Wellforce

School Wellness Assessment Tool - WellSAT

2012-12-30T11:33:00.003-08:00

Attention school wellness policy coordinators! How complete is your school(s)/school districts wellness policy? Now you may score your school district’s wellness policy quality in less than one hour, with an online Wellness School Assessment Tool (WellSAT), developed by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University with funding through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Whether you are responsible for one single school or the school district’s wellness policy, you may now identify the wellness policy’s strengths and weaknesses in the following areas: nutrition education and promotion, physical activity/physical education, school meals and competitive foods. An added feature of WellSAT is the scorecard that provides resource links for specific areas needing improvement. The scorecard rates comprehensiveness as well as strength. To view the online scoring survey and/or use the free tool, visit www.wellsat.org.

WellSAT was developed by researchers at the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at Yale University. The WellSAT is an abbreviated version of the 96-item Comprehensive Coding System to Measure the Quality of School Wellness Policies. This tool was developed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Healthy Eating Research Program working group. Survey development methods for this tool can be found here. A printable copy of the WellSAT tool is available here.

Who should complete this assessment?

· District level school officials

· Members of School Wellness Advisory Boards or committees, particularly those charged with evaluation responsibilities

· Public health professionals

· Researchers

· School-level officials, provided they have a clear understanding that the tool is to be used for assessment of district, rather than school-level wellness policies

WellSAT: Rudd Center — Home

Mobile Dietitian @ Your Fingertips

2012-12-20T08:23:00.002-08:00

Ever find yourself confused by lengthily ingredient lists, complex nutrition labels, exaggerated health claims and in-your-face marketing hype at your local grocery store?

Now, there's a handy App known as Fooducate to minimize your confusion. The team at Fooducate, is made up of parents, dietitians, and techies with a common purpose. They realize that the food isle offers little time to analyze product labels and extract the information that is important to you. This App can assit you in making better choices for you and your family.

The Fooducate mobile application allows you to:

Automatically scan a product barcode
See product highlights (both good & bad)
Compare products side by side
Select better alternatives
Dive deeper and learn more about food and nutrition

Value and benefits:

A trusted resource created by dietitians and concerned parents
Your mobile's camera can effortlessly scan UPC barcode
Over 200,000 unique products and growing daily
Simplified information helps you make better choices
Works on iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android OS version 2.2 and up

Now you can more confidently pick up items from the shelf, scan them, and have Fooducate to look over your shoulder. You can also be reassured that Fooducate is NOT funded or influenced by BIG food.

What's in Your Wellness Wallet? - Electronic Health Records (EHR)

2012-01-15T10:19:00.000-08:00

Consider this: you can travel anywhere on the planet and pay for your hotel stay or other purchases by the swipe of a credit card, where the payee authenticates your credit limit. In essence, your financial information can and is transmitted to wherever it is required in the bat of an eyelid. And yet, the thing that matters most to us, our health and our health records, is pretty much stuck in the Stone Age.

We must begin advocating that access to our healthcare information is just as important or more so than our a ability to make financial transactions anywhere anytime. In most instances your medical information, history of medical treatment, surgeries, allergies and so on are recorded on paper or a proprietary electronic health record (EHR) system and all this stays where it is recorded. If this information is not made universally available to doctors and care givers when and where it is needed, it is pretty useless and could mean the difference between life and death.

Electronic health records (EHRs) focus on the total health of the patient—going beyond standard clinical data collected in the provider’s office and inclusive of a broader view on a patient’s care. EHRs are designed to reach out beyond the health organization that originally collects and compiles the information. They are built to share information with other health care providers, such as laboratories and specialists, so they contain information from all the clinicians involved in the patient’s care. The National Alliance for Health Information Technology stated that EHR data “can be created, managed, and consulted by authorized clinicians and staff across more than one healthcare organization.”

Employer Wellness Grants, and Wellness Program Discounts

2011-03-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

Beginning in 2011, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provides $200 million in grants for small business wellness programs. Additionally, employers can offer higher incentives to employees who participate in group-sponsored wellness programs beginning in 2014.

