Caribbean Youth Get Help in Fight Against HIV-Stigma

New Media Campaign Targeting Hiv-Related Stigma & Discrimination In Caribbean Youth

PANCAP’s Caribbean Regional Social Marketing Project (CARISMA) will be rolling out a new media campaign in five English speaking Caribbean countries (Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana and Saint Lucia) on July 25, 2012. The campaign aims to generate more compassion and respect for individuals living with HIV. Funded by KfW (The German Development Bank), the campaign will target young people between the ages of 16-24, and will build on past Regional efforts by increasing awareness of how HIV-related stigma and discrimination is perpetuated. It will provide young people with knowledge and skills to challenge harmful social norms linked to the issue.

The multimedia campaign will include television spots, a music video, radio, print and social media that communicate the campaign's key messages: True Friends Don’t Discriminate and “I will stand up for friends with HIV and stand against Stigma and Discrimination!” Following the launch of the campaign, youth will be able to access media material and linkages to resources in their respective countries on a dedicated website www.facebook.com/truefrenz4life

The campaign was developed by Howard Delafield International (HDI) and their Guyana-based creative partner AstroArts International Marketing and their regional media placement partner, REACH Caribbean. The team was selected through a competitive bidding process led by PANCAP and the CARISMA Management partner, Options Consultancy. An assessment of the campaign’s impact will be undertaken at its conclusion in October 2012.

The PANCAP CARISMA Project was established in 2005 to support social marketing initiatives in 13 countries in the region. The second phase of the project, ending in December 2012, seeks to address stigma and discrimination in the region and targets those groups most vulnerable to contracting HIV/AIDS, including young people.

For further details, contact: Valerie Beach Horne, Strategic Information and Communication Officer vbeachhorne@caricom.org or pancap@caricom.org

caricompublicinfo@gmail.com

www.caricom.org

www.pancap.org/en/

To read the entire bulletin and learn more, please click on this urlink.

Providers Have New Depression Treatment Tool

Tool Kit Helps Providers Treat Patients with Depression

Many service members and veterans experiencing symptoms of depression will receive most or all of their care through their primary care physician. If you’re a primary care provider and unfamiliar with the “Major Depressive Disorder Toolkit,” it’s important you download it or request a hard copy today.

Developed by Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE), U.S. Army Medical Command and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the tool kit provides clear, comprehensive descriptions of critical decision points that help providers screen for major depressive disorder (MDD). The tool kit guides diagnosis, management of symptoms and referral of patients to mental health specialists.

This all-encompassing, user-friendly guidance tool features evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and recommendations from the Defense Department and VA. The guidelines cover all aspects of care for MDD from screening and assessment to follow-up and monitoring. The tool kit also includes a variety of reliable tools, questions and simple reference material for providers, patients and their families. It can be used in its entirety or in sections depending on patient needs.

To further assist providers using the tool kit, DCoE created the Major Depressive Disorder Toolkit: Key Concepts for Primary Providers, which offers brief background information on the clinical practice guidelines for MDD and an overview of how the materials included in the tool kit can be used to efficiently diagnose, assess and treat depression. A training manual for instructors educating mental health professionals on MDD and a one-pager for quick reference to treatments for MDD are also available.

Benefits of using these tools include decreased practice variation, effective decision-making and improved patient outcomes.

To download a copy of the “Major Depressive Disorder Toolkit” or to order a hard copy, visit dcoe.health.mil/MDDToolkit. For more clinical resources related to psychological health or traumatic brain injury prevention and care, visit the Health Professionals and Resources sections of the DCoE website.

To read all of this posting, please click on urlink.

Earlier Retirement = Longer Life?

Do those who retire early live longer?

It's often said that early retirement lengthens your life, but is it true? And do some professions have a shorter life expectancy?

If a statistical claim is repeated often enough it can become accepted as a universal truth, even if it has no basis in fact.

There's the suggestion that 93% of communication is non-verbal (not true) or the oft-repeated suggestion that there are more people alive today than have ever lived (not true either).

Here's another - the later you retire, the earlier you will die. A variation on this theme is the "fact" that, in some jobs, average life expectancy after retirement is just 18 months. We've seen it said of teachers, prison officers, surgeons and others.

The implication is that people in these kinds of demanding jobs are working themselves into their graves - and should probably be cut some slack. But is there any evidence for it?

