The Free Webinar: Affordable Care Act and Prevention | June 16, 2011 | 1 p.m. Eastern Time

This webinar, intended for consumers, providers, and state officials, will provide basic information about the prevention provisions and activities that are included in the Affordable Care Act.


Register for the Affordable Care Act and Prevention Webinar  June 16, 2011, 1 p.m. Eastern

Older Adults Not Getting Recommended Preventive Services

Critical gaps exist between older Americans who receive potentially lifesaving preventive services and those who do not, according to a new report from agencies of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Clinical prevention services examined in the report include vaccinations that protect against influenza and pneumococcal disease (e.g., bloodstream infections, meningitis, and pneumonia), screenings for the early detection of breast cancer, colorectal cancer, diabetes, lipid disorders, and osteoporosis, and smoking cessation counseling.

The report was published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in partnership with HHS' Administration on Aging, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The document, "Enhancing Use of Clinical Preventive Services Among Older Adults: Closing the Gap," highlights the need to promote preventive services for adults age 65 and older, especially among minorities.

"Millions of Americans are not getting proven clinical preventive services that we know can prevent disease and improve quality of life," said Lynda Anderson, Ph.D., director of the Healthy Aging Program at CDC and one of the primary authors. "The report takes stock of current levels of recommended services by older adults, and it becomes obvious that many of these services are woefully underutilized."

About 10,000 Americans turn 65 every day; by 2030, about 1 in 5 Americans will be 65 older.

"We know prevention is critical to healthy living and independence," said Kathy Greenlee, assistant secretary for aging. "It is important that we continue our efforts at the community level to reach all older Americans. We want to ensure that they are aware of the preventive benefits which are available to them, including those made possible by the Affordable Care Act."

The report also addresses the use of preventive services by diverse populations. It says 49 percent of Asian/Pacific Islanders and 47 percent of Hispanics reported not being screened for colorectal cancer, in comparison to 34 percent of whites. More than 50 percent of Hispanics, 47 percent of blacks and Asian/Pacific Islanders, and 36 percent of whites report never receiving a pneumococcal vaccination.

According to the report, challenges underlying these disparities are complex and reach beyond the traditional health care arena of patient-provider interactions. Older adults may not be aware of the services recommended for their age group or may not know that the services are covered by Medicare, the report said.

"The section of the report titled `Making a Difference' features innovative strategies applied at the local, state, and national levels to increase the use of preventive services in underserved communities," said Wayne Giles, M.D., M.S., director, Division of Adult and Community Health at CDC. "By putting into practice effective community and clinical strategies, we can dramatically reduce the gaps highlighted in this report."

The showcased activities include: promotion of policies to increase community access, making services available in convenient community settings, such as providing influenza vaccinations at polling places on election days, and building awareness through media.

Non-federal organizations contributing to the report include AARP, American Medical Association, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, Gerontological Society of America, National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, National Association of County and City Health Officials, and National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities.

"Giving Americans access to quality, proven preventive services in their communities is a crucial part of improving the health of Americans and lowering their health care costs in the long run," said AARP board member Catherine Georges, R.N., Ed.D.

Contributors to and supporters of this report agree that the use of such services should be a high priority of community and health systems alike. While the benefit of expanded insurance coverage is substantial, it is also important that older adults take advantage of preventive services on a regular basis to ensure good health.

"If we can help patients age 65 and older get the recommended preventive screenings and regular immunizations, we could significantly reduce unnecessary illness," said Edward Langston, M.D., an American Medical Association board member.

To view the full report and for more information about CDC′s health aging activities visit here.

Source:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Fiber-Full Diet Lengthens Life

By Crystal Phend, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today

Getting lots of dietary fiber appears to reduce the risk of dying -- particularly from cardiovascular, infectious, or respiratory diseases -- according to a large observational study.

The study of more than 500,000 people found those with the highest dietary fiber intake -- an average of 29.4 grams per day for men and 25.8 for women -- had a 22% lower risk of dying from any cause over nine years of follow-up compared with those with the lowest fiber intake -- a mean of 12.6 grams per day for men and 10.8 for women -- (P<0.001 for trend), Yikyung Park, ScD, of the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Md., and colleagues found.

Higher fiber consumption lowered the risk of death from cardiovascular, infectious, and respiratory diseases by 24% to 56% in men and by 34% to 59% in women, Park and co-authors reported online in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Full Article

Berries Keep Parkinson's at Bay

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By Kristina Fiore, Staff Writer, MedPage Today

The tiniest fruits may pack a big punch against Parkinson's -- berries were associated with a decreased risk of the disease among those who ate the greatest amounts, according to an analysis of data from two large prospective cohort studies.

