IN THE NEWS

Medical Student's Program Helps Transform Shelter Residents

The Women's Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania provides a great many things to abused women in the region: protection, medical attention, legal advice, employment counseling, even food and clothing if they need it. Yet as vital as those needs are, there was something lacking, education.

Susan Wong, a second-year student in the University of Pittsburgh's medical school, arrived at the shelter two years ago and put in place a program dedicated to teaching residents more about their health, medical and nutritional needs. Miss Wong found the classroom environment unfulfilling. By volunteering, she said, the information she acquired in the classroom became more valuable and more meaningful to her. She started out working with the doctors, assisting in assembling the medical histories and current conditions of the women at the shelter. Soon, she was spending more time with the women, listening to their stories, and assembling health pamphlets that they could use to learn more. She developed a program that talks to the women about ways to monitor one's own health through nutrition, exercise, watching cholesterol and blood pressure, going to the dentist, regular breast exams and how to make healthier choices for living. For more information contact the Women’s Center and Shelter at 412-687-8017.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

CDC Foundation and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Partner to Improve Child Abuse Prevention Programs

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation (CDC Foundation) has received a $3 million grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. A CDC research team will use the funds to test whether technology, such as cell phones, web-based learning and virtual reality software can be used to improve child abuse prevention programs. The CDC will select one to three organizations to receive a grant to add a new technology component to an ongoing, effective parenting program. CDC experts will provide the grantees with technical assistance and, at the end of the four-year grant period, will evaluate the usefulness of the added technology in improving overall program implementation, increasing enrollment and retention rates, improving parenting skills and reducing incidents of child abuse.
CDC issued a request for proposals in December 2005 and expects to announce one to three final grant recipients in fall of 2006. More information about the request for proposals and the application process is available online at http://www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/funding/CE06-006.htm. All letters of intent must be received by February 19, 2006.

Soliciting Papers on Health Disparities and Violence Prevention

The Family Violence Prevention and Health Practice ejournal invites you to submit brief reports and articles on programs addressing family violence in the health care and public health setting. Our next issue looks at Decreasing Disparities and Violence Prevention. We are soliciting brief reports and feature articles that explore the intersection between efforts to reduce health disparities in health outcomes for poor, minority and other underserved people and violence prevention initiatives. We would like to highlight model programs that are integrating violence prevention into health disparities initiatives and research that explores the differential burden of violence and chronic health problems among adults and children, what contributes to these disparities and what strategies can be used to identify, manage and prevent violence and co-occurring chronic health issues in culturally accessible ways.

To submit a program brief report, please provide an electronic copy of a description of the program including the goals and objectives, services provided, target population(s), funding sources and a synopsis of any data, evaluation, and/or research from the program. If evaluation findings are available for your program, include a description of the evaluation design, outcome measures, and recommendations. Contact information should include name, title, phone number, and e-mail address. Full length articles submitting original data should be organized by standard scientific sections and subheadings as follows: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Reviews and other types of articles where these headings may not be appropriate should use descriptive subheadings.

For further information about submitting manuscripts, contact Julie Varghese at Julie@endabuse.org.

Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) Launches Online National Calendar of Crime Victim Assistance-Related Events

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) has launched the online and interactive National Calendar of Crime Victim Assistance-Related Events. It is a centralized resource that can keep you up-to-date on what's taking place around the nation, or in your own backyard. The Calendar helps crime victim service providers and allied professionals stay in touch with all of the latest victim assistance conferences, trainings, ceremonies, and other events throughout the nation.

Visit http://ovc.ncjrs.gov/ovccalendar for OVC’s latest Web tool designed to keep professionals informed about what?s happening in the field and to add your organization’s event.

Coaching Boys Into Men

Violent behavior is learned and men have the power to teach boys that violence towards women and girls is wrong. Coaching Boys into Men, a new public education and public service announcement (PSA) campaign from the Family Violence Prevention Fund and the Ad Council invites men to start conversations with boys to talk to boys early and often about how they treat girls and women. The campaign includes English Television and radio, and Spanish radio PSAs. The goal of this PSA campaign is to empower men to teach the boys in their lives that relationship violence is wrong. Men can visit http://www.endabuse.org for advice on what to say and when to say it.