Some evidence does at first glance appear to exist to support the first claim - that people who work longer die younger than those who retire early.

A paper attributed to the aircraft-maker Boeing shows that employees who retire at 55 live to, on average, 83. But those who retire at 65 only last, on average, another 18 months.

The "Boeing study" has been quoted by newspapers, magazines and pundits. It's circulated on the internet for years. The problem with it is that Boeing itself says it's simply not true.

Putting Boeing to one side, then, is there any other evidence which might support the idea that retiring early prolongs life? Surprisingly, perhaps, the truth may be the precise opposite: the later you retire, the longer you live.

Epidemiologists at the oil firm Shell carried out a study of past employees in the US, which found that mortality was slightly earlier - on average - for staff who retired at 55, than for those who continued working to 65.

But the actuary Dave Grimshaw says we need to be very careful about what conclusions we draw from the Shell data. The statistical waters, he says, are muddied by the fact that people retire at different ages for different reasons.

"You will have a group who are forced to retire [early] as a result of ill health and that may impact on their life expectancy," he says.

"In contrast there will be other people that choose to retire at 55, as more of a lifestyle decision. They may well be more affluent people. And they will also probably be in good health."

To read this entire article, please click on this urlink.

Paperless SocSec benefits, more plastic fees?

As Social Security benefits go paperless, beware debit card fees

The paper Social Security check will go the way of the Pink Princess rotary-dial phone, the typewriter and yes, sadly, Elvis in roughly seven months. Nearly 6 million people throughout the country -- including 179,000 in Michigan -- still need to decide how they're going to get their money.

People can sign up for direct deposit to a bank or credit union account; or they could opt to have money deposited electronically via the Direct Express Debit MasterCard.

But if they end up with the government-issued debit card, they must watch where they withdraw that money to avoid getting hit by a string of fees. Hint: It could cost you more than you'd imagine by going to an ATM at some huge national banks.

Not surprisingly, the Treasury is touting the popularity of its Direct Express debit card, launched four years ago. The card is an option for receiving Social Security benefits, especially for those who don't have regular bank accounts for direct deposit.

A study released last week showed that 95% of cardholders are satisfied with the Direct Express card. About 93% would recommend the card to someone else. More than 2 million active cardholders receive Social Security retirement benefits and Supplemental Security Income benefits, as well as other benefits.

Thankfully, the government's debit card does not have the outrageous fees of other prepaid debit-card plastic that you might pick up off the shelf at the store.

But it doesn't mean consumers are completely off the hook.

One free ATM withdrawal is allowed each month on the Direct Express Debit MasterCard. Additional ATM withdrawals are 90 cents.

To get one free ATM withdrawal, consumers must go to one of about 60,000 ATMs in the network. That network includes ATMs at Comerica Bank, Charter One, PNC Bank, Privileged Status, Alliance One, the MasterCard ATM Alliance and MoneyPass.

Plenty of bank names, though, aren't in the network. And it could cost up to $3 or so a pop to get access to your Social Security money at some ATMs -- no free withdrawals -- if you go out of the network.

At Chase, for example, it costs $3 for a non-customer withdrawal from a Chase ATM. The $3 fee is the same at Bank of America for non-customers to use ATMs in its banking centers.

Walt Henderson, director of the electronic funds transfer strategy division for the U.S. Treasury, said Treasury is looking for opportunities to expand the network.

An ATM locator is at the bottom of www.usdirectexpress.com, where cardholders can locate the surcharge-free ATMs by ZIP code.

To read this entire article, please click on this urlink.

Talking to children about the tragedy in Colorado

This article offers insights and tips from mental health professionals on discussing tragedies like the unthinkable mass-shooting with children at different stages of development. Please be sure to click on the urlink below access and read the entire article. - IWN Blog

Talking to kids -- of all ages -- about the Colo. movie shooting

By Kathy Ehrich Dowd, iVillage.com

The Aurora, Colo. movie theater shooting on Friday that killed at least 12 people and injured dozens more -- with a reported six victims being taken to an area children's hospital -- is a somber reminder that no matter how hard we try to keep our kids out of danger, we can't protect them all the time. Although it's understandable to want to avoid talking about a tragedy with your kids, it's important if they're old enough to have heard about it. Here's how to talk about a shooting with your kids, age by age.

*To read the rest of this article, please click on this urlink.