Dietary data from almost 130,000 men and women revealed that those with the highest intakes of anthocyanins -- a type of flavonoid found in berries -- had a 22% reduced risk of Parkinson's disease compared with those who ate the least (P=0.02), Xiang Gao, MD, PhD, of Harvard, and colleagues reported in an early release from the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting, to be held in Honolulu in April.
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HHS Announces $750 Million Investment in Prevention

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New health care law provides new funding to reduce tobacco use, obesity and heart disease, and build healthier communities

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced a $750 million investment in prevention and public health, funded through the Prevention and Public Health Fund created by the new health care law.  Building on $500 million in investments last year, these new dollars will help prevent tobacco use, obesity, heart disease, stroke, and cancer; increase immunizations; and empower individuals and communities with tools and resources for local prevention and health initiatives.

"Prevention is something that can't just happen in a doctor's office.  If we are to address the big health issues of our time, from physical inactivity to poor nutrition to tobacco use, it needs to happen in local communities," said Sebelius.  "This investment is going to build on the prevention work already under way to help make sure that we are working effectively across the federal government as well as with private groups and state and local governments to help Americans live longer, healthier lives."


The Prevention and Public Health Fund, part of the Affordable Care Act, is designed to expand and sustain the necessary capacity to prevent disease, detect it early, manage conditions before they become severe, and provide states and communities the resources they need to promote healthy living.  In FY2010, $500 million of the Prevention Fund was distributed to states and communities to boost prevention and public health efforts, improve health, enhance health care quality, and foster the next generation of primary health professionals.  Today, HHS posted new fact sheets detailing how that $500 million was allocated in every state. Those fact sheets are available at www.HealthCare.gov/news/factsheets/prevention02092011a.html. 

This year, building on the initial investment, new funds are dedicated to expanding on four critical priorities:

. Community Prevention ($298 million): These funds will be used to help promote health and wellness in local communities, including efforts to prevent and reduce tobacco use; improve nutrition and increase physical activity to prevent obesity; and coordinate and focus efforts to prevent chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

. Clinical Prevention ($182 million): These funds will help improve access to preventive care, including increasing awareness of the new prevention benefits provided under the new health care law.  They will also help increase availability and use of immunizations, and help integrate behavioral health services into primary care settings.

. Public Health Infrastructure ($137 million): These funds will help state and local health departments meet 21st century challenges, including investments in information technology and training for the public health workforce to enable detection and response to infectious disease outbreaks and other health threats.

. Research and Tracking ($133 million): These funds will help collect data to monitor the impact of the Affordable Care Act on the health of Americans and identify and disseminate evidence-based recommendations on important public health challenges. 

The Obama Administration recognizes the importance of a broad approach to addressing the health and well-being of our communities. Other initiatives put forth by the Obama Administration to promote prevention include:

. The President's Childhood Obesity Task Force and the First Lady's Let's Move! initiative aimed at combating childhood obesity.

. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that provides $1 billion for community-based initiatives, tobacco cessation activities, chronic disease reduction programs, and efforts to reduce healthcare-acquired infections.

. The Affordable Care Act's National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health Council, composed of senior government officials, charged with designing a National Prevention and Health Promotion Strategy.

For more information about the FY2011 Prevention and Public Health Fund investments, visit www.HealthCare.gov/news/factsheets/prevention02092011b.html.

CIDRAP >> Study Supports Infection Potential of Airborne Flu Viruses

Aerosolized flu viruses, the type that can remain airborne for hours, circulate in places such as doctor's offices, daycare centers, and airplanes in doses large enough to cause infection, researchers from Virginia Tech reported yesterday.
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Most Seniors Don't Get Shingles Vaccination, CDC Finds

Although a vaccine to prevent shingles has been available since 2006, less than 7 percent of U.S. seniors - the demographic most frequently affected by the disease - chose to receive the vaccination as of 2008, finds a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The vaccine reduces the risk of getting shingles by half and the risk of developing painful complications by two-thirds, according to Gary Euler, study co-author. Since the chance of contracting shingles increases with age and especially is high by age 80, when seniors are frail, he believes the value of the vaccine is incontestable.

