In the last month, the rain was relentless but we were busy educating citizens through our public presentations, "Patient No More, How Having an Advocate can Save Your Life," and " Safe & Sound in the Hospital: a Short Course in Patient Safety."  We also trained Phinney Neighborhood Village members and others through our three-hour "Volunteer Health Advocate Training Program."  If you or your organization are interested in hosting a presentation, please contact us at [email protected].

 

This month our newsletter focuses on health literacy with two events:  we have a great free webinar next month to help people find trusted health sources.  We also will be discussing health literacy at our May 23 Advocate Networking event. 

 

We hope you will also take advantage of other programs and resources WASHAA has highlighted.

WASHAA Free Webinar: Finding Health Information You Can Trust

Finding health information that you can trust can be a daunting task given the vast online resources available at our fingertips.  Join us for a presentation by  Carolyn Martin, MLA, AHIP , the Consumer Health Coordinator for the Pacific NW region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.  She will help us figure out how to get the information you want and need from the comprehensive, but often overwhelming, National Library of Medicine and National Institute of Health databases.  In addition, she will discuss what you should look for when evaluating the quality of health information on general web sites and the importance of being a "cyberskeptic" if health claims sound too good to be true.  She will walk us through reputable resources and provide links to information that librarians rely on. 

WASHAA Partner News: End Brain Cancer Initiative Recognized

Congratulations to EndBrainCancer Initiative founder Dellann Elliott Mydland for  being named by CURE® magazine as one of three 2016 winners of the Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) Heroes® Award. Gary Mervis, Dellann Elliott Mydland and Sumul N. Raval, MD, DABPH were honored in November 2016 for their significant contributions to the GBM field.  The honorees were nominated by patients, health care professionals and advocates for their contributions and for making a difference in the lives of people with the disease. GBM is the most aggressive and most common form of primary brain tumor in the United States, affecting approximately 10,000 people every year. The median overall survival time from initial diagnosis is 15 months. Here is the CURE website with link to the video which captures how truly inspiring the event was: http://www.curetoday.com/events/gbm

Advocate and Patient Participants Wanted

Episodes of Care Summit  @ Cambia Grove on March 31st

Patient advocates are wanted to participate in the Summit on March 31st from 8 am to Noon to discuss the "how to's" of implementing bundled care with a panel of national experts who are subject matter experts in moving our health care system toward value-based care.   After the discussion, participants will design the path forward for Washington and put us on an implementation timeline aligning with the State Innovation Plan. Key stakeholder attendees will be the policy makers, providers and provider systems, payors, entrepreneurs, patient advocates and patients who will help execute in future sessions.

For program details  Episodes of Care Summit

Register here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/episodes-of-care-summit-tickets-32600155944#tickets

Save the Dates!

10 am, April 26 - FREE WASHAA Webinar

Consumer Health Librarian Carolyn Martin, MLS, AHIP will discuss  Finding Health Information You Can Trust. Click here for full details and please register here to attend this free online webinar.

5 pm, May 23 - Advocate Networking Event: Advocates or those interested in 

• Respond to this brief 5-question survey, sharing what you're interested in, and the best way for you to connect with others. Deadline for response is Wednesday, April 5. Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ST6FMHJ