The wellness grants are available to small businesses with fewer than 100 employees who work 25 hours or more per week. They will be available over five years to businesses that did not have a wellness program in place when the law went into effect on March 23, 2010.

To qualify, wellness programs must be available to all employees and include the following:

Health awareness initiatives, such as health education, preventive screenings and health risk assessments
Efforts to maximize employee engagement and encourage participation
Initiatives to change unhealthy behaviors and lifestyle choices (such as seminars, counseling, online programs and self-help materials)
Supportive workplace efforts, including policies to encourage healthy lifestyles, healthy eating, increased physical activity and improved mental health.

Employers will apply for the grants directly with the federal government.

Starting Jan. 1, 2014, employers can offer discounts of up to 30 percent to employees who participate in employer-sponsored wellness programs, an increase from the current 20 percent. (This reward could increase to 50 percent at the discretion of the secretaries of the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor or Treasury.)

If a wellness program ties rewards to health status goals, such as reaching a certain body mass index (BMI), blood pressure or cholesterol level, certain conditions must be met:

Rewards for all goal-based wellness programs cannot exceed more than 30 percent of the cost of employee-only or family coverage through the plan.
The wellness program must set an easily met standard for improving health status or preventing disease among participants. The program also must not be overly burdensome, cannot be used to discriminate based on health status and cannot use highly suspect methods to promote wellness.
Eligible individuals should be able to qualify for the reward at least annually.
The program must offer reasonable alternative standards (or a waiver) for obtaining the reward to any individual who cannot satisfy the standard for that period due to unreasonable difficulty resulting from a medical condition or medical inadvisability.
The group health plan or health insurer can seek verification from the individual’s doctor.
Programs do not need to establish an alternative standard until an enrollee informs the health plan that they are unable to participate due to health reasons.
Alternative standards could include meeting a lower threshold, following a personalized physician recommendation, walking three days a week for 20 minutes, etc.
Notification and/or details that alternative standards or a waiver exists must be disclosed in plan materials.

The reform law also creates a 10-state pilot project that will launch by July 1, 2014 allowing participating states to use similar rewards for involvement in wellness programs in the individual market.

It is difficult at this time to say which states will seek to qualify for the project. A state will be deemed eligible if it is determined that participation will not result in any decrease in coverage and will not increase costs to the federal government when providing premium tax credits.

If determined to be effective, the demonstration project will expand to additional states beginning July 1, 2017

“Disease Management” Extreme Makeover

2011-02-06T09:17:00.000-08:00

“Disease management” itself needs its own extreme make-over. One initial step is replacing the term “disease management” with “health coaching,” and changing the focus to the patients’ health, not their disease or condition, more so offering hope. “Health coaching” refers to an interactive process, one in which patients can become more active participants in their own care. This approach or model also needs to be attached to a solid core—activation framework.

Next is creating a proactive exchange with primary providers to foster a renaissance in activated vs. re-active primary care practices. Such a model would transform care for patients with chronic conditions, rounding out Wagner’s Chronic Care Model (enhancing outcomes between "well informed and an activated patient" and a “prepared, proactive primary care team”) as well as serving as an integration point for a fragmented health care system. (Triple Aim – Improving Care by Engaging Patients).

A Different Approach to Health
A holistic approach to health and wellness means that we look at how all areas of our lives are connected. Does stress on the job or in a relationship cause us to overeat? Does lack of sleep or low energy prevent us from getting the regular daily exercise we need? We must look at how all parts of life affect health as a whole.

Is everything in life “food”?
Nourishment comes in many forms in our lives besides what we eat. Strong relationships, a rewarding career, regular physical activity and a spiritual connection are also essential forms of sustenance. When the core "foods” in our lives are balanced, the foods we eat become only one more source of nourishment.

A health coach (or health navigator) is a wellness guide and supportive mentor. A health coach works together with the patient, to achieve goals in areas such as attaining an optimal weight, dealing with food cravings and maximizing sleep and energy levels. Through the health coach relationship, clients develop a deeper understanding of the activities, foods and lifestyle choices that work best for themselves and implement lasting changes that will improve one’s energy, balance and health.

