February 2010 Shout-Outs

Welcome to February, 2010! Give some love to good folk doing good work...

• Age-Related Macular Degeneration / Low Vision Awareness Month
• National Children’s Dental Health Month
• National Condom Month (no pun intended...)
• American Heart Month (pun intended...)
• Kids ENT Health Month
• National Wise Health Care Consumer Month (aren't we all? Well, no.)
• National Women’s Heart Health Fairs
  
  
• National Patient Recognition Week (February 1 – 7)
• PeriAnesthesia Nurses Awareness Week (February 1 – 7)
• Burn Awareness Week (February 7 – 13)
• Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week (February 7 – 14)
• National Cardiac Rehabilitation Week (February 14 – 20)
• Cardiovascular Professionals Week (February 14 – 20)
• National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (February 21 – 27)
  
• National Wear Red Day (February 5)
  
• World Day of the Sick (February 11)

(Thanks to the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development (SHSMD) for the list.)

Traverse City Triathlon, August 23, 2009

Welcome to the folks at Endurance Evolution, a start-up Michigan-based race management company. Owners Joel Gaff, Jr. and Eric Tingwall describe their organization as...

"...building world-class experiences around scenic, challenging courses and professional customer service. Each of our races is designed on the foundation of our four core service philosophies:

• "Complete race experience: We run a professional event from race registration to the awards ceremony. Stop compromising with half-baked races that cut corners – and quality.

• "Courses meant for racing: Your race shouldn’t require weaving through potholes, fighting traffic or guessing if you just missed a turn. We seek out quality roads and routes that ensure your race is safe, scenic and challenging.

• "Unparalleled customer service: Some race management companies hide under a rock until race day. We want to hear from you. That’s why we promise a fast response to any phone call or email we receive. We’re also dang proud of our refund policy – the best in the business.

• "Service beyond the race: Long before you sign up for the race and well after you’ve crossed the finish line, Endurance Evolution is there to support you. Unique services like our Race Ready spinning videos and race-course training days are a great way to prep for a race."

They're leading off with the Traverse City Triathlon on August 23, 2009, offering both sprint and Olympic distances. I know the Traverse City area well and it looks like an interesting race. Good luck guys! I'm looking forward to seeing your brand promise in action.

August Shout-Outs

Hard to believe how fast the summer is flying by.  So get ready to offer August shout-outs to Cataract Awareness, Children's Eye Health and Eye Injury Prevention, Immunization Awareness, Medic Alerts, Minority Donor Awareness, Pain Awareness, Psoriasis Awareness, Responsible Gaming, Spinal Muscular Atrophy and World Breastfeeding Week.

Shout THIS Out.

I used to do monthly "shout-outs."   I gave up when the number of monthly "observances" exceeded my ability to give a sufficient damn to think of something creative to say.  So just go here and give some love to your cause of choice for May.

Who thinks these things up anyway?  "Sex Differences In Health Awareness Day?"  WTF? 

"Stuttering Awareness Week?"  Really?  I stuttered as a child and was painfully aware of it without a week-long focus.  But I grew out of it (and became a pretty damn good public speaker, thank you very much) no thanks to legions of well-intentioned but hilariously mis-guided therapists and teachers.

Pushing Pedals

Did you know it's Bike To Work Day?  You're probably already there...

Ah well.  Hit it next year.

January Tri Shout-Outs

January's more than half-over but there's still time to send some triathlete love toward Activity Professionals, blood donors, your thyroid and your cervix, nurses who pass gas and managers forced to work day-in and day-out with your physician, folic acid and all of us maintaining a healthy weight.    While you're at it, take care of your eyes and prevent birth defects.

Well, what're you waiting for?  Get busy!

July Shout-Outs

To breathe the air you must first cut it with a knife. Lawns are brown, sunburns are raw. Yep, must be July and time for some overdue Shout-Outs. Along with miasmic air, tis the month for Eye Injury Prevention, Fireworks Safety, Hemochromatosis Screening Awareness, International Group B Strep Awareness, Light the Night for Sight and UV Safety. We also celebrate Therapeutic Recreation Week, International Massage Week and National Sobriety Checkpoint Week.