Ad Titles:
Television: Father & Son
Radio: Father & Son; Padre y Hijo

For information regarding localizing the PSA, additional copies of the PSAs, the Coaching Boys into Men brochure, or any additional materials included in this packet, please call or email Leiana Kinnicutt at (415) 252-8900 ext. 15, or Leiana@endabuse.org.

Nominees for Renaissance Woman Award

The Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine invites you to nominate an outstanding candidate for the Alma Dea Morani, MD, Renaissance Woman Award. The award recognizes a woman who has furthered the practice and understanding of medicine in our lifetime and made significant contributions outside of medicine, for example, in the humanities, arts or social sciences; whose determination and spirit have carried her beyond traditional pathways in medicine and science; and who challenges the status quo with a passion for learning. The award will be presented in conjunction with an annual lectureship at the College of Physicians in September 2006, in Philadelphia (travel and accommodation expenses will be covered). A stipulation of receiving the award is that the recipient be available to give a twenty to thirty minute presentation. For more information and to download a nomination form before April 3, 2006, go to http://www.fhwim.org/what_award.html#.

Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Data Resource Center

The National Institute of Justice through the Justice Research and Statistical Association has created a Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Data Resource Center. The Data Resource Center provides information on how data are collected and used in the states. Funded by the National Institute of Justice, this Center seeks to identify the types of information currently being captured by state and local agencies.

Available are:
National Summary - A comparison of all states on the type of system used and types of information collected
State Information - A state-by-state snapshot of state activities and practices
Projects - A list of the current projects related to domestic violence and sexual assault
Bibliography - A list of related reports
Forms - A library of the data collection forms used in the states
Contacts - A list of national and state contacts

For more information please visit http://www.jrsa.org/dvsa-drc

Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) Updated with Fatality Data

WISQARS (www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars) is now updated with 2003 fatality data from the National Center for Health Statistic's (NCHS) National Vital Statistics System (NVSS). The file structure of the 2003 NVSS Compressed Morality File was changed substantially to accommodate changes in the way data are received from some state vital statistics offices. There will be a transitional period over the next few years as more and more states begin to use the new death certificate.

National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) Database

The National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) administered by the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice hosts a Weekly Accessions List (WAL) list serve that includes a listing of documents added to the NCJRS Abstracts Database during the past week. The NCJRS Abstracts Database provides an electronic listing of documents located onsite at NCJRS. This database contains abstracts of more than 185,000 criminal justice publications, including Federal, State and Local government reports, books, research reports, journal articles, documents and unpublished research on a wide range of criminal and juvenile justice topics including information on victims of violence.

To subscribe to this list go to: http://puborder.ncjrs.org/listservs/Subscribe_wal.asp.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Research on the Commerical Sexual Exploitation of Children and Youth

Research on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Youth The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has issued a request for proposal for cooperative agreements to fund research that will expand the understanding of issues around the commercial sexual exploitation of children and youth.
Applications must demonstrate a research-practice partnership in which researchers collaborate with state or local public or non-profit agencies to carry out the study. Applications must be made through Grants.gov.

Detailed instructions on how to apply through Grants.gov are available at http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org/funding/grants.html. Grants.gov registration must be made by March 14, 2006 and the application deadline is March 21, 2006.

Building Community and Capacity to Reduce the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Youth

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has issued a request for proposal for one cooperative agreement to fund the planning and provision of training and technical assistance to five to seven sites that the applicant will identify as high-need areas. The sites may be cities, metropolitan areas, single states, or multi-state regions. The training and technical assistance will focus on improving community capacity to recognize exploited youth and youth at risk for exploitation, intervene appropriately with and compassionately serve victims and effectively investigate and prosecute cases against adults who exploit children and youth. Applications must be made through Grants.gov.

Detailed instructions on how to apply through Grants.gov are available at http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org/funding/grants.html. Grants.gov registration must be made by March 14, 2006 and the application deadline is March 21, 2006.