Report: More Educated Expectant Moms More Likely to Drink

Older, more educated pregnant women are most likely to drink

Older, more educated pregnant women are much more likely than other pregnant women to drink alcohol, despite warnings that any amount of drinking might be harmful, a new study shows. Overall, nearly 8% of pregnant women admitted to a least one drink in the month before the survey, says the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While some studies have failed to find harm from light drinking, U.S. public health officials strongly discourage it. "Any drinking is going to put your child at risk," a CDC researcher tells Reuters.

To read this in its entirety, please click on this urlink.

Wellness News Bulletins

Prostate cancer surgery: Surgery does not appear to make any difference

Prostate cancer surgery does not appear to make any difference in survival for men with early-stage prostate cancer, a new study shows. The findings suggest that men who choose "watchful waiting" -- and avoid the risks of surgery, including incontinence and impotence, unless their cancer progresses -- are no more likely to die. Doubts about treatment already have led the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to recommend against regular screening for prostate cancer -- a recommendation opposed by some physician groups.

More Adults Not Seeing their Dentists

Four out of ten adults have gone at least a year without seeing a dentist, a new survey shows. Cost is the biggest reason for skipping check-ups. Second biggest reason: fear. More than 20% of Medicaid recipients in the survey had not had a dental visit in five years.

Death of Child Catalyst for Reform

A New York City hospital has changed its procedures for discharging emergency department patients, in response to the death of 12-year-old Rory Staunton. As the New York Times reported recently, Rory died of septic shock after a bacterial infection spread from a cut on his arm -- and after he was sent home from the New York University's Langone Medical Center with what his parents were told was a routine stomach bug.

Obesity is Global

Great Britain, host of the upcoming Olympic games, already has won one competition, but it's a dubious distinction. As the Washington Post reports, a new survey shows Britons are among the most sedentary people in the world, with more than 63% deemed 'inactive' — compared with 40.5% in the United States and 32.5% percent in France. But we Americans have our own dubious distinction: we're still number one in obesity among major nations.

To read these bulletins in their entirety, please click on this urlink.

Report: Sedentary Lifestyles are Lethal

Inactivity 'killing as many as smoking'

A lack of exercise is now causing as many deaths as smoking across the world, a study suggests.

The report, published in the Lancet to coincide with the build-up to the Olympics, estimates that about a third of adults are not doing enough physical activity, causing 5.3m deaths a year.

That equates to about one in 10 deaths from diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and breast and colon cancer.

Researchers said the problem was now so bad it should be treated as a pandemic.

And they said tackling it required a new way of thinking, suggesting the public needed to be warned about the dangers of inactivity rather than just reminded of the benefits of being active.

The team of 33 researchers drawn from centers across the world also said governments needed to look at ways to make physical activity more convenient, affordable and safer.

It is recommended that adults do 150 minutes of moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, cycling or gardening, each week.

The Lancet study found people in higher income countries were the least active with those in the UK among the worst, as nearly two-thirds of adults were judged not to be doing enough.

The researchers admitted comparisons between countries were difficult because the way activity was estimated may have differed from place to place.

Nonetheless, they said they remained confident that their overall conclusion was valid.

Pedro Hallal, one of the lead researchers, said: "With the upcoming 2012 Olympic Games, sport and physical activity will attract tremendous worldwide attention.

"Although the world will be watching elite athletes from many countries compete in sporting events... most spectators will be quite inactive.

"The global challenge is clear - make physical activity a public health priority throughout the world to improve health and reduce the burden of disease."

Prof Lindsey Davies, president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, agreed.

"We need to do all we can to make it easy for people to look after their health and get active as part of their daily lives," she said.

"Our environment has a significant part to play. For example, people who feel unsafe in their local park will be less likely to use it."

But others questioned equating smoking with inactivity.

While smoking and inactivity kill a similar number of people, smoking rates are much lower than the number of inactive people, making smoking more risky to the individual.

Dr Claire Knight, of Cancer Research UK, said: "When it comes to preventing cancer, stopping smoking is by far the most important thing you can do."

To read the rest of this article, please click on this urlink.

Back to School events in Little Haiti/Wynwood and Miami Lakes/Opa-locka

The first day of school is almost one month away for students in Dade County.  If you are looking for help getting ready, the 54th Street and 154th Street Medical Plazas are hosting their annual Back to School Extravaganzas on consecutive weekends (see below).  School supplies will be given away to children in community as long as supplies last (first-come, first-served).

