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Health Fundamentals Newsletter

An online newsletter published by the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund.

April 2008

Health Fund News

Last Chance! Innovation Funding Grants Letters of Intent Due Next Week
This is just a reminder that the deadline for Innovation Funding grants Letters of Intent is April 7 and we hope you are planning to submit your best ideas. If you have questions concerning a project or this funding opportunity, call Virginia Elliott or Kim Moore at 800-369-7191.

The United Methodist Health Ministry Fund has allocated $500,000 for Innovation Funding grants in 2008. The funding is designed to attract and support new approaches to oral health, access to health care, and healthy lifestyles in Kansas. Through the inaugural Innovation Funding program in 2007, 17 grants totaling over $743,000 were awarded.
Applying for an Innovation Funding grant is a two-step process. An initial letter of intent must be submitted to the Health Fund by April 7, 2008. Those subsequently invited to submit a full proposal will be notified by May 26. The invited proposals are due by July 7.

Full details of the Innovation Funding Grants Request for Letters of Intent and the online Letter of Intent form are available on the Health Fund website, www.healthfund.org.

If you have questions or concerns about the program, please contact Virginia Elliott, Vice-President for Programs or Kim Moore, President.
Email: velliott@healthfund.org or kmoore@healthfund.org
Phone: 800-369-7191 or 620-662-8586.

Health Fund Sponsors Kansas Airing of New PBS Series on What Makes Us Sick
The Health Fund is sponsoring the airing of a four-part documentary series on the social determinants of health on Kansas PBS stations. “UNNATURAL CAUSES: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?” is airing on KPTS Wichita on four consecutive Thursday nights, from 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The series started March 27. On Topeka KTWU, the series will air on Sundays at 2:30 p.m. and started March 30. Smoky Hills KOOD is scheduling the series to start in May. The four-hour series looks at what makes us sick, investigating new findings that suggest there is much more to poor health than bad habits, inadequate health care or unlucky genes. The series circles in on a slow killer in plain view: the social circumstances in which we are born, live and work that can affect our risk of disease as surely as germs and viruses.

The Health Fund is offering complimentary copies of the study guide “Health Through Faith and Community” as part of our sponsorship. The study guide, developed as a project of the Health Fund through the KU School of Social Welfare, is a resource for Christian faith communities to learn more about the spiritual and social factors that affect health and ways to promote personal and community well-being. Further details about the study guide appear in the following article.

Health Through Faith and Community Study Guide Offered
The Health Fund has a limited number of copies of the“Health Through Faith and Community: A Study Resource for Christian Faith Communities to Promote Personal and Social Well-Being” study guide available, which we are offering to Kansans at no charge. Health Through Faith and Community Book Cover To request a copy, please use our simple online form or call 800-369-7191.

The curriculum contains eight study sessions which can be used independently or together as a multi-week class. The guide provides information and learning activities on the physical, mental, social, spiritual, and environmental aspects of health from an ecumenical Christian perspective.

The study guide is designed as an instructor resource, containing handouts and worksheets which may be copied and distributed to class participants. Participants do not need individual copies of the book.

The study guide was produced through a Health Fund grant and written by a team led by KU social work professor Ed Canda, Ph.D. Haworth Press is the publisher.

Supplemental materials to aid in teaching the curriculum are available at www.healthfaithstudy.info. The supplemental materials include electronic versions of the overheads and handouts contained in the book, and a special supplement available only online. Interested out of state persons or churches are encouraged to purchase the curriculum through Haworth Press. Additional information and online ordering is available at http://www.haworthpress.com/store/product.asp?sku=5595.

Health Fund To Receive National Recognition for Communications Campaign
The Council on Foundations, a membership association of more than 2,100 grantmaking foundations and corporations, selected a communications campaign developed for the Health Fund's Healthy Congregations in Action initiative for an award in the Council's annual Wilmer Shields Rich Awards Program for communications excellence. The Hallelujah Health communications campaign received a Silver Award in the Public Information Campaigns category. The award will be presented at Philanthropy's Vision: A Leadership Summit, in National Harbor, Maryland, on May 5. Health Fund President Kim Moore will accept the award. He will be joined by Trustees Junetta Everett and Garney Hill, and Vice President for Programs Virginia Elliott.