Dancing for Hope

2010-11-06T12:10:00.000-07:00

There is so much strife in our world today - yet there are some bright spots too. Though many news headlines often focus on the bad side, still you can truly feel that man was created to nurture good will and make others happy. Dancing is just such an amazing and wonderful physical expression to show this! Together we can change lives, and brighten someones day besides our own with the simplest of actions.

"The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers. It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death, in ebb and in flow."

Heart Attack Stories - Time is Life

2010-11-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

Heart attacks and cardiac disease are the leading killers of both men and women worldwide. Yet they're usually survivable if help is given within one hour.

Though in the case of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) its all about minutes, unlike many of the stories you might hear about this threat it's onset of lethal symptoms are abrupt. The victim may or may not have diagnosed heart disease and the typical prelude of symptoms over hours does not take place. The time and mode of death are unexpected and survival depends greatly on immediately getting CPR from someone nearby.

But less than 1/3 of people get that help. Most bystanders are worried they might do something wrong or make things worse. The sad part is that for years they look back wishing they could have done something. Learn hands only CPR today!

Help spread the word. Share your personal story of heart attack survival or loss, visit a Facebook community page, Heart Attack Stories for those who've suffered a heart attack to share your story of survival. And for affected loved ones to share your story of loss.

Posted in remembrance of my "dad" RWH, and as a thank you to JK the creator of Time is Life & Heart Attack Stories.

Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity

2010-10-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity presents a number of recommendations that touch on the vital role of government actions on all levels--federal, state, and local--in childhood obesity prevention. The book offers healthy eating and physical activity strategies for local governments to consider, making it an excellent resource for mayors, managers, commissioners, council members, county board members, and administrators.

Finding Walk In Clinics Getting Easier

2010-08-28T08:03:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I was busy cleaning the house, dinner guests were arriving in an hour, and in the process cracked a gash in the top of my head. My first thought - "D#* that hurt", second thought - "Oh no, head wound lots of bleeding", third thought - "will this require immediate medical care?" Luckily for me it was just a superficial wound, and simple antiseptic cleansing, compression and some "new skin" did the trick - love that stuff, super glue too. But what if I'd needed a stitch or two. The ED would have cost me a bundle, not to mention loads of hassle and time. So this experience got me thinking. What tools are out there to help people find ED alternatives? Come to find out there are a few, very few, walk-in and urgent care clinic finders out there. I also got toying with Google Location Maps, the primary kid on the block when it comes to finding things and was even able to build my own simple locator for a local urgent care provider.

So if you find yourself needing to make a pressing decision about where to seek care, remember there are options, and likely many new tools and mobile apps on there way to get you real-time and location-specific directories. Like the Clinic Walk site link below.

Oregon Walk In Clinics

Eat! Move! Play!

2010-07-31T10:35:00.001-07:00

I've been working on a major project over the past couple of years, with the opportunity to research and explore the problem of over-weight & obesity from various vantage points at great depth. As you may conclude from my blog archive this is a very passionate issue for me, with numerous posts on this topic.

As a child and adolescent weight was a challenge - not really, more so it was a real image and self-esteem deal breaker. I only wish my parents who were mid-west raised and farm fed - - had better understood the implications (however simply putting food on the table for the nine of us was a real stretch - thanks mom & dad) - but more importantly that they (me too! and my school) had had access to information and advice like we have today that could have benefited our entire family.

As part of this project, which included a weight management program proposal, I recommended Weight Watchers TM because I've seen firsthand, as well as experienced the positive impact programs like it can have in peoples lives, and their families lifestyles. I recently stumbled across their parents guide, which prompted this post.

Weight Watchers; Eat! Move! Play! A Parent’s Guide for Raising Healthy, Happy Kids

Do you and your family a favor check it out today. Begin to take a more active role in helping them better manage their relationship with food & physical activity, not to be mention their overall health & self-esteem. The dividends could well be - priceless!

