Welcome to the Fall Semester

Welcome to the Fall Semester at IU as well as to our new school email newsletter. Hopefully you will find the information, delivered monthly, interesting and useful. As we celebrate our first year as the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington, the goal of this newsletter is to keep you up to date on teaching, research, and community engagement news from across the school and the five academic departments. The newsletter is produced by the School of Public Health-Bloomington Office of Communication and Development.

How recess plays into student learning

Courtesy of Indiana Public Media

The August 23rd airing of Noon Edition on WFIU in Bloomington focused on how important recess is for children and how instructors are finding ways to fit everything into the day. Donetta Cothran, Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Kinesiology Department at the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington was joined by Mary McMullen, Professor of Early Childhood Education and Associate Chair, Department of Curriculum & Instruction at the IU School of Education, and Abbie Oliver, Principal at Sprunica Elementary School.

The discussion focuses on how many new classroom requirements are inching out time for recess—something researchers say is a key component in children’s academic, social and physical well-being.

Listen to the archive of the broadcast. 

Study shows elementary and middle schools can get students moving, not just thinking

Despite widespread cuts to physical education classes and recess, an Indiana University study has shown that schools can play an important role in helping their students live healthier lives. Schools that implemented coordinated school health programs saw increases in students' physical activity. Co-authors of the study include lead author Dong-Chul Seo, IU School of Public Health-Bloomington; Nayoung Kim, IU School of Public Health-Bloomington; Danielle Sovinski, Center on Education and Lifelong Learning; Rhonda Meade, Welborn Baptist Foundation; and Alyssa M. Lederer, Center on Education and Lifelong Learning and IU School of Public Health-Bloomington. "With support from teachers, administrators and parents, our schools can become healthier places," said Mindy Hightower King, evaluation manager at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community at IU Bloomington. "Despite budget cuts and increasing emphasis on academic skills, schools are choosing to focus on improving student health, which ultimately can support improved academic performance." The findings involved 1,100 students from eight southern Indiana elementary and middle schools. Students who attended the schools that most thoroughly implemented HEROES, a program based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's coordinated school health model, were more likely to increase their physical activity levels. HEROES is designed to enhance schoolwide wellness through changes in physical education, nutrition, health promotion efforts for school staff and family, and community involvement. Read more >>

Are you addicted to your cell phone?

Courtney Stewart With an ever-expanding range of functions and transportability, cell phones have become a staple for many American teens -- and adults. Both are susceptible to cell phone addiction. While useful, cell phones can interfere in the lives of those who feel anxious about turning them off, especially those who refuse to turn them off at all. "Cell phones have become a necessary part of our daily lives. Still, it is important to remember when to silence or turn them off -- like during meals and while studying or on the Internet," said Courtney Stewart, research associate at the Indiana Prevention Resource Center. "Too much information can overwhelm our senses and leave us feeling depleted. So put the phone down and spend some time talking with your friends face to face or better yet, take a walk with your friends if you want to connect and get some mood-boosting exercise." Read more >>

Talk: The Special Diabetes Program for Indians: The Power of Evidence-Based Practices

Spero Manson

Join us for a talk by Spero Manson, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Public Health and Psychiatry and Director at the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center. 

• When: Friday, September 6, 2013, 11:30am -12:30pm
• Where: PH C100 (Mobley Auditorium) at the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington, 1025 E. 7^th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405

Sponsored by the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington Center for Research on Health Disparities. Co-sponsored by the Indiana University Department of Anthropology, the First Nations Education and Cultural Center, and the Native American and Indigenous Studies program.

Dr. Mason directs the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health and is the author of 175 articles on the assessment, epidemiology, treatment, and prevention of physical, alcohol, drug, and mental health problems of Native people.  Dr. Manson was elected to the Institute of Medicine and has received numerous further awards such as the American Public Health Association's Rema Lapouse Mental Health Epidemiology Award and NIH's Health Disparities Award for Excellence. Dr. Manson is from the Pembina Chippewa of Minnesota. 

IUSPHB @ IRHA Annual Conference

Faculty and staff from the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington recently attended the Indiana Rural Health Association 16th Annual Conference, "Rural Health: Adapting for a Healthier Future."

Seen here from left to right are, Renaye Frazier, Linda Henderson, and Calvin Roberson from the School of Public Health-Bloomington.

EPA Selects IU School of Public Health-Bloomington to help improve public health data

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington has been selected as one of its eight academic partners for the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) University Challenge, a project designed to find innovative ways to increase public awareness of toxic chemical releases in their communities and around the country.

TRI provides communities with information about toxic chemical releases to the air, water, and land and helps industry, government, non-governmental organizations, and the public make more informed decisions to protect their health and environment.

These partnerships will help develop practical and replicable projects focused on pollution prevention, sustainability, community engagement, and technology for improving the presentation and understanding of TRI data.

More information on the TRI University Challenge: www.epa.gov/tri/university