The winning campaign features four thought-provoking messages on healthy eating and physical activity within the context of Christian life. Communications materials carrying these themes included newspaper ads, posters, bulletin inserts, stickers, and radio spots, among others. These materials were made available to the 27 Kansas United Methodist churches that piloted the Healthy Congregations in Action initiative in 2006 and 2007. Materials were designed to provide a template for churches to promote local events and activities. An evaluation of the Healthy Congregations in Action initiative and the role of the communications materials will be completed this spring.

This is the second Silver Award for the Health Fund. An oral health communications campaign for the Health Fund's Healthy Teeth for Kansans initiative received the award in 2000. Both campaigns were designed by Bill Leslie of Catalyst Creative Services in Hutchinson.

Health Fund Happenings
Longtime Committee Member Retiring
We would like to thank Fran Schrunk for her many years of dedication to the Health Fund's efforts to promote and expand health ministries through in partnership with Kansas United Methodist churches. Fran has been a member of the Healthy Congregations Advisory Committee since its beginning over 12 years ago. Fran is a parish nurse and a member of Asbury UMC, Prairie Village. She was involved in reviewing Healthy Congregations recognition reports in 1996, the program's first year, with 17 churches recognized for their health ministry work. Since that beginning, the program has grown significantly and gone through many updates and changes. Fran announced her retirement this March, but not before participating in a final HC Recognition review process for the 2007 reports. Thank you Fran, for your many years of service!

Summer Intern Hired
Martin Baumbach, a student in the Master of Health Services Administration program at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, has accepted a summer internship position with the Health Fund. He will start in June and will be with the Health Fund through August. His primary responsibilities will involve researching and developing strategies for potential Health Fund focus areas. This work will provide a foundation for development of the 2009-2011 strategic plan. Marty will also assist with site visits for Innovation Funding proposals and with grant administration for current grants.

Marty is a Health Services Collegiate Program Officer Candidate with the US Navy. He was formerly with the US Air Force, most recently as a health professions recruiter. He and his family live in Leavenworth.

Kansas Health Ethics Annual Conference Planned for April 18
The Health Fund is a sponsor of a conference hosted by Kansas Health Ethics in Wichita this month. The Annual Conference, "Time to Cure, Time to Care," is scheduled for Friday, April 18, at the Wichita Airport Hilton Executive Conference Center. The conference is designed to join participants with leading experts who will address how to structure difficult conversations with patients and families regarding the transition from active treatment to palliative care and will highlight ways to deal with misperceptions about hospice and end-of-life care.

The conference is geared toward nurses, physicians, social workers, attorneys, clergy, healthcare professionals, hospice and palliative care staff, funeral home directors, and anyone else interested in ways patients and their families are assisted in facing end-of-life decisions. Persons interested in attending may contact Kansas Health Ethics through www.kansashealthethics.org or by calling 316-684-1991.

Oral Health

Working to improve oral health through education, prevention, and access to care

Fluoride Varnish Mini-Summit Planned for May 16, Topeka
Fluoride Varnish has been found to be effective in preventing caries on permanent teeth, and has also recently been shown to prevent or reduce caries in the primary teeth of young children.

The Fluoride Varnish Mini-Summit, to be held May 16 at the Kansas State Historical Museum, Topeka, KS, is a day to explore topics relating to fluoride varnish with dentists, hygienists, dental assistants, nurses, physicians, physicians' assistants, nurse practitioners, oral health advocates, early child care leaders, office practice managers, insurers, and community leaders. The Mini-Summit is not a clinical training, but focuses on policy and operational issues.

Questions to be discussed at the Mini-Summit include:

Tracy Garland, former president of Washington Dental Services Foundation, and a leader in developing new delivery systems for fluoride varnish in Washington State, will facilitate the summit.

Online registration and additional information about the event are available on the Health Fund website at http://www.healthfund.org/fvms08.php.