Avon Foundation -- Women's Empowerment, Domestic Violence Grants

The Avon Foundation was founded to improve the lives of women and their families. The Avon Foundation brings this mission to life through two key areas of focus: breast cancer and women's empowerment, with an emphasis on the issue of domestic violence. In its commitment to end domestic violence, the Avon Foundation in the U.S. supports awareness, education, direct services, and prevention programs.

For application deadlines, local or regional programs should contact the Avon office closest to you for more information. The national programs application deadline is September 1 each year. The Avon Foundation makes grants only to organizations and institutions having tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

For more information, go to: http://www.avoncompany.com/women/speakout/dv_grant_guidelines.pdf.

NEW PROGAMS

NIH Pathway to Independence Awards

One of the most challenging transitions in any research career is the transition from postdoctoral trainee to independent scientist. Recent data from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicate that the average age of first-time Principal Investigators obtaining research funding from the NIH has risen to 42 years for Ph.D. degree holders and 44 years for M.D. and M.D./PhD. degree holders. In order to help new investigators receive these funds earlier in their careers, the NIH has created the Pathway to Independence Award, providing up to five years of support in two phases. The initial mentored phase will provide support for salary and research expenses for up to 2 years, followed by up to 3 years of support to transition to an extramural sponsoring institution/organization to which the individual has been recruited. This support is to allow the individual to continue to work toward establishing his/her own independent research program and prepare an application for regular research grant support (R01). Go to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-06-133.html to learn more.

PUBLICATIONS

AAUW Releases New Research Report: Drawing the Line: Sexual Harassment on Campus

The AAUW Educational Foundation has release the most comprehensive research to date on sexual harassment on college campuses, Drawing the Line: Sexual Harassment on Campus analyzes findings from a nationally representative survey of undergraduate college students, which documents that the majority of college students report being sexually harassed, and nearly one-third report some type of physical harassment such as being touched, grabbed or forced to do something sexual. AAUW also announced related projects at 11 colleges to help build harassment-free campuses.
For more information visit: http://www.aauw.org/research/dtl.cfm.

CDC-funded Study Finds Trauma Center Care Lowers Risk of Death

The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has published a study A National Evaluation of the Effect of Trauma Center Care on Mortality that addresses the effectiveness of level I trauma centers. Jointly funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control and the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging, this analysis of data from the National Study on the Costs and Outcomes of Trauma (NSCOT) is among the first to provide strong evidence that level I trauma centers can effectively prevent deaths from injuries. Applications must be made through Grants.gov.

Detailed instructions on how to apply through Grants.gov are available at http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org/funding/grants.html. Grants.gov registration must be made by March 14, 2006 and the application deadline is March 21, 2006.

This study analyzed outcomes of 5,190 adult trauma patients. Some patients received treatment at 18 hospitals with level I trauma centers (the highest level of trauma care); others were treated at 51 hospitals without a trauma center. Findings showed level I trauma centers can lower the risk of death for injured patients by 25%. NSCOT data will be further analyzed to determine whether level I trauma center care can also improve the quality of life for trauma survivors.

To view the article, access the CDC’s Injury Center website at www.cdc.gov/injury.

New Journal Aritcle from the CDC Funded Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE)

This new journal article published in The November 29, 2005 edition of the European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. ?The Enduring Effects of Abuse and Related Adverse Experiences in Childhood A Convergence of Evidence from Neurobiology and Epidemiology summarizes the ACE study and the developmental brain consequences that help to explain adult outcomes and health risks.

Childhood maltreatment has been linked to a variety of changes in brain structure and function and stress-responsive neurobiological systems. Epidemiological studies have documented the impact of childhood maltreatment on health and emotional well-being. The article uses the ACE study as an epidemiological "case example" of the convergence between epidemiologic and neurobiological evidence of the effects of childhood trauma.

To access the study visit:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?

NIJ Journal Features Articles on the Use of DNA Samples and Domestic Violence Victims Experiences Reporting to the Criminal Justice System

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Journal, No.253, January 2006, features articles on the use of DNA samples from "minor" property crimes like burglary to solve more serious crimes committed by the same offenders; using biometrics to track prisoners' movements in correctional facilities; using computer-based mapping technology to locate hot spots of crime, group criminal incidents, and identify likely areas where a criminal lives. Other articles discuss how domestic violence victims' satisfaction with the criminal justice system affects future reporting of violence; how police officers respond physically and emotionally to shooting a suspect, both during and after the incident; and police officers' perceptions of how regional automated information-sharing technology increases their productivity and how that technology can be improved.

