Tagged With "Community development"
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County Health Rankings and Roadmaps - COVID-19 Response and Recovery Resources
Although you are undoubtedly familiar with the County Heath Rankings and Roadmaps , you may not be aware of a new section their website which includes a collection of COVID-19 response and recovery resources . As communities across the nation transition from response to recovery, the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps team has pulled together a “one-stop shop” on where people and organizations can find: What Works for Health COVID-19 Strategies: Curated evidence-informed strategies—...
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Key Findings from the 4-H Youth Mental Health Survey
Together with the Harris Poll, National 4-H Council examined the impact of the public health crisis on the mental health of teens - from the perspective of teens themselves. If you missed the recent webinar to share the findings of the study, you can view the recording of the webinar here . As a result of COVID-19, millions of young people are facing unprecedented implications for their growth and development. These survey findings underscore the importance of our work as Extension...
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The Moral Determinants of Health
The source of what the philosopher Immanuel Kant called “the moral law within” may be mysterious, but its role in the social order is not. In any nation short of dictatorship some form of moral compact, implicit or explicit, should be the basis of a just society. Without a common sense of what is “right,” groups fracture and the fragments wander. Science and knowledge can guide action; they do not cause action. No scientific doubt exists that, mostly, circumstances outside health care...
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Driving System Change Forward
In the new report Driving Systems Change Forward , authored by the Urban Institute and published by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco , you’ll read key lessons from multi-site networks from across the country about what it takes to advance systems change forward by shifting power and promoting racial equity. Join us for a free virtual coffee chat on August 31 from 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm ET with one of the report authors— Corianne Scally —from the Urban Institute and contributing...
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Connect Extension Virtual Chat: Health Equity and Its Implications for Extension Practice
Click here at 1 PM ET on September 24th to Enter The Chat! According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) a health disparity exists when one group bears a higher burden of illness, injury, disability, or mortality relative to another as a result of conditions closely linked to social, economic, or environmental disadvantage. Conversely, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) defines health equity as a desired state where “everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as...
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How can we communicate in a fun and effective way?
Communication is a topic that is on our minds a lot more than usual these days. Whether you’re struggling to communicate effectively with the family members you’ve been stuck inside with for months, trying to find ways to connect with far away loved ones , or just finding yourself more stressed out and not as good at getting along as you usually are , we’ve got some ideas on how you can use fun to create more effective communication. Harness the Power of Play Use Family Game Night to Improve...
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Re: How can we communicate in a fun and effective way?
Great ideas for reducing stress while having fun.
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Celebrating "Can Do" Spirit on National Rural Health Day
The National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health sets aside the third Thursday of every November to celebrate National Rural Health Day. National Rural Health Day is an opportunity to “Celebrate the Power of Rural” by honoring the selfless, community-minded, “can do” spirit that prevails in rural America, gives us a chance to bring to light the unique healthcare challenges that rural citizens face, and showcase the efforts of rural healthcare providers, State Offices of Rural...
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Position Announcement: Health Promotion Specialist
Applications are currently being accepted for a health promotion specialist who will provide technical assistance and support to an Extension-wide project to promote the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccines. The successful candidate may be a current LGU employee who's services will be supported by a full-time buy-out of their professional time or service contract beginning April 1, 2021. See the position announcement immediately below for additional information. Position Announcement: Vaccinate...
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Position Announcement : Health Promotion Specialist - Cooperative Extension Immunization Education Project
Applications are currently being accepted for a Health Promotion Specialist for the Cooperative Extension Immunization Education Project who will provide technical assistance and support to an Extension-wide project to promote the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccines. The successful candidate may be a current LGU employee who's services will be supported by a full-time buy-out of their professional time or service contract beginning April 1, 2021. See the position announcement immediately below...