What’s it all mean? Follow your mother’s advice for once: wear eye protection and sunscreen, don’t hold firecrackers in your hand after you light ‘em (better yet, leave the boom-booms to the experts - grown men who like loud noises and blowing stuff up) and FOR GOD’S SAKE, DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE! Oh, and get a massage. Your Mom probably didn’t say that but I will.

June Shout-Outs

I’ve missed a few shout-outs, haven't I? Sorry if I missed yours, but in June we start to make up for lost time...

Say 'hello' to Cancer Survivors Day, Nurse Assistants Day, Dystonia Awareness Week, Eye Safety Awareness Week, Fireworks Safety Month, Headache Awareness Week, Hernia Awareness Month, Home Safety Month, Men’s Health (the week, not the magazine), Myasthenia Gravis Awareness Month, Scleroderma Awareness Month, Sobriety Checkpoints Week and Vision Research Month.

I think men would care more about Men’s Health Week if you could somehow celebrate Fireworks Safety Month at the same time. I know that loud explosions and bright lights always get my attention.

March Shout-Outs

Here’s a belated list of all things celebratory and shout-out-atory in the mad month of March.

Say “welcome” (in loosely alphabetical order) to American Diabetes Alert Day, American Red Cross Month, Safe Spring Break (are ya listening Tri-Daughters?), Brain Awareness Week (that’s presuming a lot, isn’t it?), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Month, Doctor's Day (I thought EVERY day was Doctor's Day...), Hemophilia Month, Kick Butts Day (oh, THAT kind of butt...), Multiple Sclerosis Education & Awareness Month, Nutrition Month, Problem Gambling Awareness Week (what’re the odds, anyway?), Professional Social Work Month, School Breakfast Week and (my personal favorite) Sleep Awareness Week.

For some reason, March is the month for eyes, bringing with it Save Your Vision Month, Sports Eye Safety Month, Workplace Eye Safety Month, (and for those who ignore these messages) Eye Donor Month.

And so, as this wretched winter draws finally to a close and I try to figure out the latest mini-Y2K fiasco caused by an evil cabal of Microsoft’s sales department and clockwatching DST geeks, recognize that there are still good folks out there doing work worth celebrating.

And spring breakers? Let's be careful out there!

Is political humor an oxymoron?

"According to a report by this genealogist, Al Sharpton's ancestors were slaves once owned by Strom Thurmond's relatives. Now Al Sharpton wants a DNA test to see if they are related. And you know, somehow, this is going to end up that Strom Thurmond is the the father of Anna Nicole's baby." --Jay Leno

"Kind of an embarrassing situation for Al Gore with his whole global warming thing. Turns out his Tennessee home has been using 20 times the energy as the average household. To be fair, it is still not as much energy as John Edwards' blow-dryer is using." --Jay Leno

"Iran is going to build an island just for women who want to vacation. No men will be allowed. ... Which of course leads to the philosophical question: If something goes wrong, whose fault will it be?" -Jay Leno

February Shout-Outs

February is Heart Month, and I don’t mean that shopworn Hallmarkiday. No, I mean the ticker, the pump, the myocardial machine, that thingie in your chest going “pitter-patter” whenever short dresses meet long legs.

Kick off Heart Month with National Wear Red Day to show support for women's heart disease awareness. Now that you’re in the Heart Month mood, say ‘hi’ to Cardiac Rehabilitation Week, National Cardiovascular Professionals Week, Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) Awareness Week and National Women's Heart Health Day. See? So many opportunities to show how much you care! And no stupid cards to buy.

It’s also National Girls and Women in Sports Day (Go team!), National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Awareness Week and National Porphyria Week. The 3rd is Give Kids A Smile Day …how cool is that? If we celebrated more days with smiles we’d, er, need to celebrate less days with smiles…or something like that. Oh, just smile a lot. That’s better.

Oh yeah, the 12th through the 18th is also National Condom Week. Hallmark must be diversifying.

January Shout-Outs

January is National Blood Donor Month, Birth Defects Prevention Month, Cervical Cancer Screening Month, National Glaucoma Awareness Month, National Thyroid Awareness Month, the 21st through the 27th is National Healthy Weight Week and the 25th is National Women's Healthy Weight Day.

