PASOPHE.org, the official Pennsylvania SOPHE Chapter

Upcoming Meetings	2010 PA SOPHE Officers
Building Multi-Site Programs for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion See the PDF Flyer here March 24, 2010 1:45-3:15 p.m. Thomas Jefferson University, Bluemle Building, Room 101 Northeast Corner 10th & Locust St. Speakers and Topics Include: Allied Against Asthma - Mike Rosenthal, MD Phila. Urban Food & Fitness Alliance (PUFFA) – Rickie Brawer, MPH, PhD, CHES Development & Evaluation of Community-Based Chronic Disease & Health Promotion Programs – Noreen M. Clark, PhD $5.00 check to PA SOPHE For more information & to RSVP, contact Lisa Chosed: 215-503-0174 Lisa.Chosed@Jefferson.edu A short PA SOPHE meeting will follow the presentations. 13th Annual Health Education Advocacy Summit March 6-8, 2010 In collaboration with the Coalition of National Health Education Organizations Washington Court Hotel, Washington, DC For details, visit: www.healtheducationadvocate.org SOPHE and CDC’s Prevention Research Centers Joint 2010 Conference “Advocate, Communicate, & Translate to Enhance Research and Practice” April 7-9, 2010 Sheraton Hotel, Atlanta, GA Interested in exhibiting? CLICK HERE to view the Exhibitor's Prospectus. Registration is now available! CLICK HERE to register SOPHE 61st Annual Meeting November 4-6, 2010 Denver Marriott City Center, Denver, CO	President Laurie Weinreb-Welch Treasurer Raffy Luquis Secretary Kathleen Allison Member at Large/Trustee Darigg Brown Continuing Education Committee Kay Deaner National Delegate Vacant Message from the President Laurie Weinreb-Welch, MPH, CHES It is a great honor to be elected President of PA SOPHE and will do my best to serve and represent all of our members well to others in our profession. I have been member of PA SOPHE since starting as an undergraduate student at East Stroudsburg University in 1989 and became an officer when I started my first job as a Public Health Educator for the Pennsylvania Department of Health in 1993. I have learned more about my role as an educator through this professional organization and from its membership, than any orientation or staff development that any employer could provide. I know that we all work hard in our professional and personal lives every day. It is always a challenge to perform our jobs well with tight budgets, declining funding and a tough economic climate, doing more with less and increasing demands to reach our goals and fulfill our job responsibilities. Not to mention the challenges we face as we assume the role as collaborator, educator and leaders in our own communities. I feel that PA SOPHE is a wonderful forum in which to share our challenges and many successes in our professional and personal lives. The members of this organization are instrumental in enhancing the quality of life and the health of those throughout Pennsylvania. I will do my best to lead the organization forward into the future and nurture it so it many continue to grow and flourish with the always changing times ahead. One of my favorite leadership quotes by Lance Secretary, Industry Week: “Leadership is not so much about technique and methods as it is about opening the heart. Leadership is about inspiration-of oneself and of others. Great leadership is about human experiences, not processes. Leadership is not a formula or a program, it is a human activity that comes from the heart and considers the hearts of others. It is an attitude, not a routine. More than anything else today, followers believe they are part of a system, a process that lacks heart. If there is one thing a leader can do to connect with followers at a human, or better still, a spiritual level, it is to become engaged with them fully, to share experience and emotions, and to aside the processes of leadership we have learned by rote.” I look forward to sharing those experiences and working with you this year.
JOIN PA SOPHE -- FREE MEMBERSHIP FOR 2010 Fill out the membership application here. Dear Health Professional/Student: PA SOPHE is a professional association made up of a diverse membership of health education professionals and students that are working, living or attending school in Pennsylvania. The association promotes healthy behaviors, healthy communities and provides leadership in Pennsylvania through a code of ethics, following the standards for professional preparation set by National SOPHE, research and practice, professional development and outreach. The mission for the Pennsylvania Chapter of SOPHE mirrors the National mission. To provide leadership to the professional of public health in Pennsylvania and to contribute to the health of those living and working in Pennsylvania and the elimination of disparities through advance in health education theory and practice, excellence in p professional preparation and to advocate for public policies conducive to health. The Pennsylvania Chapter works closely with National SOPHE on current and relevant health priorities. Why Join the Pennsylvania Chapter of SOPHE? Collaborate with members that work in schools, universities, medical/managed care settings, corporations, voluntary health organizations and federal, state and local government. Local professional development opportunities. Professional Code of Ethics Continuing Education contact hours for Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) Opportunities for awards and professional recognition Professional identity Networking and Peer exchange And More! Please consider joining the Pennsylvania Chapter of SOPHE with the attached application by April 1, 2010. Due to the tough economic times facing everyone this year, PA SOPHE Chapter membership will be FREE for 2010! JOIN TODAY! Sincerely, Laurie Welch PA SOPHE Chapter President, 2010

	Council Should Be Able To Ban Cell Phones While Driving Stephen Gambescia, PhD, MEd, MBA, CHES Posted November 4, 2008 Three Philadelphia Council Members have introduceda bill inSeptember to ban the use of hand-held cell phones and dissuade drivers from text messaging and using PDAs to go to the Internet. This important public safety measure should be well-received and supported by other Council members and hopefully will receive little resistance from some of Pennsylvania’s administrative and legal bodies. This local motor vehicle restriction should be supported given its common sense and well-supported, safety risk-reduction rationale; and when a full understanding of local public health and safety authority is considered, it should overstep possible state agency roadblocks. Click here for the full story. Stressing Prevention Stephen Gambescia, PhD, MEd, MBA, CHES Posted June 26, 2008 In his article Stressing Prevention, Dr. Gambescia discusses the role of health educators in Pennsylvania. Published in ThePatriot News AS I SEE IT column June 26, 2008, Dr. Gambescia makes the case for professionally prepared health educators to be included in the "Prescription for Pennsylvania," certainly one of the most ambitious health care reform plans proposed by any state. "One health care provider that is missing from the health care team, if we are serious about this change of culture to disease prevention and wellness, is the professionally prepared health educator...Unfortunately, the state Health Department and county health departments, as well as other organizations, use far too few, if any, professionally prepared health educators." Click here to read more.