New Canaan Patch, CT - New School Wellness Policy Takes Holistic Approach

2010-06-19T08:41:00.000-07:00

New Canaan Public School teachers and room moms have been rethinking the menus for end-of-year parties, adding carrot sticks and fruit slices to the traditional spreads of cupcakes and brownies. The school's new wellness policy promotes sound nutrition and a physically active lifestyle at every possible turn, including class celebrations.

The new policy aims to close the loop between the lunch room, the classroom, the gym, and the family fridge.

New Canaan Patch, CT - New School Wellness Policy Takes Holistic Approach

Jamie Oliver's - Food Revolution

2010-03-27T07:28:00.000-07:00

If a real food revolution is to be, it can’t happen just in isolation-we must rise up with campaigns across the country where we live, work and play. Jamie's wish is to teach every child about food and to fight obesity. In Food Revolution's six episodes, Jamie travels to Huntington WV to improve the dietary habits of the people there. His arrival is met with resistance by the locals as his ideas of healthy eating are discouraged by a local radio DJ, the head cafeteria cook, the newspaper, and the school principal who urges him to follow the strict government guidelines that seem arbitrary. He discovers a repeated sound that serves as a cue of one of the reasons why the region's health indicators are so poor. As the children line up t o exit the cafeteria you hear thumps as they tap their cafeteria trays against the insides of a trash can and dump pounds of wasted food (mostly the healthy stuff - they eat the junkie foods) and money.

One thing noticeably absent from the first two episodes is a discussion of any role the American food industry and its lobbyists might play in the makeup of school lunches and in the formulation of the guidelines set for them by the Agricultural Department.

Watch Mr. Oliver's TED award speech:

Jamie Oliver - official site for recipes, books, tv and restaurants

Together We Can!

2010-01-17T07:08:00.000-08:00

A nationwide program is helping to promote good nutrition and fun physical activities for better health among children. Communities across the nation, including those in the Pacific Northwest are getting involved in the We Can!TM movement. To date, more than 1208 entities, including some in my own back yard here in Oregon have signed on. Play your part today by simply spreading the word and start using the broad array of turn-key resources and tools to make a difference where you live, work & play.

The national statistics on childhood obesity are not encouraging. According to CDC data nearly 80% of children who are overweight at aged 10–15 years become obese adults. Since obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and many other serious health problems, the urgent nature of this issue should be clear. In fact, today's children are going to carry the obesity with them much longer leading to additional or more serious weight-related health risks.

Fortunately, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is taking a leading role in addressing this nationwide epidemic head-on. In 2005, the NIH launched We Can!TM (Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity & Nutrition), a national education program designed to help children ages 8 to 13 achieve and maintain a healthy weight. The program gets community organizations, schools, and hospitals involved to assist families in making improved food choices, increasing their physical activity, and reducing their screen time.

Energy In, Energy Out
One of the most important things to understand about keeping a healthy weight is that you gain weight if you consume more calories than your body burns. Likewise, you lose weight if your body burns more calories than you consume. Your body burns calories in a variety of ways, including by just doing basic functions like breathing and digesting food. People with active lifestyles burn more calories than do those who don’t do as much. That’s why physical activity is such an important part of getting to and keeping a healthy weight.

Think of the food you eat in terms of GO, SLOW, & WHOA foods. Enjoy GO foods almost any time you like. Limit SLOW foods to certain occasions, no more than a few times per week. And enjoy WHOA foods only on special occasions, and then eat only a small portion.

• GO foods include low-fat, low-calorie foods that are also low in added sugar. They tend to be rich in nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, and other healthy substances. Fresh fruits and vegetables are great examples of GO foods. That said, fried vegetables and canned fruits in syrup, despite their fundamental ingredients, fall into the category of WHOA foods. Be sure to stock up on GO foods so that you can offer a variety of foods to keep things interesting.

• SLOW foods tend to be higher in fat and added sugar than GO foods are. Examples include fruit juices; baked goods made with white, refined flour; and poultry cooked with the skin still on.

• WHOA foods are the highest in fat and added sugar. Foods prepared with heavy creams and butter, fried foods, and fatty meats are examples of foods you should only eat once in a while.

