Public Health Resources

End of Life

The Center for Ethics in Health Care at the Oregon Health & Sciences University has developed a Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form. POLST is a comprehensive, one-page order form that was developed to convey preferences for life-sustaining treatments during transfer from one care site to another.

Complimentary and Alternative Medicine

Insurance

Patient Education

The University of Washington Medical Center has developed Culture Clues®
Tip sheets for clinicians designed to increase awareness about concepts and preferences of patients from the diverse cultures. Currently there are five cultures represented, Albanian, Korean, Latino, Russian, and Vietnamese. Additional ones are in progress. The tip sheets are available at http://www.depts.washington.edu/pfes/cultureclues.html

Research Tools

Websites

  • Alcohol screening materials available to clinicians
    Screening for Mental Health Inc. (SMH) is the non-profit organization that first introduced the concept of large-scale mental health screenings with its flagship program National Depression Screening Day in 1991.
  • AMA helps physicians fight obesity
    Produced with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and developed in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Assessment and Management of Adult Obesity consists of 10 booklets that offer practical recommendations for addressing adult obesity in the primary care setting.
  • APHA medication assistance information
    The Partnership for Prescription Assistance brings together America's pharmaceutical companies, doctors, other health care providers, patient advocacy organizations and community groups to help qualifying patients who lack prescription coverage get the medicines they need through the public or private program that's right for them.
  • Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
    Established in 1984 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is a state-based system of health surveys that collects information on health risk behaviors, preventive health practices, and health care access primarily related to chronic disease and injury.
  • Centers for Disease Control
    The CDC is one of the major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services.
  • CDC offers new adult immunization tool kit
    Flu is a serious disease. Each year in the United States, on average 5% to 20% of the population gets the flu, more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications, and about 36,000 people die from flu. Take action to protect yourself and your loved ones from the flu.
  • Diabetes
    Information by the CDC for the public and professionals about diabetes, including research, statistics, and educational publications.
  • Iowa Consortium for Comprehensive Cancer Control
    In 2001, the Iowa Legislature commissioned a detailed study of the impact of cancer on the state. Their report, The Face of Cancer In Iowa, led to the formation of the Iowa Consortium for Comprehensive Cancer Control (ICCCC).
  • Iowa Department of Public Health
    By partnering with local public health, policymakers, health care providers, business and many others, IDPH fulfills its mission of protecting and promoting the health of all Iowans.
  • Kaiser Family Foundation
    A leader in health policy and communications, the Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating foundation focusing on the major health care issues facing the U.S., with a growing role in global health.
  • Morbidity and Mortality Weekly
    The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Series is prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The data in the weekly MMWR are provisional, based on weekly reports to CDC by state health departments.
  • National Center for Health Statistics
    Monitoring the nation's health.
  • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
    RWJF focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. The Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change.
  • Video Files and Power Point
    Presentations from the Barn Raising Conference are available online.