," an article about urban planning and it's impact on public health. This article may be of particular interest to those working in transportation safety, urban planning, land use, and building healthy communities. Feel free to distribute widely and to anyone interested. Print copies are available upon request.

Click here to access the pdf of Planning Communities

Save the Date: Discover the Connections! Bridging Strategies to Prevent Child Injury and Maltreatment

On February 24-26, 2008, in Sacramento, CA, the California Department of Public Health and the California Department of Social Services will host "Discover Connections," the first combined conference on Child and Adolescent Injury and Maltreatment Prevention. The conference will initiate discovery on how attendees can collaborate and learn from each other to ensure that every child enjoys a healthy life in a nurturing environment and community.

More information as it becomes available but remember to SAVE the DATE!

CIPN Survey Thank You

Thank you to all the members that submitted a survey. We had lots of great feedback and we hope that we can incorporate all of the great ideas that we received into our site and blog. Congratulations to the winners of the raffle for the book "Injury Prevention and Public Health: Practical Knowledge, Skills and Strategies." The winners are Dawn Arledge, Nell Bernstein, and Anna Zacher. If you have any more comments and suggestions, we would love to hear them. Let us know at injprevnetwork@sfdph.org or post on the blog! Thanks again!