Get Moving
Along with a healthy diet, physical activity can help you keep every family member’s weight in a healthy range — and help everyone feel better every day. Health and Human Services (HHS) guidelines recommend that children and teens get physical activity for at least 1 hour per day on most (or better yet, all) days of the week. That may sound like a lot, especially if you’re not getting any physical activity now. But physical activity means more than exercise alone. It can mean playing games in the backyard, or washing the car. It can mean working in the yard, or walking the dog. Add the healthy habit of physical activity to your family’s schedule.

Screen Time
Americans spend too much time in front of monitors, sitting still and burning very few calories. One way to make time for healthier family life is to limit the amount of time your children — and you — spend in front of a screen. Try to limit your family’s “screen time” to no more than 2 hours per day. Also, you can make the most of screen time by encouraging physical activity while watching TV, such as stretching, lifting weights, or doing yoga. Or enjoy an exercise program together.

Making Changes
Start small, and do it one small step at a time. By making gradual changes to your family’s routine, it becomes easier to accept the differences. It’s one thing to know you need to make changes. It’s another to actually make them. Most of all overweight and obese children need guidance in making healthier choices.

Childhood & Adult Obesity Archieve

2010-01-16T07:48:00.000-08:00

Searching for resources and information related to adult and childhood obesity interventions to kick-start your wellness programming efforts? Look no further. I've tried to gather a number of very useful and trusted sources via the links below to get you started. Clinicians will need to assess the client's motivation to enter weight loss and severe obesity therapy; determine the clients degree of activation and readiness to implement the plan; and then take appropriate steps to motivate the client for treatment and support them in developing well-formed outcomes along the way.

Though the focus here is on the individual, policy and environmental change initiatives relative to making healthy choices in nutrition and physical activity will be the main determinants for the population as a whole. Long term success in combating obesity will hinge on making healthy options and environments in multiple settings—communities, schools, work sites, and health care facilities— available, affordable, and easy to integrate into everyday lifestyles will likely prove to be the most effective path.

My personal favorite...
We Can! - Ways to Enhance Children's Activity & Nutrition

The International Chair on Cardiometabolic Risk puts this all into perspective. Awareness is everything!

Weight Mgmt & Nutrition Resources for Health Professionals

http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/professionals/researchtopractice/index.html

Effects of Obesity on co-morbid conditions

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11707561

http://www.mdconsult.com/das/citation/body/135055751-2/jorg=journal&source=MI&sp=12133768&sid=0/N/12133768/1.html?issn=

NHLBI Guidelines

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/ob_gdlns.pdf

Nutrition

http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/index.html

Physical Activity

http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/adults.html

Lifestyle Change

http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight/eating_habits.html

Provider Toolkit - Iowa Health Care Collaborative

http://www.ihconline.org/toolkits/obesity.cfm

Walking for Mgmt of Obesity

http://ideas.repec.org/a/wkh/dmhout/v13y2005i1p9-18.html

Healthy Weight - it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle!

http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/Obesity/

Healthier Worksite Initiative

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/hwi/program_design/swat/index.htm

Running’s Bad For The Knees – “Not”

2009-12-27T08:27:00.000-08:00

Though the myth still persists that high impact aerobic exercise is bad for the joints, recent research has begun to demonstrate the opposite is true, especially when it comes to jogging and running. Not only does the research establish there is no correlation between running and joint-related disorders like arthritis, the new studies reveal that running and other forms of regular, vigorous activity — may even help guard people against joint problems later in life.

In a long-term study conducted at Stanford University, researchers found that runners in fact experienced less physical disability, and had a 39% lower mortality rate than the non-runners. This is partially because cartilage — the soft connective tissue that surrounds the bones in joints — does not have a blood supply like muscle, and therefore relies on the pumping action generated by weight bearing movement to get its necessary allotment of oxygen and nutrients. When you bear weight on lower extremity joints with activities like running - synovial fluid squishes in and out of the joint, which explains why a daily jog or run, or any other workout for that matter, is in fact useful for maintaining healthy cartilage and joint function.