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COVID-19 and Rural Communities: Protecting Rural Lives and Health
You may be interested in this report examining the impact of COVID-19 in rural America, presenting data on case rates and mortality, prevalence in diverse rural communities, and health conditions contributing to severe cases of COVID-19. The report includes a discussion of issues of socioeconomic vulnerability, healthcare access, and public health compliance and offers actions to address disparities, including increasing access, supporting livelihoods, and considering social determinants of...
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Engaged Communities Make Strides in Addressing the Opioid Epidemic
The opioid epidemic is a national issue impacting communities across the country. It was declared a public health emergency in October 2017. Communities have mobilized at the national, state, and local level to address the problem, and Cooperative Extension has partnered with them in their efforts. The drivers and impacts of the opioid crisis in communities are complex and require a multi-level response. We employed a stakeholder engagement methodology, the SEED Method , to create...
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RFA for Well Connected Communities - Wave 3
I am happy to share the Request for Applications (RFA) for seven additional land grant institutions to become a part of the Well Connected Communities Initiative. National 4-H Council through the generous support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation seeks to showcase land grant universities that are modeling how Cooperative Extension is already working in new ways to implement the five high-level recommendations included in Cooperative Extension’s National Framework for Health Equity and...
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Funding to Document Successful Health Extension Innovations
Has your land grant institution implemented an innovation that has accelerated Cooperative Extension’s work to advance health and well being? If so, we want to help you tell that story of innovation and the difference it is making in your state. The Well Connected Communities Initiative, administered through National 4-H Council with the generous support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will provide seven land grant universities with $25,000 each to perform a case study of a successful...
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Initiating Cross-Sector Partnerships to Advance Population Health
Social determinants of health are the factors beyond individual behavior that impact the health status of individuals and communities. When these determinants disproportionately affect some groups in ways that are unjust or unfair, health inequities exist. One way to address the negative influences of these determinants is through collaborative partnerships. Community leaders like Extension professionals can initiate and develop cross-sector partnerships to collaborate with other...
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Re: Initiating Cross-Sector Partnerships to Advance Population Health
Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the social-environmental factors that set the context for human behaviors and behavioral disparities that impact the health and well-being of individuals and populations. When socio-environmental resources (and risks) are disproportionately distributed among groups of people in ways that are persistently unjust or unfair, health inequities exist and disparities measurable. One way for Extension (a public sector, cross-disciplinary, multi-level system)...
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Re: Initiating Cross-Sector Partnerships to Advance Population Health
Great contribution, Deborah! There are many different roles that Extension professionals can play in multi-sector coalitions including member, convener, facilitator, fiscal agent, connector, broker, or coach.
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Re: Initiating Cross-Sector Partnerships to Advance Population Health
Excellent to see this - Extension is often uniquely and perfectly placed to act as a 'backbone' organization in Collective Impact initiatives.
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New! Health Partnership and Development Coordinator
The Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) Health Program Action Team (PAT), in partnership with the Extension Foundation (EXF), seeks a Heath Partnership and Development Coordinator who is passionate about advancing health equity through the work of the Cooperative Extension System and its partners. The central focus of the work is to assist the Extension Health Director and the Health Program Action Team identify and manage progress toward milestones related to the...
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Engaging Communities through Issues Forums
Bonnie Braun of the University of Maryland Extension and Maria Pippidis of the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension will be presenting a webinar on Engaging Communities through Issues Forums on June 9, 2022 at 2:00 PM EDT as part of the Skill Building for Extension Professionals series offered by the Extension Foundation. Registration is required at: https://pages.extension.org/extension-skills What questions will be answered? • Have you ever thought that something beyond your...
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Listening Session on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health
Nearly 100 individuals participated in a virtual listening session held recently to gather advance input into the upcoming White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health to be held this September. The listening session was hosted by the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy and the Board on Human Sciences of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) with support of the Extension Foundation. The majority of the participants were state-level coordinators of...
