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Research Resources
A monthly newsletter of the
AOTF Institute for the Study of Occupation and Health
May 2009
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Dear Colleagues,
Greetings from the
AOTF Institute for the Study of Occupation and Health, the programmatic
arm of the American Occupational Therapy Foundation. Thanks to your
support, to the time and talent of our many volunteers, and to the
generosity of our colleagues at the American Occupational Therapy
Association (AOTA) our research and education programs at the recent
AOTA Annual Conference and Exposition were a great success. The
proceedings of our Research Colloquium, "Life
in Space: Research on Occupational Performance and Reflections of a
NASA Astronaut," are now available on the new AOTF web site.
On the heels of
our programmatic accomplishments at the AOTA conference is our new Cooperation
Spotlight on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Commission to
Build a Healthier America. We are grateful to our RWJF colleagues
for their time and their assistance in designing this spotlight in
mutual support of the RWJF Commission and its recent recommendations
for enabling everyone - but particularly those who face the greatest
barriers to good health - to lead healthy lives.
Thank you again
for subscribing to Research
Resources and for encouraging your colleagues to connect to
AOTF through this monthly publication and its associated news alerts.
We appreciate your support as we help to advance occupational therapy
through innovative programs of research, education and leadership, and
as we help to raise public awareness of the importance of enabling
individuals to participate fully in life regardless of their physical,
social, mental, or developmental circumstances.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey S.
Reznick, PhD
Director, AOTF Institute for the Study of Occupation and Health
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AOTF Institute Cooperation Spotlight: The Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America
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Introduction
The Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America believes
that there is more to good health than health care. More than
anything, health is connected to how and where people live, learn,
work, and play.
On April 2, the
Commission issued ten recommendations for enabling everyone - but
particularly those who face the greatest barriers to good health - to
lead healthy lives. The recommendations are rooted in a twin
philosophy: Building a healthier America requires individuals to
make healthy choices for themselves and their families and a societal
commitment to remove the obstacles preventing too many Americans from
making healthy choices.
Background
Why aren't Americans healthier? That question
prompted the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
(RWJF) in 2008 to establish the Commission to Build a Healthier
America, enlisting national leaders in business, labor, education,
community development, health services, philanthropy, media and
research and public policy to find solutions outside the traditional
medical care system for advancing the nation's health.
The Commission
spent a year exploring how health is shaped by how and where we live
our lives. From this process, the Commission identified a range of
interventions for improving health at the local, state and federal
levels that are working on the ground. These practical, feasible
and effective solutions -- often hiding in plain sight - informed the
Commission's recommendations.
Next Steps
The Commission believes that building a healthier America
will hinge on actions taken outside the traditional medical care
system. This means changing policies that influence education,
early childhood development, housing, the workplace, community design
and nutrition.
Currently the
Commission is reaching out to policy makers, philanthropists, business
and community leaders, educators, professionals and the public for
their immediate support and action in making its recommendations a
reality.
Resources from the Commission
· Beyond Health Care: New Directions to a Healthy America,
describes the Commission's work and provides its recommendations
· Reaching America's Health Potential Among Adults: How Do States
Compare?
· America's Health Starts With Healthy Children: How Do
States Compare?
· A series of issue briefs on the links between health and early
childhood, housing, neighborhoods, work and race and socioeconomic
status.
· An education and health "calculator tool" that
predicts mortality rates in counties and states based on levels of
educational attainment.
In addition, RWJF's report to the Commission, Overcoming Obstacles to Health,
details the substantial role that social factors play in shaping health
behaviors and health.
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Grant Announcements &
Resources
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Institute of Medicine is
Accepting Nominations for Two Awards
The Institute
of Medicine (IOM) is now accepting nominations for the
18th annual Rhoda
and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health.
This award presents a medal and $20,000 for outstanding
achievement in improving mental health and contributions that
demonstrate at least one of the following: improvements in the
understanding of, or treatment for, mental disorders, innovations
in mental health services, or public policy changes that foster
science and/or improve mental health services.
Nominations
will be accepted through June
19, 2009.
The
Institute
of Medicine is also accepting nominations for
the 24th annual Gustav
O. Lienhard Award. Support for the award, which includes a
medal and $25,000, is provided by The
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This award honors
individuals whose creative or pioneering efforts have appreciably
improved personal health services as opposed to the science base of
health care. Nominations are due June 5, 2009.