To reap jogging and running’s positive benefits the best advice for maintaining injury-free joints may be to simply keep running; that is, jog or run consistently and avoid long periods of down time. This may be especially hard during the blustery winter months, but runners should try to get in daily workouts. More importantly being stuck indoors doesn’t need to be a deterrent — tackle the treadmill, climb flights of stairs, or walk briskly at the mall any of these will do the trick. Most of all just don't sit around for weeks at a time and then start jogging or running six-milers out of the blue. To stay off the sidelines avoid sudden bursts of activity which are often the primary culprits for injury.

(HAIs) - Not on My Watch

2009-11-22T09:29:00.000-08:00

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a global crisis. Recognizing the rapid growth in cases of infection like MRSA and ventilator-associated pneumonia being picked up in hospitals, Kimblery-Clark Healthcare has put together a website called "Not on My Watch" at www.haiwatch.com to educate patients and healthcare professionals.

Their goal is to eliminate these preventable illnesses and their often tragic consequences. To learn more about protecting yourself and/or your patients from preventable hospital infections check out this very informative site and it's array of resources from:

http://haiwatchnews.com

Are You Pouring on the Pounds Today?

2009-09-20T08:43:00.000-07:00

It’s hard to overeat without noticing it. By contrast, soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages can sneak up on you, adding hundreds of calories to your diet each day without ever filling you up. On average, Americans now consume 200 to 300 more calories each day than we did 30 years ago. Nearly half of these extra calories come from sugar-sweetened drinks.

As a first step in controlling your own soda intake, consider these simple strategies to avoid pouring on the pounds: If you drink coffee or tea, order it plain and flavor it yourself. If you order a sugar-sweetened beverage, ask for a “small.” When you shop for beverages, read the labels and choose products with fewer than 25 calories per 8-ounce serving. And if you enjoy sugar-sweetened beverages, make them an occasional treat and not a daily staple.

Remember, drinking beverages loaded with sugars increases your risk of obesity and associated chronic health problems, particularly diabetes but also heart disease, stroke, arthritis and cancer.

Learn more about pouring on the pounds here

Sugar, Guzzling our Lives Away

2009-09-20T07:36:00.000-07:00

If you're like many people who start their day and/or can't go a day without drinking at least one soda, watch this video the facts and comparisons will amaze you. Then ask yourself, am I the one, in the one-of-three people who will develop type II diabetes?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Promoting Weight Loss Via Reverse Psychology

2009-08-01T08:57:00.000-07:00

Are you an every other month (EOM) dieter? Have you researched every diet on earth, read a b-zillion weigh loss articles, and yet are still grappling with weight loss and how your got fat in the first place?

Perhaps your "EOM" approach to weight loss, along with your half-baked commitments have become a substitute for actually making the behavioral changes necessary to take the ill health out of your current lifestyle?

If this picture is beginning to look a bit familiar, you may not realize it, but your overall mind-set and self-talk and are the very keys to your happiness and success.

Think it's just Twinkies, beer, soda and french fries? Guess again. How We Get Fat

Paula's Fried Pumpkin Cake - Kaiser/USDA Paradox

2009-07-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

I find it truly amazing that highly-financed, edgy marketing efforts by mega health care organizations and believe it or not the USDA can fail to understand, or totally miss the mixed-messages they are sending to the public at large.

In this case the message is "A healthy diet is good for your body...and your soul & learn how at www.MyPyramid". Now pair that with Paula Deen's recipe on the food-network for Fried Pumpkin Layer Cake and something truly healthy for you gets lost in translation. Maybe the message should be "A Side of Angioplasty to Go for Your Body and Soul?

Does this recipe sound healthy for your body and soul?: Dip 1 of the cake layers in the batter and gently place it in the hot oil. Fry until golden brown and crisp, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper towel lined platter to drain. Repeat with the 2nd cake layer. Let the fried cakes cool slightly and then frost the top of 1 layer. Place the 2nd layer on top of it and frost. Don't frost the sides, it will be pretty to see the layers of frosting and crispy fried cake.

And let's not forget the Cream Cheese and Orange Frosting: Cream the cream cheese and butter together with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in the confectioners' sugar until smooth and then beat in the orange juice, zest and food coloring.