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Belonging and Civic Muscle - A Vital Condition, An Extension Opportunity
When viewing the vital conditions framework, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the categories and get lost in thinking about your role in changing any one, or many of the conditions in the community. But, if we look at the conditions as an opportunity to speak to the work that we do as a system, it becomes something that feels right in the work that we do day in and day out, and maybe is the least "measured" in the people counting, and knowledge, attitudes and beliefs surveys many of us do...
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Re: Belonging and Civic Muscle - A Vital Condition, An Extension Opportunity
Thanks for this great article, Gina. When residents of a community develop a sense of agency and the skills to lead change they can make great things happen.
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Re: Belonging and Civic Muscle - A Vital Condition, An Extension Opportunity
Great reminder of why our work in Extension is important at all levels.
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Re: Belonging and Civic Muscle - A Vital Condition, An Extension Opportunity
So well said! Extension is in the perfect position to support communities as they build this critical foundation. We need to adapt our reporting systems for including these stories and capturing the outcomes of the systems change work that we are involved in.
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Re: Belonging and Civic Muscle - A Vital Condition, An Extension Opportunity
Possible indicators for including in planning and producing narrative "stories" and outcome/impact "reports" of social and community change across vital conditions, including belonging and civic muscle, align nicely with a social justice lens. Indicators of change include access (equity & inclusion-who does/doesn't have access & why), agency (intentions and choices), advocacy (voice and skills), and solidarity actions (participates and work toward) for change. The processes of...
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Re: Belonging and Civic Muscle - A Vital Condition, An Extension Opportunity
Thank you for this post! @Deborah John , I'm not able to access the educator resource you shared with the link, not sure if others had that issue too. Can I look for it online? What's it called?
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Re: Belonging and Civic Muscle - A Vital Condition, An Extension Opportunity
@Amira, thanks for letting me know! The Social Justice Lens Booklet is available for download at: https://www.bctf.ca/classroom-...justice-lens-booklet
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Creating High Trust Environments in Organizations
"For society to function, people must believe in the institutions meant to serve them. They need to know that the government is acting in their best interests, that businesses are operating ethically and efficiently, that nonprofits are improving their communities, and that the media is delivering timely, accurate information. Trust creates the conditions for these organizations to carry out their missions (Aspen Institute). A recent article by Aspen Institute's Executive Director Maureen...
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Measuring What Matters: Well-Being as a Measure of Social Progress
A 2015 article by McGregor, Coulthard, and Camfield suggests changes in how we develop and evaluate the effectiveness of various policies and programs. While authors contend that " there has been a tremendous upsurge of interest in and initiatives to develop measures of human well-being as a yardstick of societal progress." and suggest that using solely economic measures of progress are inadequate and results in misguided. " The focus on income measures encourages an unbalanced focus on...
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Learn to Work with Communities to Implement Crime Prevention Strategies
Are you, or would you like to be, working with communities on crime prevention strategies? This is your opportunity to learn strategies to do this. Michigan State University Extension has been working with faculty in the MSU School of Planning, Design and Construction (SPDC) and the MSU National Charrette Institute (NCI) to develop training for Extension professionals and communities on how to do crime prevention through placemaking and environmental design. The program is called Placemaking...
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Summary of December Lightning Presentations
On December 15, six land-grant universities shared information about current work happening at their respective institutions to advance health equity and well-being. Summaries of these presentations are found below. University of Missouri - Chiquita Chanay and Lisa Washburn shared information about how University of Missouri Extension is engaging various units across campus to address the health challenges of Missourians. Their Project ECHO replication is a peer-learning, knowledge network...
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Healthy Communities and Rural Community Development
Healthy, thriving communities support healthy individuals. The Reimagine Rural podcast series features rural towns experiencing positive change, through local voices.
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Cooperative Extension: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
In my role as a Well-Being and Equity Project Manager, I am working to co-create a process for youth and adults to promote equitable development in their community by partnering with Cooperative Extension. I’d like to take a moment to ponder some of the ways Cooperative Extension currently shows up in this movement for societal progress. It is time we deeply question the ways we promote and discourage equitable development in our work, for perpetuating the status quo hurts communities and...