On the subject of the latter, a not-so-hidden benefit of the tri-life is being in shape and looking like it. Yet, as the father of 4 Tri-Daughters, I’ve seen first-hand how the fashion industry and Hollywood warp young girls’ self-image. Though legislation is seldom the answer to anything, I see Spain’s effort to mandate a minimum weight for runway models as the beginnings of a counter-movement. Laudable idea, good intentions, dumb implementation.

But now, in the season for resolutions, resolve to seek HEALTH as an end result, not some fashionmeister's emaciated definition of beauty. Want to lose a few pounds? Go ahead, I’m right there with you. Want to fit into that bikini by June? Hey, everybody needs a goal (and I’m just shallow enough to like bikinis, on you that is…) But along the way, stay focused on the real game - being the best person you can be. Let your attitudes and behaviors tell the tale, not the scale.

Because real women do indeed have curves. And YOU, over there, YOU look fabulous!

UPDATE: Commenter nancytoby updated me on Spain's response to the plague of bony, waifish runway models. I stand corrected; maybe they're not so dumb after all!

December Shout-Outs

While you’re decking the bells and jingling the halls, remember that the season is also about Aplastic Anemia Awareness Week (Dec. 1-7, a serious but treatable blood disease), Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month (my #1 training ride fear is an inattentive or impaired driver), Hand Washing Awareness Week (Dec. 3-9), Safe Toys & Gifts Month (YOU’LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT!) and World AIDS Day (Dec. 1st.)

And on the subject of hand washing… As a health care leader, it’s personally and profoundly embarrassing that industry-wide hand washing compliance rates lag so badly. After all, it’s only a simple, low-cost, low-tech (yet hugely effective) method of improving patient safety. Damn it, man! We’ve got important stuff to do! No time to wash!

Even more disheartening is the fact that hand washing compliance rates are especially low among physicians, the most visible, highly-educated and well-paid members of the care team. Yes, these self-anointed “Captains of the Ship” apparently (a) never listened to their mother’s advice to wash up before dinner, and (b) still believe that having M.D. on their business card confers immunity from the basic laws of microbiology.

And so, as usual, the industry tries to improve things by launching a thousand quality improvement teams. We gather data, we redesign patient rooms while architects argue whether sinks are best in THIS corner or THAT, we give elaborate PowerPoint presentations to important-sounding committees, we write and re-write policies and still we can’t raise hand washing rates above 70%.

Time to say “Hey Captain, er, Doctor, wash your damn hands or I’ll f****** kill you.” Just like Mom used to say.

Beelzebug (n): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

Decafalon (n): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

What I’m reading: “The Fifth Discipline” by Peter Senge. Fixing the learning-disabled organization.

iPod shuffle: “Blacklisted” by Neko Case, from “The Tigers Have Spoken.” I love how her smokey voice soars over her music’s downcast beauty. Plus she’s from Chicago.

November Shout-Outs

Think November is all about Thanksgiving?

Say ‘hello’ to National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month, National American Indian & Alaska Native Heritage Month (the Native American bloodline in me celebrates this one), COPD Awareness Month (don’t smoke…quit if you do), American Diabetes Month, National Epilepsy Awareness Month, National Family Caregiver Month, Flu and Pneumonia Campaign month (get your flu shot), the Great American Smokeout (don’t smoke…quit if you do), National Healthy Skin Month (wear sunscreen), Lung Cancer Awareness Month (don’t smoke…quit if you do), Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month and, finally, Radiologic Technology Week (Nov. 5-11.)

All those ribbons and bright-colored bracelets to wear, donation checks to write and fundraisers to attend; you’d better get started. And get your flu shot on the way.

What I’m reading: “The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World” by Lawrence Lessig. Napster’s lawyer surveys the bleakness of a world of ideas and intellectual property controlled by distant bureaucrats, global corporations and their toady lawyers. Kill the bastards. Content wants to be free. (Just kidding about the ‘kill’ part. Maybe. OK, Blog the bastards. That’s better.)

iPod Shuffle: “Red Sky” by Jeanne Newhall, from “Wild Blue.” A talented singer/songwriter and pianist, an album of rare simplicity and emotion.