Dear Virginia Public Health Association Members and Staff, 

You are cordially invited to participate in a research study entitled "Information Seeking Behavior of Public Health Professional in the U.S." The purpose of the study is to investigate how public health professionals seek information in the digital environment as well as understand the obstacles public health professionals experience in accessing and finding information from electronic resources.

The research study will be anonymous, you are not asked to provide your name. Your answers and comments are confidential and will be aggregated in the analysis. It will take around 15-20 minutes to answer the questions. Your participation is highly appreciated, 20-30 people selected from random drawing will be awarded an incentives worth of $30.

If you have any questions you may contact Sarah Al-Mahmoud at mahmouds@simmons.edu  a Ph.D. student at Simmons College or her dissertation committee Chair Dr.Rong Tang at rong.tang@simmons.edu. If you have questions about your right as a research subject you may contact the Human Protections Administrator in the Office of Sponsored Programs, Simmons College at +16175212415. The deadline of completion is Oct.5th,2017.

Please click on the link below to answer the survey. 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PHealthProfossionals

The Virginia Journal of Public Health is published twice yearly, fall and spring by the Virginia Public Health Association. 

Deadlines for Manuscripts:

                Fall Issue:  July 15

                Spring Issue:  January 15

The Journal welcomes research, professional, and literature reviews for consideration for publication (Please see the specific formats for each type of manuscript.

Manuscripts should be sent to Dr. David Sallee, Editor (dsallee@radford.edu) as a WORD document, email attachment.  In the cover letter or email, the corresponding author needs to affirm that the article has not been published elsewhere.

Manuscripts must:

1. Follow the form of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition (http://www.apastyle.org)

2. Be typed on 8 1/2 x 11-inch paper, double-spaced, 12 pt. font;

3. Include a title page with the names and addresses of each author;

4. Include a title page without author identification (this will be used for blind review);

5. Include a pdf copy of the Institutional Review Board approval if appropriate;

6. Include references at the end of the manuscript and in alphabetical order (APA style);

7. Have any figures or tables embedded in the manuscript;

8. Include a less than 200 word abstract.

Organization of Manuscripts

• Research Articles 
• Abstract (200 words): 
• • Purpose, Methods, Results, Findings, Conclusions.
• Text: 
• • Purpose, Methods, Results, Discussion, Summary, Conclusions                 Recommendations, References.

• Professional Articles (position papers, program descriptions)
• Text: 
• • Purpose, Methodology (if applicable), Discussion, Summary           Recommendations (if applicable), References (if applicable)

• Literature Reviews
  
• Abstract (200 words): 
• • Purpose, Methodology (Data Sources, Inclusion and Exclusion criteria), Findings (Data Synthesis), Summary, Conclusions, Recommendations
• Text: 
• • Purpose, Methodology (Data Sources, Inclusion and Exclusion criteria), Findings (Data Synthesis), Summary, Conclusions, Recommendations, References

Review Process

Manuscripts submitted will be sent to three members of the VPHA Editorial Board. Reviewers will recommend (1) Acceptance, (2) Acceptance with Revisions, (3) Revise and Resubmit, or (4) Reject.  The Editor makes the final decision and will notify the corresponding author of the manuscript disposition.

Questions: Contact Dr. David Sallee, dsallee@radford.edu

Join VAPHA in Washington, D.C., to celebrate National Public Health Week with local professionals, students and other friends of APHA. Enjoy healthy appetizers and drinks, a networking game and public health conversations! April 5, 2017 5-7 pm at APHA's office: 800 I St NW, Washington, DC 20001. 

For more information or to register, follow or paste this link into your browser:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2017-healthy-happy-hour-dc-maryland-virginia-registration-32300055335

When effectively integrated into health and social service systems and teams, CHWs have been proven to improve health outcomes, reduce costs and enhance the quality of health services.

This Forum convenes leaders that impact population health to strengthen efforts to integrate CHWs to improve access to care and health equity.

Attendees will:

 Increase awareness and understanding about the role of the CHW

 Learn about national opportunities and efforts to finance and grow the workforce

 Reflect on the work of the CHW Advisory Group and CHW Association over the past year and identify a clear vision for next steps for CHW workforce development

 Review best practices to involve community health workers in clinical and community based practices.

The event will take place at the Omni Hotel, Charlottesville, VA. 212 Ridge McIntire Rd, Charlottesville, VA 22903

Date: March 28, 2017 from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm

Register here: https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg;jsessionid=FA855B8224666BD23A36BD84EEE55F5D?oeidk=a07edwm4gt3cda766dc&oseq=&c=&ch= 

VCU is still accepting applications for the doctoral programs in Healthcare Policy and Research and Social and Behavioral Sciences for fall.  The program offers 4 years of funding, tuition support and travel and dissertation research support.  For more information, contact Kate Grant, Education Coordinator,  Department of Health Behavior and Policy, VCU School of Medicine at kate.grant@vcuhealth.org or 804-828-5329 and view the following video:  https://youtu.be/ljYMMr372eA 

The first issue of the bi-annual online Virginia Journal of Public Health is available below. The Journal includes articles on work and research taking place in Virginia. The articles are authored by Virginians working in public health, including faculty and students from academic public health and public health-related programs. If you are interested in publishing in the VAPHA Journal please see the author guidelines in the Journal.

 Virginia Journal of Public Health, Spring 2017.pdf

The Plan4Health project is a collaboration between the American Planning Association and APHA. It represents significant cross-sector support for policy, systems, and environment changes, as well as an opportunity to build leadership among our members.

Join the last 2 webinars in a three part series for the American Public Health Association and its Affiliates' members about the Plan4Health Initiative, and the importance of planning and public health to create the healthiest nation. During the first webinar, presenters discussed coalition building and how it was instrumental in the important PSE work conducted in the field. In March, the focus is on physical activity PSEs implemented in communities and our last webinar will center around nutrition. Each webinar will consist of presentations by two coalitions with an expert from the field moderating the session.  

Topic: Physical activity

Date: Thursday, March 9, 2017

Time: 3- 4:-00 pm ET

Topic: Nutrition

Date: Tuesday, May 9, ,2017

Time: 2- 3:00 pm ET

We hope that you can participate and learn more about this exciting project. Webinar details will be forwarded soon.  

For more information, contact Melissa.mcneily@apha.org.

From Information to Action: Choosing, Using & Sharing Data to Improve Population Health

March 29-30, 2017. Charlottesville, Virginia

After serving one year as Chair-Elect, Brian Martin, VAPHA's Board Secretary becomes Chair of APHA’s Health Administration Section. HIs term commences at the APHA business meeting on 10/27/16 at the 2016 annual APHA conference.