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MPHA Members March for Women's Lives By Amy Eiferman, MPHA Intern
MPHA Staff Members Sarah Almer & Amy Eiferman at the March for Women's Lives in Washington DC
With over 1,150,000 participants, the March for Women's Lives on April 25, 2004 was the largest demonstration for any issue ever in US history. And it was truly amazing. I drove down to DC with three of my friends from social work school (and got a flat tire on I-95 somewhere around Baltimore!), using the ten-hour road trip to study for exams and make post-graduation plans.
Just taking the Metro to the march you could feel the excitement building. Many others on the train were carrying signs and had proudly donned feminist t-shirts. Click here for entire article. Advocacy in Action: The case of the state's immunization program
In recognition for its adult immunization advocacy efforts with the legislature and governor's office, last month MPHA received an award at the Massachusetts Adult Immunization Conference The immunization program in the Department of Public Health ensures the complete and timely vaccination of all children in the Commonwealth to prevent the occurrence of vaccine-preventable diseases. The immunization program also funds immunizations for adults – including the adult flu
vaccine...
MPHA and Coalition Partners Work to Strengthen Local Public Health System By Frank Singleton, Health Director for the City of Lowell and MPHA Board member
MPHA has been working for several years as a member of the Coalition for Local Public Health, comprised of the Massachusetts Health Officers Association (MHOA), Massachusetts Association of Health Boards (MAHB), Massachusetts Environmental Health Association (MEHA) and Massachusetts Association of Public Health Nurses (MAPHN). The coalition was formed to address weaknesses in the state's local public health infrastructure that were apparent long before the Bush administration started directing money to the states to prepare for bioterrorism and other potential public health emergencies in the wake of
9/11. Click here to read on.
In response to the need to educate the general public about the importance of public health and emergency preparedness, MPHA produced a 30-minute video on these topics that will be aired in local access television channels in late May and June.
MPHA received a grant from the Department of Public Health to produce the video, which will be aired on approximately 200 channels across Massachusetts. To find out what the general public needs and wants to know about public health, MPHA staff member Sarah Almer conducted focus groups with non-public health professionals in several communities across Massachusetts. Click here to read on. Click here for full article.
The central region is booming with activity. Central MA school and community organizations continue to benefit from the collaboration between MPHA and FoodPlay Productions. During the next month This Is Your Life will be seen at both Girls, Incorporated in Worcester and Wells Jr. High School in Southbridge...
The Merrimack Valley area is bustling with activity and activism. Nine "Foodplay" educational performances have been presented to Lowell's elementary schools, and five to Lawrence's elementary schools; also five "This Is Your Life" performances have been introduced to Lowell's middle schools, and two to
Lawrence's middle schools...
Western Mass was well represented at the April 13th Rally and Lobby day at the State House. Helen Coulton Harris of the Springfield Health Department was master of ceremonies at the event. Anne
Rosen, an MPHA member from Community Partners of Amherst, together with other regional representatives such as Cooley Dickinson Hospital, partnered to lobby for public health and health care access...
Click here for full article.
Governor Mitt Romney has little company among his fellow U.S. governors in seeking to roll back the state's income tax rate at this point in our fragile economic recovery. Romney, however, stands squarely in the tradition of recent Massachusetts governors who have staked their political fortunes on convincing voters that we can have it all: tax cuts without harming the quality of life for families and communities. Our public health system is a tragic casualty of this deception... Click here to read on. By Susan Whalen, MPHA MemberMPHA has been an active member of the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow (AHT) since its inception. AHT has grown into a coalition of over 200 organizations seeking preventive action on toxic hazards. Our goal is to correct fundamental flaws in government policies that allow harm to our health and environment. We will create proactive
policies to prevent harm before the damage is done, and to choose the safest alternatives. We understand that the world cannot be "risk-free," but we know that there are safer alternatives to many toxic technologies and products in use today. Industrial progress has brought us many advantages, but we can go further and create progress toward a healthier environment. Currently, we are working on three key pieces of legislation... Click here for the entire article.
Looking for a creative way you can help reduce health disparities? Need to be re-energized to your public health career? MPHA is looking for members like you who are willing to share one Thursday afternoon of their summer with three or four minority youth who are thinking about careers in public health or medicine. The Health Careers Opportunity Program's goal is to engage minority youth interested in public health and medicine in order to attract more providers of color to the field in years to come. We need YOU to show them the way! The time commitment is one Thursday afternoon from 2pm-5pm (or more if you like). For those few hours, you would show a group of 3-4 youth "a day in the life of a public health professional" by giving them a tour of your workplace, explaining your agency/organization, and showing them how you spend your day. The Thursdays are between June 28th and August 6th. If you would like to talk further about this exciting opportunity to make a difference for a student and the public health field, please call Amy Eiferman at 617-524-6696 x112 or e-mail her at aeiferman@mphaweb.org. |
Health rally draws statewide support
More than 300 advocates and consumers gathered at the State House on April 13 to protest the Administration's budget cuts to public health programs and the drastic underfunding that has left thousands of the Commonwealth's most vulnerable residents without health coverage. The press event and lobby day, sponsored by MPHA, the United We Stand for Public Health coalition, Health Care For All and the MassHealth Defense Group, drew large numbers from Springfield, New Bedford, Cape Cod, Worcester, Boston, and Lowell as well as many other towns and cities throughout the state.
Consumers, advocates and legislators spoke at the rally.
Before a crowd of 360 dinner guests at the Colonnade Hotel, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino accepted MPHA's Paul Revere Award, the highest honor given by the Massachusetts public health community. Senate President Robert E. Travaglini, as well as MPHA President Harold Cox and Vice President Judith Kurland were among the presenters to honor Mayor Menino for his tremendous achievements in improving the health of Bostonians.
MPHA thanks those of you who contributed to this event, helping us raise nearly $140,000 to support our expanding agenda to protect and promote public health. Click here to read on.
It was called "2004 Unity Conference", but it was reminiscent of a family reunion. It was my first nationwide Community Health Worker's conference, and as I waited to board flight 5321 I wondered how it would be to co-exist, for the next two and one-half days with almost three hundred total strangers. (Make that two-hundred ninety-six total strangers. I knew four CHWs from my home state of Massachusetts, one of which was my daughter with whom I would share the podium for a workshop session). Click here to read on.
Gold Sponsor
Park View Specialty Hospital & Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center of Commonwealth Communities
Bronze Sponsor
Evercare Senior Care Options
Loomis Communities
MassPRO Orchard Valley at Wilbraham
The Arbors at Amherst Jewish Geriatric Services Smith College School for Social Work
Other Supporters
Elder Services of Berkshire County Franklin County Home Care Corporation Greater Springfield Senior Services
Heritage Woods Highland Valley Elder Services MassAssociation of Councils on Aging and Senior Center Directors Mass Department of Public Health Mass Executive Office of Elder Affairs Mass Senior Action Council, Inc.
Monastery Heights and Assisted Living Radius Ring Health Care Center Western Mass Association of Councils on Aging
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MPHA, 434 Jamaicaway, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 ~ PHONE (617) 524-6696 ~ FAX (617) 524-5225 |
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Public Health Happenings E-Newsletter, May 2004, Edited by Amy Eiferman 