Specifically, the vaccine protects against the herpes zoster virus, which causes chicken pox at first infection. The body never rids itself of the virus and it can show up again decades later as shingles. Symptoms include headache, fever and tingling or throbbing accompanied by jabs of stabbing pain called post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), followed by a skin rash and blisters.

Up to 10 in every thousand seniors develop shingles every year. Without the vaccination, 10 percent to 14 percent of them will suffer from neuralgia.

In the new study appearing online and in the February 2011 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers found that estimated coverage levels were low among all seniors and lowest among minority groups.

Source: Health Behavior News Service, part of the Center for Advancing Health

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Better Choices, Better Health™ : National Council on Aging

Nearly half of all adults live with one or more chronic health conditions, such as arthritis, asthma, diabetes, lung disease, heart disease, stroke, and osteoporosis.

But millions struggle to find ways to manage their condition. Our Better Choices, Better Health™ program helps.

Better Choices, Better Health™ is the online version of the internationally recognized Chronic Disease Self Management Program (CDSMP), developed and tested at the Stanford University Patient Education Center.

Now Available in Seven States

With funding from the Atlantic Philanthropies, we're making Better Choices, Better Health™ available to individuals in seven states:

• California
• Hawaii
• Iowa
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• New Jersey
• Oregon

Learn Self-Care Techniques Online

The six-week online Better Choices, Better Health™ workshop helps participants reduce their pain and anxiety and manage their symptoms. Led by trained facilitators, many of whom live with chronic conditions themselves, participants discuss:

• Stress reduction
• Dealing with stressful emotions
• Planning for the future
• Locating and using community resources
• Building communication skills
• Asking for help

Participants can log onto the free sessions from any computer with an Internet connection, including dial-up, at any time. At their own convenience, they can:

• Complete exercises
• Read posted materials
• Interact with others who are also coping with a chronic condition

Register Today!

You must live in one of the seven pilot states to qualify for this program. Classes are forming monthly.

• Register now.

Help Promote This Free Online Program

Learn more about Better Choices, Better Health™ and help promote it in your community:

• Flyer for participants [PDF]
• Flyer for professionals [PDF]
• Press release

In-Person Workshops in Your Area

NCOA's Center for Healthy Aging also is bringing in-person, community-based CDSMP workshops to individuals across the country.

Through funding from the U.S. Administration on Aging, these offerings are currently promoted to thousands of people in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

• Request more information about in-person, community-based CDSMP programs in your area.

Better Choices, Better Health™ : NCOA, National Council on Aging

CDC HandwashingVideo

Healthcare-Associated Infection: Not on My Watch - Kimberly-Clark Health Care

Join the community of healthcare professionals concerned with preventing Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), which at any given moment seriously affect 1.4 million hospitalized patients worldwide.

The HAI WATCHDOG* forums are intended to provide a place for health care providers to discuss issues and best practices related to Hospital-Associated Infections (HAIs).

Kimberly-Clark is committed to helping win the battle to prevent HAIs. As part of that effort, we are pleased to sponsor this new community site for healthcare providers to discuss HAI without discussion of product-specific information.

HAI WATCHDOG* Community members can:

• Participate in discussions or start your own
• Post HAI-related videos, photos or links to articles
• Enter the 2010 HAI WATCHDOG* Awards and read and vote on others' entries; this is an excellent way to share initiatives to reduce HAIs and have the opportunity to be recogized with an educational grant
• Spread the word in your facility about your own HAI initiatives by creating customized HAI Commitment posters online; then print or email them to others
• Help this community grow by inviting others to join the HAI WATCHDOG* Community

Healthcare-Associated Infection: Not on My Watch - Kimberly-Clark Health Care

Aging Texas Well Plan 2010-2011

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The Aging Texas Well (ATW) Plan is submitted to the governor by the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) as required by Executive Order RP 42.

This 2010-11 Plan is the response to the RP 42 mandate that DADS create and disseminate a comprehensive and effective working plan to identify and discuss aging policy issues, guide state government readiness and promote increased community preparedness for an aging Texas. RP 42 also mandates that DADS update the plan biennially and evaluate and report on its implementation.

The plan details the elements of the ATW initiative and establishes objectives within each of the key focus areas identified by RP 42 mandates. During the />2010-11 biennium, with guidance from the Aging Texas Well Advisory Committee (ATWAC), DADS will address the areas of focus outlined in RP 42.

