Public Health
Public health
AAFP immunization resources
Family physicians play an integral role in influencing patients’ decisions to be vaccinated against vaccine-preventable diseases. To help facilitate communication between family physicians and their patients, AAFP offers important immunization resources, including annual immunization schedules for children, adolescents, and adults; resources for vaccine conversations with parents; and disease- and population-specific immunization information.
> Go to the immunizations page of the Clinical & Research section of AAFP’s website for more,www.aafp.org/online/en/home/clinical/immunizationres.html
Access anti-obesity resources through AAFP’s AIM-HI program
Add another resource to your obesity armamentarium with the AIM-HI AIM-to-Change Toolkit. This free toolkit from AAFP contains an array of patient educational materials and office resources to help you create a fitness culture and encourage patients to live healthy lives. Also new from AIM-HI is a nutrition deficiency risk questionnaire for family physicians to use with your patients. The downloadable PDF is available to AAFP members in English and Spanish on the AIM-HI website, and patients may also access the tool directly on FamilyDoctor.org.
Access tobacco cessation resources from Cease Smoking Today
Tobacco dependence is a chronic disease that requires repeated intervention. That’s the message from Cease Smoking Today (CS2day), a nine-organization collaborative committed to decreasing smoking rates through education and communication among health care providers. Free resources are available for physicians, including performance improvement activities, motivational interview strategies, and additional resources to use with patients.
> Go to www.ceasesmoking2day.com
DSHS launches campaign to reduce infant deaths
The Texas Department of State Health Services has launched the Someday Starts Now campaign aimed at reducing the number of infant deaths and preterm births by promoting healthy lifestyles for people who may someday decide to have a baby. Part of the Healthy Texas Babies Initiative, Someday Starts Now offers resources geared toward expectant parents through the websiteSomedayStartsNow.com, which provides a downloadable life planning tool to help women set health goals and work toward them. Parents-to-be can create a birth plan by using a guide on the site that helps them think through decisions about the birth process. The campaign also includes interactive outreach events at college campuses and community gatherings, videos and resources for physicians and other providers, and information tailored toward new dads and dads-to-be.
> Go to www.SomedayStartsNow.com
Texas Poison Center Network
The Texas Poison Center Network connects physicians to medical toxicology consults and case management, toxicology questions, information on drugs or emerging trends, and educational materials for you to give to patients. Consultation with the medical professionals at poison control centers saves tax dollars and medical costs by reducing ER visits when patients call the poison network first, shortens hospital stays when a physician toxicologist is consulted, and is available simply by calling 1-800-222-1222 any time. TPCN encourages physicians to use the online resources and to educate your patients to access the network when needed.
> Texas Poison Control Network
Notifiable conditions and disease reporting
Several Texas laws require specific information regarding notifiable conditions to be reported to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Physicians, other health care providers, hospitals, laboratories, schools, and others are required to report patients who are suspected of having a notifiable condition.
> Notifiable conditions section of the DSHS website
Prevention, treatment, and oversight of concussions affecting student athletes
This document answers questions about the implementation of House Bill 2038, or Natasha’s Law, under which each school district and charter school must establish a “concussion oversight team.” The team must include at least one physician and each team member must have had training in the evaluation, treatment, and oversight of concussions. The document also contains resources about sport-related concussions.
> Frequently Asked Questions and Resources Regarding Implementation of Natasha's Law
DSHS pertussis resources for family physicians
As primary caregivers for Texas families, Texas family physicians are often the first line of defense for whooping cough cases, which are on the rise in our state. Access educational resources from the Texas Department of State Health Services on whooping cough for physicians and patients.
> DSHS clinical pertussis website
> DSHS educational pertussis website
> ImmunizeTexas.com
> Pertussis fact sheet (English and Spanish)
> Is it just a cough? Or is it pertussis/Whooping cough?
Get the 2011 immunization schedules on your smartphone, PC, or PDA
Need a quick reference to the latest immunization schedules for children, adolescents and adults? Check out “Shots 2011,” which you can download for free to your PC, iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry Storm, Palm Pre, Pocket PC, or Palm device. The application was developed by the Group on Immunization Education of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.
> www.immunizationed.org/AnyPage.aspx?pgid=2
CDC National Immunization Program
Visit the CDC National Immunization Program website for a comprehensive listing of vaccines and immunizations, schedules, coverage and surveillance, education, side effects, requirements and laws, and more.
> Centers for Disease Control: National Immunization Program
> CDC vaccine information sheets
TexasFlu.org
Visit the state of Texas’ official resource on the flu for information on prevention, vaccination locations, and symptoms, as well as specific information for families and individuals, health care professionals, schools, employers, and others. Physicians can also download informational posters and flyers for your waiting room.
Free patient resource on cancer
Patient Resources Publishing offers TAFP members the opportunity to receive copies of the Patient Resource Cancer Guide free of charge to distribute in their offices to newly diagnosed and newly restaged cancer patients. The guide was created to educate cancer patients, prepare them for treatment, and empower them to become their own advocates. This comprehensive resource includes a list of cancer treatment facilities in the U.S., treatment options, cancer types, clinical trials, and patient resources.
> See the various topical guides and place an order at www.patientresource.net/place-order.aspx
AAFP disaster assistance resources
Natural disasters can quickly devastate a community’s health care delivery system. As recent Texas wildfires have demonstrated, catastrophic events can destroy whole communities, including family medicine practices. To help you assist your peers in times of disaster, prepare yourself for these events, and help rebuild and recover afterward, AAFP provides free online disaster assistance resources. Go to the Disaster Assistance Resources page of AAFP’s website to access documents on disaster response and breach notification; links to the American Red Cross, state health departments, and state medical boards; and more.
Free online tobacco cessation toolkit from DSHS
The Texas Department of State Health Services has made available an online, no-cost resource for physicians to use in treating tobacco dependency in their patients. The “Yes You Can Healthcare Provider Toolkit” includes materials for identifying and tracking tobacco use, patient education, and training for clinic staff. This model follows national guidelines from the U.S. Public Health Service and is based on the Ask-Advise-Refer system for treating patients who use tobacco. It offers evidence-based intervention strategies in a single, user-friendly format that allows for quick reference while enabling the physician to keep up the pace of a busy schedule.
> Download the toolkit components at www.yesquit.org in the “Healthcare Provider Toolkit” section.
AAFP’s Ask and Act tobacco cessation program
AAFP’s Ask and Act program encourages family physicians to ASK all patients about tobacco use, then to ACT to help them quit. Go to the Ask and Act website to access a practice toolkit, patient education materials, tobacco statistics, and more.
TAFP public health initiatives
Family physicians are on the front lines of public health and participate in a variety of initiatives to improve the health of their patients. View more information on Hard Hats for Little Heads, Tar Wars, and our public health coalition affiliations.