Initiatives Provide Scholarships to American Indian Nurses, Increase Stroke Awareness Among Hispanics, HIV/AIDS, Kidney Disease Awareness Among Blacks
- Minneapolis, Minn.: HHS' Indian Health Services since 2002 has provided funding for a scholarship program in Minneapolis that helps American Indians/Alaskan Natives pursue master's degrees in nursing, Indian Country Today reports. The program, Native Nurses Career Opportunity Program, is the only one of its kind. The program covers tuition, travel, a monthly stipend, books and fees, Margaret Moss, the program's director, said. Most of the curriculum is online, but several face-to-face meetings with faculty are required each semester. Expenses incurred for such visits are covered under the scholarship. American Indian/Alaskan Natives nurses are given preference, but anyone practicing nursing among the American Indian population is eligible. Participants must commit to two to four years of work for IHS (Lee, Indian Country Today, 9/19).
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National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke: The institute in August launched an initiative that seeks to increase stroke awareness among Hispanics, the Victoria Advocate reports. Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death among the group, according to the American Stroke Association. As part of the campaign, the institute has developed a tool kit with a video that will be used to train health educators on specific stroke risks for Hispanics, as well as stroke information and materials in Spanish, Jose Merino, a staff clinician with the institute, said (Bozick, Victoria Advocate, 9/19).
- New Haven, Conn.: The Rev. Brenda Adkins of Everlasting Word Ministries is spearheading an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign called Seven Foot Soldiers, in which she and about 15 parishioners visit black communities two nights per week to talk to residents about HIV/AIDS, the New Haven Register reports. Adkins and the group also distribute bags that contain condoms and written materials about HIV/AIDS. She is seeking help from retailers to hold her next venture, a cookout and screening of a movie called "Health Disparities -- HIV/AIDS Among African-Americans" (McLoughlin, New Haven Register, 9/17).
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NIH: NIH's National Kidney Disease Education Program has created an educational brochure tailored specifically for blacks at risk for kidney disease. The brochure, "Kidney Disease: What African-Americans Need to Know," was developed with the help of health care professionals who routinely care for black patients with high risk for the kidney disease, including reviewers from Association of Minority Nephrologists and NKDEP Coordinating Panel members. The brochure provides detailed information on the disease and other related conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension, and encourages at-risk patients to be screened or seek more information from a professional (NIN release, 9/20).
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