CDCynergy Demonstration
At the Local Health Assessment Coordinators meetings in late February there will be a demonstration of CDC’s CDCynergy, a new resource on compact disk designed by the CDC to help public health professionals plan communication programs. The presentation will also include a review of applied program evaluation concepts based on "CDC’s Framework for Program Evaluation."The presenter is Lauren Jenks a CDC Prevention Specialist currently assigned to DOH to develop a colorectal cancer prevention program. The presentation will be from 1:30-3:30 on Feb. 25, 2002 in Olympia, Feb. 27 in Moses Lake, and Feb. 28 in Everett. Very limited space is available and preference will be given to local public health staff. Please contact
Christie Spice at 360-236-4345 to reserve your spot. Christie will contact those who RSVP with location and driving directions. Bring your questions for Lauren – this will be a great opportunity to get some consultation from a local expert.
Grant Opportunities
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced a new $10-million national program to improve access to quality health care for Latinos with limited English proficiency by using cost-effective interpretation and translation services.
The Pfizer Foundation Health Literacy Community Grants Program will support innovative community-based interventions through five $100,000 grants to increase health literacy in underserved populations.
Thank You
For Your Feedback on the
Camera Ready Materials Database
We received many comments from our test last month on a new feature that was requested by our users. It provides high quality PDF files of educational materials produced by the state Department of Health. The feedback has been very positive and you’ve made some great suggestions. The H.E.R.E. team is reviewing all the comments and will make a few changes to improve how the database works. We hope to have camera-ready materials available later this month on the Educational Materials page.
Teach a Feature
Listservs are both a blessing and a bane. Subscribing to a listserv is free. It’ll keep you in touch with a network of colleagues and offers a way to share information and take action quickly. It can also add a ton of email messages to your mailbox.
H.E.R.E. in Washington provides a link to the hosts of several popular public health and health education listservs, along with directions on how to subscribe. Look under
"Making Connections."We have also included a description of how listservs work and some rules of "netiquette." Always keep in mind that when you reply to listserv messages, your reply gets sent to everyone. So if you want to stay friends with colleagues on a listserv, don't add to their volume of mail by sending a lot of "I agree" or "You Go Girl" messages. Add your valuable perspective to the discussion, and when you want to comment to an individual, copy that person's email address into a new mail window.
If you subscribe to one or more listservs, we recommend using your email program to "create rules" that will automatically send listerv messages to a folder. This way you don't clutter your email window with dozens listserv messages and the discussion will be organized and ready to browse when you have time.
Mentor of the Month
James Lanz is a Public Health Nurse for the Health Promotion Unit at the Southwest Washington Health District (SWWHD) in Vancouver. He is a member of the district’s Tobacco Prevention and Control Team. He earned his BS in Nursing and History from the University of Michigan. He spent several years as a Diabetes Nurse Educator for SWWHD and also coordinated the "Take Heart!" cardiovascular risk screening program for employees.
James says his most unusual health promotion activity at SWWHD was decorating a junker car to enter as a "float" in a local 4th of July parade. The theme of the float: "Don't wind up like this old car, get your blood pressure checked!"
James strongly feels that a healthy community has to have a vigorous, adequately funded public health system. He says, "It's essential to share information, resources, tools, techniques, and ideas with each other so we aren't always reinventing the wheel. This is one reason I'm such a strong supporter of H.E.R.E. in Washington!" James’ words of advice to new health educators: "Set personal boundaries and stick to them. Leave work at work, and practice good self-care to avoid burnout. This includes cultivating friendships, getting regular exercise, having fun and playing." When asked about future challenges in health promotion, he listed adequate funding for programs, teaching others how to use social marketing principles and sharing our knowledge, skills, and expertise with other health professionals. James is the father of two teenage sons. His partner, also a public health nurse, works for Multnomah County Oregon. James is an avid gardener---he finds it relaxing and not work. He enjoys swimming, biking (he’s gone on a couple of 300 mile bicycle trips), camping with his family, traveling and hosting visitors from other countries. You can contact him by email at
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