PHN Research Agenda

26 November 2010

Not bragging but...

One of the obligatory and fun APHA activities is going through the exhibit hall. Comfortable shoes and stamina required for the miles of walking on the cement floor. Walking up and down the aisles, eying the competition for students, glancing into NASA's trailer which looks galaxies removed from a typical public health scene, searching for the latest in condom colors (this year was condom-sparse), bacteria themed neck ties (really, who wears those?) and interesting reads whether it's a textbook for students, a textbook for me, or book for some lateral thinking.

Naturally, I make the rounds to chat up my publishers.  Lippincott Wolters Klewer (aka LWW) to check that they had brought copies of Health Care Management Review, the journal for which I am the Editor-in-Chief. By the time I had gotten to that booth on Sunday afternoon, they had "run out of" copies. Okay, I'll go with that excuse. Late on Monday, I stopped by the Jones and Bartlet booth to see how things were going with my textbook. The reps looked tired, but mustered some enthusiasm for my book. Thankfully, I have another year before I need to worry about updating and next edition.

So, all seemed okay. A week after the conference, this newsletter went out. Seems that my textbook was in demand! Yes, getting a royalty check provides some reward for the effort. But, a even grater reward comes in the form of knowing that I managed to create something that is helpful and useful. A tiny contribution, I hope, to making for better world.

24 November 2010

Thanksgiving

I am thankful for enthusiastic students who want to grow. I am thankful for our ability to find the humor in awkward or frustrating situations. I am thankful for gray skies that make sitting in front of the computer all day so easy. I am thankful that the semester is almost over and that it was a good semester. I am thankful that I don't have to go to a soup kitchen for a turkey dinner. I am thankful that my hair still has hints of blond. I am thankful that computers are faster and internet connections work so well (99.9% of the time). I am thankful to be able preview textbooks through Amazon.com.  I am thankful that some former and current students like me well enough to be Facebook friends. I am thankful that I remembered to keep an umbrella in my office. I am thankful for being alive and healthy with friends and family to love.

11 November 2010

Intro to Social Justice via APHA videos

Briefly, this link to the APHA YouTube videos will allow you to see the very inspirational speeches by Dr. William Carter Jenkins and Dr. Cornel West. Well worth the few minutes of watching, especially when you need some energizing and inspiration.

10 November 2010

Seeing Old Friends and Colleagues

Admittedly, the "old" refers to mostly to the length of time we have been friends or colleagues, but that correlates highly (and significantly) with our ages. I just got home from Denver for the APHA annual meeting, with a theme of social justice.

This year I went feeling relaxed and accepting, a definite change from my usual feeling of obligation, boredom and exasperation with this meeting. The fact that the meeting has 12,000 attendees and nearly 5000 presentations given at a convention center and several surrounding hotels does not give this meeting a feeling of intimacy. Nonetheless, connections are made, usually in hallways, bathrooms, receptions or lobbies.

I gave two presentations: one an interim report on the AHRQ funded grant for public health nursing research agenda, the other on some preliminary findings from the KRISP project. Both were nicely attended, generated questions (always a sign that the presentation was good; no one asks questions when the presentation is badly done), and fit well with the overall session theme.

As for seeing "old" friends, that was wonderful. Some had been former doctoral students. Some had been former co-students when I was in my doctoral program. Some had been co-authors/co-investigators on various projects.  As for seeing colleagues, that too was wonderful.  Some are current co-authors/co-investigators. Some had been consultants on earlier projects.  Admittedly, it does take years of going regularly to build up this network.

The getting caught up usually starts with "How are you?" to which the response is a measured "Fine. Good" accompanied with a slight nod. The true answer is always in the non-verbal and you need to read that carefully as the cue for where to go next in the conversation.  Eventually, the conversation gets past the gossip about who-is-now-where-doing-what to the spouse and children updates. A few conversations might get to the topic of what we can work on together next. I find those conversations most rewarding.

What was different for me this year was my attitude, not the altitude... I webnt to the conference expecting to see people, expecting to shake hands and make heads shake. I went to the conference with a commitment and my passion pinned to my name badge.  And, I went ready to go with the rhythm of the meeting. I went ready to make new friends and colleagues. I went ready to have sore feet and eat conference food. I went ready to work.

To quote myself, some conferences you go to in order to disseminate and be of service. Some conferences you go to be renewed and stimulated. As facutly we need to go to both types. This year, for me, APHA was in the being of service category.