The Mini-Summit is co-sponsored by the Office of Oral Health, Kansas Department of Health and Environment; Oral Health Kansas; Kansas Dental Association; Kansas Dental Hygienist's Association; Kansas Academy of Family Physicians; Kansas Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics; and the Health Fund.

Healthy Congregations

Working together with local United Methodist churches for a healthier Kansas

Last Chance to Register! 7th Annual Healthy Congregations Retreat - It's Our Treat!
The 2008 Healthy Congregations Annual Retreat for United Methodists will be held April 11-12. Julie Russell RN MA, Executive Director of Kansas Health Ethics; and Health Fund President Kim Moore are the event keynote speakers.

Register online today and look forward to enjoying two days of relaxation, interesting and informational sessions, and networking with friends and peers in the beautiful and peaceful natural setting of Rock Springs 4-H Center, a scenic 735-acre conference site located in the Flint Hills. The retreat is provided free of charge by the Health Fund. The event brings together United Methodists with shared interests in congregational health ministries and the promotion of holistic health and healthy lifestyles. The retreat features a variety of sessions covering the spiritual, mental, physical, and social components of health.

Who should attend the retreat?

A $25/person refundable deposit is required for registration; the uncashed deposit check will be returned during check-in.

Additional event information and online registration are available at www.healthfund.org/hcar.php.

Last Chance - HC Survey Ends Next Week
If you are a member of a Kansas United Methodist Church, we hope you'll take a few minutes right now to complete an online survey to help us improve our efforts to support and encourage congregational health ministries throughout the state. In appreciation, we'll make a $5 donation to a United Methodist agency you select.

For over 11 years, the Health Fund has sponsored a variety of programs designed to support the implementation or expansion of health ministries in Kansas United Methodist churches. Our work has centered on three main programs: Healthy Congregations Grants, Healthy Congregations Retreat, and Healthy Congregations Recognition reporting.

Throughout that time, the Health Fund has awarded over $200,000 in grants, over 230 churches have reported health ministry activities, and nearly 600 persons have participated in the retreat. We congratulate and thank all the congregations which have started and grown health ministry programs over the years.

However, the Health Fund believes that more can be done, in more churches, throughout the state. We are interested in your feedback on the current Healthy Congregations programs and on your ideas for how we might reach more churches in the future.

The online survey is available on the Health Fund website. Your ideas and feedback are valuable to us! Please take a few minutes right now to complete the survey, and in appreciation the Health Fund will make a $5 donation to a United Methodist agency you select from a list at the end of the survey. The survey ends next week, so please participate today!

76 Churches Recognized as Healthy Congregations
Seventy-six churches recently were qualified to receive Healthy Congregations 2007 Recognition awards. The program, now in its twelfth year, highlights what Kansas United Methodist churches are doing to nurture, reach out, and educate through ministries of health, healing, and wholeness. Healthy Congregations Recognition also provides a way for churches to share health work ideas with others, encouraging and inspiring the growth of congregational health programs.

Churches participate in the program by completing a report listing health ministry activities and highlighting ways those activities relate to holistic health. Congregations meeting the requirements of the Healthy Congregations Recognition Program receive a free health resource and are recognized at the Healthy Congregations Annual Retreat and at the Kansas East and Kansas West Annual Conferences. $1,500 Healthy Congregation of the Year awards will be presented during the 2008 HC Retreat to six congregations which demonstrated outstanding health and wellness ministries through their reports.

Healthy Congregations Grants Available to Kansas UM Churches
The Healthy Congregations Grants RFP makes one-time grants of up to $5,000 available to Kansas United Methodist churches to stimulate the development of comprehensive ministries of health and wellness. Projects funded will emphasize wellness, prevention, volunteer caregiving, social support, and congregational health education and awareness. Examples of such ministries include parish nursing and health promotion projects. Grant funding is not intended for projects focused on a single disease, disability, or health issue.

The Health Fund hopes that these one-time grants, added to local church resources, will mobilize strong volunteer efforts to address many facets of health, healing, and wholeness in congregations and communities throughout Kansas.

C 2008 United Methodist Health Ministry Fund
www.healthfund.org – healthfund@healthfund.org – 620.662.8586 – 800.369.7191