September 18 Is National HIV/AIDS & Aging Awareness Day

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The third annual National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day (NHAAAD) will be held on September 18, 2010. NHAAAD focuses on the challenging issues facing the aging population with regards to HIV prevention, testing, care, and treatment. This year’s campaign theme, Aging is a part of life; HIV doesn't have to be, illustrates the need to promote HIV prevention, education and testing among older Americans, who are frequently ignored when it comes to diagnoses.

In an effort to continually expand awareness about HIV/AIDS among the aging population, organizations and community members are invited to develop, implement and participate in awareness activities and events on or around September 18, 2010.

To download information and materials on events and activities to plan in your community, please go to http://www.theaidsinstitute.org/asp/ai_events.asp?ms=4&ss=55

To register your NHAAAD event, please go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DK8SXLZ

To learn more about AIDS and older Americans, please go to http://www.aids.gov/ or www.TheAIDSInstitute.org

Administration Announces Regulations Requiring New Health Insurance Plans to Provide Free Preventive Care

The Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury issued new regulations today, requiring new private health plans to cover evidence-based preventive services and eliminate cost sharing requirements for such services.  The new rules will help Americans gain easier access to services such as blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol tests; many cancer screenings; routine vaccinations; pre-natal care; and regular wellness visits for infants and children.

"Today, too many Americans do not get the high-quality preventive care they need to stay healthy, avoid or delay the onset of disease, lead productive lives, and reduce health care costs," said HHS Secretary Sebelius.  "From the Recovery Act to the First Lady's Let's Move Campaign to the Affordable Care Act, the Administration is laying the foundation to help transform the health care system from a system that focuses on treating the sick to a system that focuses on keeping every American healthy."

Chronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, are responsible for 7 of 10 deaths among Americans each year and account for 75 percent of the nation's health spending - and often are preventable.  Nationally, Americans use preventive services at about half the recommended rate.  An estimated 11 million children and 59 million adults have private insurance that does not adequately cover immunization, for instance.  Cost sharing, including deductibles, coinsurance, or copayments, has been found to reduce the likelihood that preventive services will be used. 

"Getting access to early care and screenings will go a long way in preventing chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, and high-blood pressure," said First Lady Michelle Obama.  "And good preventative care will also help tackle an issue that is particularly important to me as First Lady and as a mother - and that is the epidemic of childhood obesity in America today.  These are important tools, and now it's up to us to use them."

"One of the best ways to improve the quality of your life - and control health care costs - is to prevent illness in the first place," said Dr. Jill Biden. "Focusing on prevention and early treatment makes more sense than trying to play catch-up with a potentially deadly disease. Quite simply, these preventative services will save lives."

Under the regulations issued today, new health plans beginning on or after September 23, 2010, must cover preventive services that have strong scientific evidence of their health benefits, and these plans may no longer charge a patient a copayment, coinsurance or deductible for these services when they are delivered by a network provider.  Specifically, these recommendations include:

* Evidence-based preventive services: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of scientific experts, rates preventive services based on the strength of the scientific evidence documenting their benefits.  Preventive services with a "grade" of A or B, like breast and colon cancer screenings, screening for vitamin deficiencies during pregnancy, screenings for diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and tobacco cessation counseling will be covered under these rules. 

* Routine vaccines: Health plans will cover a set of standard vaccines recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices ranging from routine childhood immunizations to periodic tetanus shots for adults.

* Prevention for children: Health plans will cover preventive care for children recommended under the Bright Futures guidelines, developed by the Health Resources and Services Administration with the American Academy of Pediatrics.  These guidelines provide pediatricians and other health care professionals with recommendations on the services they should provide to children from birth to age 21 to keep them healthy and improve their chances of becoming healthy adults.  The types of services that will be covered include regular pediatrician visits, vision and hearing screening, developmental assessments, immunizations, and screening and counseling to address obesity and help children maintain a healthy weight. 

* Prevention for women: Health plans will cover preventive care provided to women under both the Task Force recommendations and new guidelines being developed by an independent group of experts, including doctors, nurses, and scientists, which are expected to be issued by August 1, 2011.

Today's announcement builds on other provisions in the Affordable Care Act that support prevention, including the creation of a first-ever National Prevention, Health Promotion and public Health Council tasked with developing a national strategy and a Prevention and Public Health Fund to invest in prevention initiatives and, this year, policies to increase the number of primary care professionals to help ensure access to these services.  The Affordable Care Act also helps make it easier and more affordable for Americans enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid to access critical preventive screenings and services.