Fried Pumpkin Layer Cake - Kaiser Permanente/UDSA Paradox

HealthExpertAdvice - Medical Information & Health Website

2009-07-23T20:22:00.000-07:00

HealthExpertAdvice.org - A project partly-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund)

The HealthExpertAdvice Portal (the official public health portal) aims to bring visitors the top headlines from around the world on health-related news, articles, a medical forum as wells as a dictionary with every common medical term.

The main objective of this thematic Portal is to provide visitors with easy access to comprehensive medical information. I especially liked the section devoted to Vegetarian Health that not only focuses on real food choice, but caters to the needs of both parents, care givers and children.

The HealthExpertAdvice.org Portal brings you medical news from well-regarded sources, plus health advices articles written by their own team. HealthExpertAdvice's medical forum contains over 50,000 health topics.

Plus, it is accessible to everyone, including older people and people with disabilities, as it follows the internationally recognised rules on accessibility. The Portal also provides health expert advice articles for every visitors.

Visit the HealthExpertAdvice Portal today.

Health Care Reform - No Excuses

2009-07-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

Richard Kirsch: No Excuses -- Health Care Really Can't Wait: "We can't make any excuses that will embolden the opponents of reform. There are real consequences for people each day that we put this off. Here is what happens every three weeks that we delay health care reform in America:

* 143,250 people will lose their health insurance coverage >> [pdf]
* 53,507 people will file for bankruptcy because they can't pay their medical bills
* 1,265 people will die [pdf] because they lack coverage

Washington insiders want to talk about the horse race, and the political bickering, but that is not what the American people care about. People care about premiums rising four times faster than wages, not bipartisan compromises that will water-down reform."

Visit the Reshape The Nation Blogs

2009-07-12T21:47:00.000-07:00

Reshape the Nation was developed as a model to teach, activate, and inspire over-weight obese individuals to a renewed life of health. RTN is a resource to guide you through your transformation and through every step of the weight loss journey. RTN teaches you how your body works in a fast, highly efficient, and fun way, to transform your health one pound at a time. This approach is about saving lives and is available to anyone willing to take the first step. Begin now by taking the time to review & read the daily lessons and real-life solutions offered by RTN. Learn to experience and understand your bodies energy levels, and pledge to share your success with others along the way. Promise?

Reshape The Nation

Follow Chris & David's journey

Wellness & the Grocery Isle, Safeway Model

2009-07-12T12:56:00.000-07:00

Self-insured employer, Safeway focuses on prevention rather than disease treatment. Seventy percent (70%) of Safeway health care costs directly result from behavior, and greater than two thirds (2/3rds)of the costs are attributable to four chronic health conditions (cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity) and all four of those conditions are preventable by changing behaviors.

Safeway’s plan focuses on four areas: smoking, healthy weight, blood pressure and cholesterol, providing employees with premium discounts for maintaining condition specific bio-markers in a healthy range. In the past four years they have seen plateau in health care costs for the company, but also a workforce that has smoking and obesity rates that are a mere 70% of the national average.

Watch CEO Steven A. Burd, talk about the Safeway story:

Travel Nurse Across America

2009-07-12T10:18:00.001-07:00

Today's severe shortage of nurses and allied health staff in the United States and around the globe has increased the need for these professionals in a variety of working environments and job roles. To enhance recruitment of qualified Registered Nurses, hospitals and travel nurse recruitment/staffing agencies are frequently offering exceptional incentives including higher pay, assistance with relocation, free housing or subsidies, fantastic health benefits, 401k's, continuing education and in some cases financial bonuses.

There are many reasons health care professionals may choose to travel including a higher wage, opportunities for professional growth & development, as well as a sense of adventure. If you've ever considered the idea of a travel assignment you may have also had some questions too. Check out this list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) and their answers. Traveling health care professionals typically select recruitment agencies to act as a liaison or go-between the traveler the recruiting hospital or facility, and other potential employer organizations. If you are looking for a travel nursing agency that works harder for you, contact Travel Nurses Across America

Travel Nurse across America is a national health care staffing agency that places nurses and travel therapists on multi-week travel assignments in client health care facilites in all 50 states.