54th Street Medical Plaza Back to School Extravaganza
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM  Saturday, July 21, 2012 
Location:  5385 NE 2nd Avenue, Miami 33137 (Sabal Palm Shopping Center)

154th Street Medical Plaza Back to School Extravaganza
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM  Saturday, July 28, 2012 Location:  5801 Miami Lakes Drive East, Miami Lakes, FL 33014

For more information, please telephone Vanessa at the 54th & 154th Street Medical Plazas - (305) 756-9977.

Summer Street Soiree in the Shores

Locally-owned boutique bakery Enchanting Creations is hosting a family-friendly street fair in downtown Miami Shores to get your weekend started right.   

Please come out and enjoy yourselves with music, art, and activities for people of all ages.


For more information, please call Karen at (305) 978-2828 or email her at karen@enchantingcreations.net.


See you there!

Farmers' Markets: Healthy Food Shopping in Miami

Farmers' markets are growing in popularity worldwide and why not?  These locally-focused business enterprises offer a surprising number of benefits.


Want to know about farmers' markets in our area?  


You can click on this link to find out where you can find farmers' markets in Dade County and below we are sharing information about a market in North Dade that is coming up very soon.


If you know of a great farmers' market in the Greater Miami area not listed here, please let us know.  We'd love to hear about it (and please don't forget to tell us why you're a fan of that market)!

SAMSHA Debuts Resource to Fight Teen Suicide

SAMHSA Launches New Toolkit on Suicide Prevention in High Schools

Suicide is one of the nation’s greatest public health problems – but it is also completely preventable.  If all of us work together in an effort to reach out and help those at risk we can prevent the needless devastation suicide brings to individuals, loved ones and communities across the nation.

In order to provide practical help in this effort the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has developed a new toolkit entitled Preventing Suicide: A Toolkit for High Schools. The toolkit aims at reducing the risk of suicide among high school students by providing research-based guidelines and resources to assist school administrators, principals, mental health professionals, health educators, guidance counselors, nurses, student services coordinators, teachers and others identify teenagers at risk and take appropriate measures to provide help.

The tool kit offers information on screening tools, warning signs and risk factors of suicide, statistics, and parent education materials.

It is based on years of experience in promoting suicide prevention in high schools across the nation. It draws upon the key elements of these programs and makes them easily adaptable to any high school setting.  In addition, it provides high schools with useful information on the many federal, state and community program that are available to help bolster their suicide prevention efforts.

To read this rest of this article, please click on this urlink.

'Any Girl Would've Done the Same for Me' - Teen Runner Wins Blue Ribbon in Sportsmanship

Prep runner carries foe to finish line

by Doug Binder

June 5, 2012

Meghan Vogel doesn't understand what all the fuss is about.

Vogel, a junior runner for West Liberty-Salem High School (West Liberty, Ohio), won the 1,600-meter title Saturday at the Division III girls state meet at Jesse Owens Stadium in Columbus. But it's what she did in her next race that was most remarkable.

With about 20 meters to go in the 3,200, Arden McMath, a sophomore from Arlington High School, collapsed in front of Vogel. Rather than run by her, Vogel helped McMath to her feet and carried her across the finish line, making sure to keep McMath ahead of her. "Any girl on the track would have done the same for me," Vogel said Monday.

But Vogel's gesture resonated with the thousands of spectators who witnessed it, as well as with the thousands more who have read about the story or seen video of the race's finish.

By the time Vogel arrived home Saturday night, word of her sportsmanship was spreading. She had 30 new friend requests on Facebook within a few hours. Ohio media pounced on the story and lauded Vogel's selfless act.

Monday was supposed to be a "pajamas day" at the Vogel home in West Liberty, a day to relax after last week's conclusion of the school year and the busy weekend at the state championships. Instead. it was spent reliving the race. "The phone's been ringing a lot," said Ann Vogel, Meghan's mother and coach. It wasn't Meghan's first act of sportmanship on the track. A week earlier, at the state qualifying meet, West Liberty-Salem was running fifth in the 4x800 relay when Vogel took the baton for the anchor leg. She summoned a big effort and passed two other runners, clinching a berth in the state championships for her team. Vogel was so wiped out after crossing the finish line that she collapsed, and her excited teammates rushed to her side to help her back to her feet. But then Vogel saw one of the girls she had passed, a freshman who also had fallen. Vogel went to the other runner and offered a hand up and a few words of encouragement.