National Center on Minority Health and Health
Disparities (NCMHD) Exploratory Centers of Excellence (P20) Funding
The NCMHD solicits grant applications from institutions/organizations
to establish an Exploratory NCMHD Center of Excellence
(COE) which will support infrastructure and capacity building,
building and sustaining novel partnerships, training, innovative
basic biomedical and behavioral clinical, or population-based research
and intervention and prevention studies contributing to either the
improvement of minority health, the elimination of health
disparities, or both. Closing date for applications is June 19, 2009.
Funding Opportunity Number: RFA-MD-09-005 Estimated total program
funding: $7,500,000. Award ceiling: $950,000.
Research Funding for Equine-Assisted Activities
Horses and Humans Research Foundation will accept research
proposals in support of projects that investigate the
therapeutic effects of horses on humans. Basic research projects as
well as clinical studies whose aim is to improve the quality of life
for people with disabilities who participate in equine-assisted
activities or therapies will be considered. Proposals will be
accepted through May
15, 2009. Grants of up to $50,000 will be awarded.
AAHD Launches Scholarship Fund
The American Association on Health and Disabilities (AAHD) Scholarship
Fund will support students with disabilities who are pursuing
undergraduate or graduate work in the field of disability research,
disability policy, health promotion, or public health.
Support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender
(LGBT) Organizations
The Rainbow
Endowment supports LGBT organizations that
promote awareness of LGBT mental and physical health issues, develop
public policy for equal health care treatment for LGBT individuals,
or advocate for the prevention of further HIV/AIDS transmission. The
community focus supports national efforts that develop policies in
support of LGBT youth and/or children of LGBT families, promote
coalitions to strengthen LGBT advocacy efforts, or protect LGBT
rights. Grants range from $5,000 to $20,000. Applications are
due May
22, 2009.
CVS Caremark Trust Fund Supports Children
in its Communities
The Trust's funding priorities include organizations
that make differences in the lives of children with disabilities
(physical, mental, developmental, sensory) and organizations that
focus on providing healthcare to the uninsured. Applications
will be accepted until June
15, 2009.
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Remember AOTF
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Think of AOTF when you
search the internet or shop online. Use these sites by entering the
American Occupational Therapy Foundation and AOTF benefits from
every search or purchase!
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Join Our List
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Society for the Study of Occupation (SSO:USA) Eighth Annual Research
Conference (October 14 - 16, 2009, New Haven, Connecticut)
The
SSO:USA seeks papers addressing substantive and methodological issues
studying participation in daily activities or those activities
that "occupy" our lives. Contributions from
social and other sciences are welcome.
Call for papers deadline is
June 1, 2009.
Honoring the Child,
Honoring Equity 9
The
Centre for Equity and Innovation in Early Childhood (CEIEC) (November
19 - 21, 2009, University of
Melbourne) invites seminars, colloquia, workshops, learning circles
and posters that explore the issues and questions that address the
broad conference themes of the place of children's rights, human
rights and equity throughout the early childhood and children's services
field. Papers that explore these themes as they apply to pedagogies,
practices, programs, policies, theories, and research are especially
welcomed. Deadline: June
16, 2009.
First International Symposium on Quality of Life
Technology - Intelligent Systems for Better Living
(June 30 - July 1, 2009,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Ways to support people's ability to live independently
are increasingly demanded throughout the world as demographics shift
to an older society and the prevalence of disability increases. In
this symposium, key opinion leaders in Quality of Life Technology
will present their most recent concepts and results and engage in
open discussion. The symposium will showcase emerging technologies,
their motivations and applications from around the world.
Disasters Roundtable of the National Academies and the
National Commission on Children and Disasters (June 25,2009, Washington,
DC)
This workshop will strive to identify key areas in need
of research, address opportunities and challenges, and facilitate
conversations about children and youth in disaster planning,
mitigation, response, and recovery among practitioners, academics,
and policymakers. Conference is free, open until filled.
New Centers Begin Recruiting for National
Children's Study
The National Children's Study, the federal government's comprehensive
study of how genes and the environment interact to affect children's
health, has activated five additional centers to begin
recruiting prospective volunteers in five new communities. These
Vanguard Centers join two centers activated previously to recruit
volunteers for the feasibility phase of the study, in which the Eunice Kennedy Shriver
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
will review the size, scope, and cost projections for the full
study. The data gleaned from the feasibility phase will be used
to inform the final research design.