The journal is available online at the NIJ Web site at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/journals/welcome.html

New Rape Prevention Reference

A new study Rape Prevention through Bystander Education: Bringing a Broader Community Perspective to Sexual Violence Prevention presents the evaluation of a bystander education program designed to prevent sexual violence. Increasing recognition of the pervasive problem of sexual violence has lead to many types of prevention efforts. In order to determine what works in terms of rape prevention, empirical evaluation of existing programs is necessary. Following a review of the current rape prevention literature, the authors contend that the social and community psychology research literature offers a broad framework from which to expand rape prevention efforts. One such expanded rape prevention program that is grounded in a community of responsibility? framework was evaluated for this research.

The study is available by visiting http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Search/SearchResults.aspx?txtKeywordSearch=rape%20prevention&fromSearch=1

EVENTS/CONFERENCES

International Family Violence and Child Victimization Research Conference

The Family Research Laboratory and Crimes Against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire invites you to attend the International Family Violence and Child Victimization Research Conference on July 9-12, 2006 at the Sheraton Harborside Hotel & Conference Center in Portsmouth, NH.

For more information visit: http://www.unh.edu/frl/conferences/2006/.

Digital Forensic Photography Training

The California Medical Training Center is offering a course on the Documentation of the Physical Effects of Violence. This course has been designed by physicians to train medical forensic examiners and criminal justice investigators in the use of state-of-the-art digital photographic data collection. The course covers material useful to: physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, physician assistants, and others involved with the documentation of forensic findings. The training will be held on March 17, 2006 at the Sacramento Regional Public Safety Training Center. The course fee is $150 for California residents $450 for out of state residents.

For more information visit http://www.calmtc.org/calendar/event_view.asp?ID=1&EID=137&GW=1.

Nursing Network on Violence Against Women, International (NNVAWI) 14th International Conference

This three-day conference ”Joining Forces, Joining Voices: Including Diverse Peoples and Communities in Violence Prevention Research, Practice and Advocacy” will bring together leaders in the health, social service and community responses to ending violence against women. It is designed to promote responses to violence against women and their families that are most appropriate and effective for various cultures and languages in a community. It will foster increased awareness, understanding and collaboration among health care providers, social services, grass roots organizations and other community groups.
The conference will provide a forum for sharing innovative work by those working to reduce violence against women and improve the health and well being of women and children. The conference is designed for nurses, physicians, researchers, victim advocates, community activists, social workers, mental health counselors, individuals or activists from diverse communities, advocates working in violence prevention and intervention, legal fields or with children and other health and human service providers.

For more information and conference registration visit: http://www.nnvawi.org/

2007 National Conference on Health Care and Domestic Violence

The 4th Biennial National Conference on Health Care and Domestic Violence aiming to advance the health care system?s response to domestic violence will be held from March 23 - March 24, 2007 at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco. The conference attracts the nation?s leading medical, public health and family violence experts from across the U.S. with increased international participation. Workshops and plenary sessions highlight the latest research and most innovative clinical responses to domestic violence, with a focus on the work being done by physicians, physician assistants, dentists, nurses, nurse midwives, mental and behavioral health providers, social workers, domestic violence experts, and others.

All conference information, including the call for abstracts, conference registration and hotel reservations, will be available online at http://www.endabuse.org/health/conference/.

Health e-News is a monthly electronic news digest focusing on health care and domestic violence policy, research, prevention and advocacy. Health e-News is available in both text and html formats. To subscribe Click Here.

We encourage you to use Health e-News to share news, views, and experiences concerning your projects and activities on addressing domestic violence as a health care issue. To post an announcement or ask a question, send an e-mail to HealthE-News@endabuse.org. The digest is monitored by Julie Varghese, julie@endabuse.org, Program Assistant with the Family Violence Prevention Fund.

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to end domestic violence!

Be sure to visit our website http://endabuse.org/health to learn more about our programs, products, and campaigns!