More information on the Affordable Care Act's new rules on preventive care can be found at: http://www.healthcare.gov/law/about/provisions/services/index.html.

The regulations can be found at: http://www.healthcare.gov/center/regulations/prevention/regs.html.

New Policy Brief Details the "Paradox" of Food Insecurity

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Limited resources for purchasing food has a dramatic impact on our health and our risk of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes. Like many health conditions, there are racial and ethnic differences in the prevalence of diabetes. For example, in California, among adults ages 50 and over, the prevalence of diabetes is 11.4% among Whites, and almost twice as high among communities of color; 22.2% among African Americans, 23.2% among Latinos, and 24.8% for American Indian/Alaskan Natives. In addition, the prevalence of diabetes is twice as high among adults with less than an 8th grade education as among adults with a college education. What is even more concerning is that even after adjusting for these socio-demographic trends, adults living with the most severe levels of food insecurity have more than twice the risk of developing diabetes as adults who are not food insecure.
Read Policy Brief

Falls and Follow-Ups: Medical Attention After a Fall Critical to Senior Health

Falling down is hazardous to a senior citizen's health. Yet fewer than half of all seniors see a doctor after a fall. And those who don't seek medical attention are far less likely to engage in any of the six widely recommended activities — such as a review of their medications or getting a cane or walker — that might prevent repeated falls, according to a new policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

In the study, researchers, using data from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey, found that even though 91 percent of California seniors reported seeing a doctor in the past year, a fall was rarely the reason for the visit. In fact, less than half (46.6 percent) of seniors who had fallen more than once reported a fall as the reason for a doctor's appointment.

Those who did not seek medical help were less likely to engage in activities that might prevent future falls — only about 31 percent did two or more follow-up activities to prevent falls. In contrast, 73 percent of seniors who did seek medical care after a fall engaged in two or more follow-up activities.

"Following up with a doctor after a fall is critical to senior health," said UCLA Center for Health Policy Research associate director Steven P. Wallace, lead author of the policy brief. "The safeguards we discuss are some of the best ways of preventing additional falls and the disastrous health consequences associated with falls."
Falls among the elderly are a widespread problem. More than half a million older Californians (565,000) fell more than once in 2007 — about 100,000 more than reported multiple falls in 2003, according to the California Department of Public Health and the Office of Statewide Planning and Development.

Falls are directly linked to declining health among older Americans: More than 1,400 California seniors died due to injuries from falls in 2007, and approximately 67,000 more were hospitalized.
National guidelines issued by the American Geriatrics Society and other organizations recommend the following activities for reducing the risk of falling among older adults with a history of falls: (1) an evaluation by a health professional with counseling on how to reduce falls, (2) a review of medications, (3) home modifications, (4) exercise and/or (5) physical therapy, and (6) using a cane or walker if needed.
The study's authors recommended a number of ways to encourage seniors and health care providers alike to prevent multiple falls, including:
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Clean Teeth Again Linked to Healthy Heart from MedPage Today

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By Crystal Phend, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today

Regular toothbrushing could help stave off cardiovascular disease, according to a nationally-representative study in Scotland.

Individuals who rarely or never brushed were 70% more likely to have a heart attack or other cardiovascular disease event (P<0.001) even after controlling for many other factors, found researchers led by Richard Watt, MSc, PhD, of University College London.

Even brushing once a day rather than twice a day was associated with a significant 30% increase in the risk of these fatal or nonfatal events.

Low-grade inflammation appeared to be playing a role, although whether it is a causal role remains uncertain, Watt's group reported online in BMJ.

These increases in risk could have a "profound public health impact," they wrote in the study.
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Why We Don’t Spend Enough on Public Health | Health Care Reform Center

by David Hemenway, Ph.D. in New England Journal of Medicine

The field of public health has long been the poor relation of medicine. Medicine — in which most resources are used to help cure individual patients after they have become sick or injured or to help manage already-existing chronic conditions — is flashy, its master practitioners and innovators lionized, and its accomplishments widely celebrated. In contrast, public health — in which most resources are focused on trying to keep something bad from happening in the first place — is seemingly mundane, its efforts and prime movers often all but invisible.