18th Annual Conference of the International
Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ) and the 1st Conference for The
Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction (HAI)
(October 20-25,
2009, Kansas City, Missouri)
The
ISAZ/HAI sequential conferences will provide an opportunity for those
working in HAI research and practice to share their latest findings
and program outcomes. A special symposium will focus on how
human animal interaction may help fight obesity across the lifespan. Abstract
submission closes June 1, 2009
29th International Lilly Conference on College
Teaching November 19 - 22, 2009, Miami, Ohio)
This
conference on Evidence-based Learning and Teaching
invites proposals for paper presentations on any topics related
to enhancing the quality and effectiveness of college teaching and
student learning. Proposals
are due June
15, 2009.
ISSOTL
Annual Conference October 22 -
25, 2009, Bloomington, Indiana
The
goal of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching &
Learning (ISSOTL) is to foster inquiry
and disseminate findings about what improves and articulates
post-secondary learning and teaching. Their annual conference,
"Solid Foundations, Emerging Knowledge, Shared Futures"
invites scholars of teaching and learning from around the world to
share their evidence-based insights and theoretical frameworks for
how to teach today's students to be tomorrow's most prepared
citizens. Proposal deadline:
May 15, 2009.
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Web-Based & Related
Resources
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GINA Information Online
The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008
(GINA) fact sheet and guidance instructions for the research
community are now posted online.
Women
with Disabilities Health Equity Coalition (WowDHEC)
WowDHEC consists
of women with disabilities representing the diverse disability
community at large, as well as organizations serving people with
disabilities predominantly in the Portland, Oregon area. WowDHEC was
founded in 2006, though a seed grant from the Johnson and Johnson
Foundation, in response to a need in our community for a coalition dedicated
to decreasing health disparities among women with disabilities.
WowDHEC's mission is to improve the health of women with
disabilities and serve as a force for social change though
community building, leadership development, and education.
Community-Campus
Partnerships for Health (CCPH)
is a nonprofit
organization that promotes health through partnerships between communities
and higher educational institutions. Founded in 1996, CCPH is a
growing network of over 1,800 communities and campuses across North
America and the world collaborating to promote health through
service-learning, community-based participatory research, broad-based
coalitions and other partnership strategies. These partnerships are
powerful tools for improving higher education, civic engagement and
the overall health of communities.
Videocasts of
recent NIH Behavioral and Social Sciences Lectures are Online
Videocasts recently
posted are: Aging Well: Promoting Cognitive and Functional
Health, Tuesday, April 28, 2009 Margie Lachman, PhD, Brandeis
University and Risk, Resilience, and Gene X Environment Interactions
in Primates Wednesday, March 18, 2009 Stephen J. Suomi, PhD, NICHD.
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Publication Announcements
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The Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research (CROR) of the
Research Institute of Chicago's First 2009 Newsletter
Edition
The April
2009 edition of CROR
Outcomes (Traumatic Brain Injury Innovations) celebrates
the newly designated Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Model System at the
Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC). An archive of previous editions is
also available online.
The Idea of Creativity
Seventeen
philosophers, scientists and artists consider questions about the
intriguing idea of creativity: Is creativity essentially mysterious?
Is creativity essentially inspirational or rationalistic? What role
does skill play in creativity? What are the criteria of creativity?
Should we assign logical priority to creative persons, creative
processes, or creative products? How do forms of creativity relate to
different domains of human activity? How does creativity relate to
self-transformation? How does our knowledge of the circumstances of
creativity effect our appreciation of its products? Can a recipient
of a creative work also be a creator of it? Krausz, M, Dutton, D,
Bardsley, K (Eds) (2009) The
Idea of Creativity. Leiden: Brill.
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AOTF Institute Image
of the Month
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At
the US Army Base Hospital Camp Custer in 1919, a soldier-patient
paints handicrafts under the supervision of a Reconstruction
Aide.
The
AOTF Institute makes this image, as well as the Guide to the Archives
of the AOTA, available publicly as part of its mission to honor the
past and be the best possible steward of the unique body of knowledge
that is occupational therapy. To this end, the AOTF Institute warmly
welcomes individuals from within and beyond occupational therapy to
explore the guide and use the archives for purposes of research,
education, and leadership.
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is concerned about privacy and will only send Research Resources
to those individuals who wish to receive it. If you no longer wish to
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Resources, or if you feel that you received this
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parties.
For
more information about the American Occupational Therapy Foundation
and its Institute for the Study of Occupation and Health see our web
site: www.aotf.org.
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