Third Grantee Meeting
The third Health Maintenance Consortium Grantee meeting will be held in DC on February 7-8 at the Embassy Suites Chevy Chase. Grantee attendance at the two in-person annual meetings is crucial for reviewing progress and generating cross-site. It is a general expectation that at least two persons will attend from each site. Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Announcement of Surveys to Come
The various workgroups will be meeting by phone in advance of the February meeting. Three groups (ecology, modality, and adherence) are planning brief survey queries. The HMCRC will be helping to format to make these as user friendly as possible. Will you please let Kerrie Hora know to whom the surveys should go, otherwise we will send out to PIs/Project Directors at each site for response.

 

 

 

 

 

 

General News from the HMCRC

Welcome to two new HMC grantees. We now have 21 projects represented, and with newest additions a bit more west coat representation with Shirley Beresford and Brooke Randell both from the University of Washington. We have posted their study abstracts on the web. Please note that Dr. Beresford is studying,

 

 

“Enhancing Long-Term 5-A-

Day Behavior Change in Worksites”. Additionally Dr. Randell is studying, “Youth Suicide Prevention: Maintaining Long-Term Change”.

 

 

 

 

 

Special points of interest:

· Our web-site has been going through some major changes!  Let us know what you think!  E-Mail us your comments, suggestions, and updated information

From HMCRC:  Action Items!

The Texas A&M University System Health Sciences Center

 

HMCRC December 2004 E-Newsletter

December 2004

Volume 1, Issue 1

Construction of the new SRPH facility in College Station is beginning to progress!

 

See the slide show here!

The Resource Center has been talking with individual workgroup chairs to review past activities and future plans. In early January we will be having an all-Chair conference call to help in planning for the next meeting. At this point there have been a few suggested special panels at the February meeting:

1) A session highlighting some of the different interventions being sponsored by the Modality Workgroup;

 

2) A session reviewing past experiences data sharing across

multi-site projects sponsored by ad hoc data assessment and methods group; and

3) A session highlighting strategies for retaining diverse populations sponsored by the HMCRC and the Adherence group.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2005. Dr. Abrams' vast areas of expertise include integrating fundamental sciences with translational applications and policy research; addressing issues along the entire wellness-disease continuum; examining health needs and behaviors in a diversity of populations, including the underserved; and crossing lifespan transitions. In his new

 

 

role, Dr. Abrams will lead

David B. Abrams, Ph.D., To Lead Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., announced that David B. Abrams, Ph.D., has been selected as Associate Director for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research and Director of the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR). Dr. Abrams is expected to begin

his appointment in January

agency-wide initiatives in behavioral and social sciences

research, and facilitate collaborations across socio-behavioral and biomedical disciplines. The NIH News Release is available online at: http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/dec2004/od-09.htm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the News!

Data Assessment and Methods Report

draft publication guidelines built upon other similar NIH Consortia efforts).
HMCRC thanks all of you for your quick response to the data survey. Almost all projects have plans for a codebook or operations manual to document variables; in most cases, data will be stored in SPSS, SAS, or Access; almost all projects have

developed procedures for data

 

 

cleaning. The data contact

person will serve as a link between each project and HMCRC:

• Update on additions and/or changes in measures
• Problem-solve data management issues across sites
• Provide input on planning future data management activities

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking forward to ways of adding synergy to the individual projects, HMCRC will be responsible for archiving data and coordinating (facilitating) any proposed cross-site analyses. We will seek PIs involvement in the mega-issues regarding decisions about sharing and rules for engagement (e.g., we plan to establish a small advisory group of HMC investigators to help us define

 

cross-site areas of interest and

Workgroup Activities

Alexander Croessmann, a researcher at the University of Wuerzburg, Germany has established a mailing list (yahoo group) to communicate with other researchers who use the Internet for behavioral assessment and intervention. The mailing list will cover areas like Internet mediated assessment and change of health related behaviors

 

 

 

(e.g. physical activity, diet,

smoking cessation), anxiety prevention and reduction (e.g. reduction of anxiety sensitivity), evaluation of Internet support groups (e.g. for cancer patients or for heart patients).To join the group, send an empty email to internetintervention-

subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

 

 

 

 

 

After approval: messages can

be sent to internetintervention@yahoogroups.com. Please contact alexander@croessmann.org with further questions

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this section you will find recent reports and publications related to health behavior and/or sustainability. All of these resources can also be found on the HMC website under the Literature section.

· Physical Activity Programs and Behavior Counseling in Older Adult Populations

· Physical Activity and Environment Research in the Health Field: Implications for Urban and Transportation Planning Practice and Research

· Resource Guide for Nutrition and Physical Activity Interventions to Prevent Obesity and Other Chronic Diseases

· Practical and Relevant Self-Report Measures of Patient Health Behaviors for Primary Care Research

· Merck Institute of Aging and Health “The State of Aging and Health in America 2004”
This is a great source for downloading demographic slides.
http://www.miahonline.org/resources/reports/

· Older Americans 2004: Key Indicators of Well-Being
http://www.agingstats.gov/

· IOM Childhood Obesity Report
http://www.iom.edu/report.asp?id=22596

 

Recent Reports and Publications

Call for Papers

 

· APHA Gerontological Health Section Call for Abstracts
Of special interest is the Aetna Susan B. Anthony Award for Excellence in Research on Older Women and Public Health.

· American Journal of Public Health
The AJPH, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute and Centers for Disease Control, intends to publish a collection of papers demonstrating how the principles and techniques of systems thinking and modeling can be used effectively and ethically by public health professionals. To read more about the paper specifications follow the link above.

 

Behavioral Assessment and Intervention via the Internet

 

Funding Opportunities

Join the OBSSR listserv which provides an e-mail service (1-2 times monthly) for announcing NIH funding opportunities in the behavioral and social sciences. Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Guide to NIH Grants
http://obssr.od.nih.gov/Publications/BSSR-Guide/

Educational Testing Service (ETS) Research Division
Date Posted: 12/13/2004
2005-2006 Postdoctoral Fellowship Award Program
Application Deadline: 2/1/2005
Up to three fellows will be selected to conduct independent research in Princeton, New Jersey, in one of the following areas: psychology, education, teaching, learning, literacy, statistics, computer science, educational technology, minority issues, and testing issues, including new forms of assessment and alternate forms of assessment for special populations.