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Re: Cooperative Extension: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
A great thought-provoking article. We must all work together to transform in ways that ensure the future of Cooperative Extension.
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Re: Cooperative Extension: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
I am relatively new to Extension and come at it from the Master Gardener Volunteer side. I will say that your article mirrors my experience with the organization very well. There are a lot of great people working hard to make a difference but the structure and culture of CES make that an uphill battle. I fear that if Extension doesn’t address these issues soon, their relevance is going to be diminished greatly. That would be a tragic waste of what could be a very good thing given some...
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The EXCITE Project: Impact of Immunization Education Programs at 1890 Institutions
The 1890 Universities Foundation collaborated with the Extension Foundation to implement the system-wide program, Extension Collaborative on Immunization Teaching and Engagement (EXCITE). EXCITE addresses barriers and increases confidence about COVID-19, flu, and other vaccinations among rural and medically underserved audiences and informs CDC, USDA-NIFA, Cooperative Extension, and health partners about how best to implement public health programs to reduce health disparities. EXCITE...
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Re: Cooperative Extension: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Sophia, thank you for sharing this. I agree, deep reflection and addressing some uncomfortable truths can lead us towards our aspiration to advance equity as a core system value.
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Re: Cooperative Extension: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Thank you so much for this article. I agree there is passion and dedication everyday within CCE. But the accepted culture and the inherent creation of silos prevents a lot of good things from happening. With many times, gaps being closely related to the lack of effective, inclusive communication leading to unwillingness to collaborate on projects, programming and mission.
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Re: Cooperative Extension: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Wow! You really got to the heart of Cooperative Extension in this thought-provoking essay. Our traditions can enrich our experiences but can present barriers to participation for others who are not part of our traditional audiences. I hope that we as leaders in this organization can develop a habit of reflection and self-knowledge that will allow us to adapt to a changing society and remain relevant. I am confident that we will do so.
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Position Announcements - University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky is pleased to announce two new health-focused faculty positions with significant Extension responsibility. The first is an Assistant/Associate Extension Professor in Community and Family Health. Visit https://ukjobs.uky.edu/postings/458642 . The second is an Assistant Clinical Professor in Mental Health and Well-Being. See ttps://ukjobs.uky.edu/postings/458638 . The review of applications will begin on May 1, 2023 with an anticipated start date of September 1, 2023.
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Re: Cooperative Extension: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Excellent synopsis of our current situation and suggestions for moving forward - thank you! This is right in line with the conversations my teams are engaged in as we consider our approach to systems level change.
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Toolkit and Workshop for Building Confidence as a Trusted Messenger!
Getting to the Heart and Mind of the Matter: A Toolkit and Workshops for Building Confidence in Being a Trusted Messenger of Health Information REGISTER HERE Attention all Extension professionals and community partners involved in health-related work! Enhance your communication skills and gain new tools that will help you be a trusted messenger of health information in your community! Join the Washington State team for a three-part workshop series: Getting to the Heart and Mind of the...
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Now Open - Subgroup on Mental Health and Well Being
It is my pleasure to announce a new sub-group of Connect Extension on mental health and well-being that is now open to receive members! To join, visit https://connect.extension.org/g/mental-health-and-well-being and click “Join.” If you are not already a member of Connect Extension, you’ll be prompted to create a free account. If you are already a member and logged in, you can simply add this subgroup to the list of subgroups to which you belong. The purpose of this subgroup is to highlight...
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Re: Cooperative Extension: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
so true and so relevant we all struggle with these issues would love to continue this discussion but with some plan of action
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Assistant Professor - Physical Activity and Mental Health
Utah State University is searching for an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in Mental Health and Physical Activity. The posting can be viewed below or by visiting https://careers-usu.icims.com/jobs/6996/job . Review of applicants will begin October 15 and continue until the position is filled.