Medicine is primarily a private good — the patient receives the main benefit of any care provided. Payments usually come from the individual patient and, in the developed world, from private and governmental insurance. Public health, on the other hand, provides public goods — such as a good sewer system — and relies almost exclusively on government funding. It is generally acknowledged that public health is systematically underfunded and that shifting resources at the margin from cures to prevention could reduce the population’s morbidity and mortality. I believe there are four key reasons for such underfunding.
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A 2020 Vision for Healthy People | Health Care Reform Center

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by Howard K. Koh, M.D., M.P.H.in New England Journal of Medicine

How can we best advance the collective health of the United States, while monitoring our progress? This year offers another opportunity to revisit this fundamental yet profound question through the lens of the Healthy People initiative. In setting the country’s health-promotion and disease-prevention agenda for the past three decades, Healthy People has articulated overarching goals and tracked movement toward established targets. As we prepare for the next decade, the initiative aims to unify national dialogue about health, motivate action, and encourage new directions in health promotion, providing a public health roadmap and compass for the country.

The initiative, launched by the Department of Health and Human Services in 1979 as a systematic approach to health improvement, encompasses the mutually reinforcing tasks of setting goals, identifying baseline data and 10-year targets, monitoring outcomes, and evaluating the collective effects of health-improvement activities nationwide. Since the first iteration, the successive plans of Healthy People 2000 (released in 1990) and Healthy People 2010 (released in 2000) have identified emerging public health priorities and helped to align health-promotion resources, strategies, and research. Each decade, the program has set objectives that were deemed important, understandable, prevention-oriented, actionable, measurable with available high-quality data, and comparable to those in previous versions. Over the years, the responsibility of developing and implementing these objectives has engaged a growing network of professional and public partners, and the priority-setting process includes sifting through thousands of public comments that are routinely submitted through open community meetings and over the Web.

Wrapping up the activities of Healthy People 2010 permits an assessment of the status of the country’s health in relation to targets set a decade ago. The 2010 plan focused on two overarching goals: increasing the quality of life (including years of healthy life) for Americans and eliminating health disparities. Preliminary analyses show that life expectancy has in fact increased (during the period from 2000 to 2006) by 1.2% when measured at birth and by 5.1% when measured at age 65. However, the goal of eliminating disparities remains unmet.

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Baby Boomers Don't Use Preventive Services - MedPage Today

By Kristina Fiore, Staff Writer, MedPage Today

Only a quarter of baby boomers take advantage of preventive services such as flu vaccines and cancer screenings, a new report from the government and two powerful interest groups says.

At the same time, states are falling behind goals to increase certain screenings and reduce unhealthy behaviors, according to the report by the CDC, the American Medical Association (AMA), and the American Association for Retired Persons (AARP).

Researchers say the findings highlight a need for improved preventive services efforts.
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HHS Secretary Sebelius Announces the Availability of Recovery Act Funds for Community Prevention and Wellness Initiative

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Cooperative Agreement Opportunities for National Organizations

National organizations will have a key role in building a healthier nation as part of the new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Communities Putting Prevention to Work initiative. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced a funding opportunity for national public or private non-profit organizations to apply for $10 million in cooperative agreements to help communities decrease smoking and obesity, increase physical activity and improve nutrition.

"National organizations will help move America toward better health," said Secretary Sebelius. "Last month the First Lady announced the Let's Move campaign calling for public-private partnerships across states, local governments, and committed and trusted organizations to help communities implement proven prevention strategies. This opportunity is one of many steps HHS is taking to putting America on track to live longer, healthier lives while reducing health care costs."

Communities Putting Prevention to Work will change systems and environments-for example, improving access to healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity-and putting into place policies that will promote the health of populations. Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the $10 million in available funds will be awarded to national organizations through a competitive agreement process. With these funds, national organizations will provide expert guidance to communities, help sustain prevention efforts when recovery act funding ends, and foster a national movement toward prevention by implementing key practices across their networks and systems. The HHS Office of Public Health and Science is leading the national organizations component of Communities Putting Prevention to Work in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"In the United States, 7 of 10 deaths result from chronic disease," said HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Howard K. Koh, M.D., M.P.H. "Tobacco, obesity, poor nutrition and lack of physical activity are significant drivers of the nation's disease rates. National organizations have the knowledge and experience to help communities tackle these hard issues. Additionally, national organization's extensive networks will expand the reach and impact of the Communities Putting Prevention to Work initiative." National organizations interested in applying for Communities Putting Prevention to Work- Leveraging National Organizations cooperative agreements can find more information at www.grants.gov. The application deadline is April 19, 2010. To learn more about the Communities Putting Prevention to Work- Leveraging National Organizations program please visit: http://www.hhs.gov/ophs/funding/index.html