Four Steps to Food Safety

and individual employees learn new ways to incorporate better nutrition and fitness into the workday—which in turn will lead to greater productivity. Resources available to health care professionals and employers at www.workplacenutrition.com include: • suggested workplace activities to help involve and educate coworkers • a workplace snacking style survey • fitness and nutrition articles • additional valuable information to help companies start down the path to better health and productivity

Four Steps to Food Safety

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mericans’ vulnerability to foodborne illness has been highlighted by large outbreaks over the last two years. To increase awareness, a new educational guide for health care professionals on how to identify and treat foodborne illnesses, as well as consumer tips for patients, is now available. The primer, Diagnosis and Management of Foodborne Illnesses: A Primer for Physicians and Other Health Care Professionals, contains charts, scenarios and a continuing medical education section and is free to health care professionals. The primer, initially introduced in 2001, contains five new

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AWHONN Lifelines

sections on new and reemerging foodborne illnesses and was written with an emphasis on living in the post 9-11 environment. The new primer will assist health care professionals in being aware of what to look for in relation to foodborne disease, whether accidental or deliberate. More than 75 percent of foodborne illness deaths are caused by just three pathogens: salmonella, listeria and toxoplasma. Information on both salmonella and toxoplasma has been added to the new primer, and the listeria section has been updated. Other new sections are hepatitis A, norovirus and unexplained illness. The primer was created through a partnership of the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Nurses Association (ANA) - American Nurses Foundation (ANF) in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Food Safety Office, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service. Health care professionals can request a free copy of the primer by visiting the AMA website at www. ama-assn.org/go/foodborne. Consumer tips to food safety are also available at this site.

New Booklet Helps Patients Better Understand Radiation Therapy

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s part of a continuing effort to help patients and their families better understand how radiation therapy works to safely and effectively treat cancer, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology has published the new patient information brochure, “Radiation Therapy for Cancer: Facts to Help Patients Make an Informed Decision.” Available free to patients and cancer support groups, the 28-page booklet provides information as well as pictures to help cancer patients considering radiation therapy as a treatment option. The brochure walks patients through every step of radiation therapy, from preparing for treatment to treatment delivery to recovery. Indepth information on the different types of radiation therapy available will help patients make an educated decision when discussing their treatment options with their doctors. The booklet also gives patients unique information, such as questions to keep in mind when meeting with a radiation oncologist and a glossary of terms

Volume 8

Issue 4