"She was in fourth (one spot from qualifying for state) and felt awful," Vogel said.

At the state championships, Vogel had a difficult 1,600/3,200 double. She won the 1,600 in a personal-best 4 minutes, 58.31 seconds, stepped onto the podium for photos and medals, talked to the local media, and went to visit with her family.

That left her with about an hour to get ready for the 3,200, in which she was seeded seventh.

Three laps into the eight-lap race, Vogel was falling off the pace. Her mother watched from the backstretch and could tell that her daughter didn't have the energy to contend for another title.

"By that time it was a matter of just finishing (the race)," Ann Vogel said. "I kind of joked with her about being in last place because she's never been last. And every lap she looked at me and smiled."

Vogel rounded the final turn for home and could see that the only other runner who hadn't finished yet was faltering. And then McMath, a runner Vogel had never met before, fell to the track.

Vogel never had a moment of doubt about what to do next.

"I remember moving to her position," she said. "(McMath) was doing the best she could to keep her body upright. There was a lot of shake in her legs, which is totally understandable."

The crowd cheered when Vogel stopped and the roar grew louder as she and McMath moved closer to the finish line. Vogel purposely steered McMath across the finish line ahead of her.

"We're a little bit of a minority being distance runners," Vogel said. "I think we all have an instant connection."

A race that had become pointless in the grand scheme of the day for Vogel quickly took on a new meaning.

"I think fate may have put me (in last place) for a reason," Vogel said.

Ann Vogel was across the track and couldn't see her daughter when she stopped. But a coaching friend told Ann Vogel, "Ann, look up at the screen."

She turned to the video board and saw her daughter supporting another runner on her shoulder. "I ran around (the perimeter of the track) as fast as I could," Ann Vogel said. "It wasn't easy to get around with all of the people standing there but I was hearing the crowd and I could see tears running down people's faces." McMath was quickly scooped up by medical staff. By rule, a runner in track or cross country is automatically disqualified for aiding another runner, but meet officials chose to leave McMath and Vogel in the results rather than take action.

McMath was given 14th place in 12:29.90, and Vogel 15th in 12:30.24. A half-hour after the race was over, Vogel grabbed her mother's shoulder and said she felt dizzy and a little nauseated. Ann Vogel found a trainer and together they moved Meghan to a tent. Vogel sat down with a cup of Gatorade on a cot that was positioned next to McMath, who was lying down and still recovering from dehydration and heat exhaustion. "She was still pretty sick at that point," Meghan Vogel said of McMath. "Her coach turned to me and said, 'Thank you.' " The two girls will meet again, formally this time, Tuesday morning for an interview with the TV show "Fox And Friends." The response to her simple gesture has taken Vogel by surprise.

"It's been crazy. I can't understand why everyone wants to talk to me, but I guess I'm getting used to it now," she said. "It's strange to have people telling me that this was such a powerful act of kindness and using words like 'humanity.' It's weird. When I hear words like that I think of Harriet Tubman and saving people's lives. I don't consider myself a hero. I just did what I knew was right and what I was supposed to do."

*To read more, please click on this urlink.

"Make it Better" - A Business Takes Stand in Support of Its Employees

*All human beings are born deserving dignity. Regardless of how any one of us feels about a particular issue, negative feelings about an issue should not compel us or encourage us or allow us to project those feelings towards another human being. Infinite Ways Network joins TD Bank in asking each of you to "make it better" for all people.

TD Strives to Make it Better for LGBT Youth

LGBT TD Employees and their allies share stories on experiencing bullying in their youth and share a message of how It Gets Better. 

You can view the video by either clicking on the video window below or by clicking on this urlink.

IWN Celebrates Caribban-American Heritage Month!

June is Caribbean-American Heritage Month and Infinite Ways Network is proud to celebrate the unique and important contributions of West Indian people to the United States of America as well as to the world.   

The history and heritage of Caribbean people is both the source and inspiration for the work we do.    The pillars of West Indian culture and society that are community, altruism, service, hard work, creativity, humility, and generosity form the foundation of our mission and work.  

Infinite Ways Network, Inc. invites each of you to join us in celebrating Caribbean-American Heritage Month 2012!


*Proclamation in honor of Caribbean-American Heritage Month 2012 by President Barack Obama.