We analyzed socioeconomic, rural-urban, and racial inequalities in US mortality from all cancers, lung, colorectal, prostate, breast, and cervical cancers. A deprivation index and rural-urban continuum were linked to the 2003–2007 county-level mortality data. Mortality rates and risk ratios were calculated for each socioeconomic, rural-urban, and racial group. Weighted linear regression yielded relative impacts of deprivation and rural-urban residence. Those in more deprived groups and rural areas had higher cancer mortality than more affluent and urban residents, with excess risk being marked for lung, colorectal, prostate, and cervical cancers. Deprivation and rural-urban continuum were independently related to cancer mortality, with deprivation showing stronger impacts. Socioeconomic inequalities existed for both whites and blacks, with blacks experiencing higher mortality from each cancer than whites within each deprivation group. Socioeconomic gradients in mortality were steeper in nonmetropolitan than in metropolitan areas. Mortality disparities may reflect inequalities in smoking and other cancer-risk factors, screening, and treatment.

People with diabetes should receive nutrition counselling by a registered dietitian. Nutrition therapy can reduce glycated hemoglobin (A1C) by 1.0% to 2.0% and, when used with other components of diabetes care, can further improve clinical and metabolic outcomes. Reduced caloric intake to achieve and maintain a healthier body weight should be a treatment goal for people with diabetes who are overweight or obese. The macronutrient distribution is flexible within recommended ranges and will depend on individual treatment goals and preferences. Replacing high glycemic index carbohydrates with low glycemic index carbohydrates in mixed meals has a clinically significant benefit for glycemic control in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Intensive lifestyle interventions in people with type 2 diabetes can produce improvements in weight management, fitness, glycemic control and cardiovascular risk factors. A variety of dietary patterns and specific foods have been shown to be of benefit in people with type 2 diabetes. Consistency in carbohydrate intake and in spacing and regularity in meal consumption may help control blood glucose and weight. Energy As an estimated 80% to 90% of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese, strategies that include energy restriction to achieve weight loss are a primary consideration (26). A modest weight loss of 5% to 10% of initial body weight can substantially improve insulin sensitivity, glycemic control, hypertension and Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Canadian Journal of Diabetes j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. c a n a d ia n j o u r n a l o f d i a b e t e s. c o m

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Organizational values have been known to partially define organizational culture and to serve as a bonding mechanism between workers. In the recent past, values served as a critical component of the organization's perspective regarding strategic direction, mission determination and visioning. With the onset of numerous shortterm focused management practices, the core organizational values that contributed to organizational purpose were segregated from the business strategic planning process. However, recently re-emerging is a move to ground strategic planning processes again in core organizational values because both strategy and values are seen as defining an organization's purpose in an integrated manner that allows for differentiation. This article outlines these developments, provides reasons for the recent re-surfacing of organizational values, and argues from both a strategic business perspective and a human resources perspective the need to reestablish a meaningful linkage between business strategy and organizational values. The strategic business planning literature is overviewed herein, but is focused toward its particular association with organizational values and the HR/HRD impacts thereon.

Objectives:This study examined trends and socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality in the United States between 1969 and 2013.Methods:National vital statistics data and the National Longitudinal Mortality Study were used to estimate racial/ethnic and area- and individual-level socioeconomic disparities in CVD mortality over time. Rate ratios and log-linear regression were used to model mortality trends and differentials.Results:Between 1969 and 2013, CVD mortality rates decreased by 2.66% per year for whites and 2.12% for blacks. Racial disparities and socioeconomic gradients in CVD mortality increased substantially during the study period. In 2013, blacks had 30% higher CVD mortality than whites and 113% higher mortality than Asians/Pacific Islanders. Compared to those in the most affluent group, individuals in the most deprived area group had 11% higher CVD mortality in 1969 but 40% higher mortality in 2007-2011. Education, income, and occupation were inversely associated with CVD mortality in both men and women. Men and women with low education and incomes had 46-76% higher CVD mortality risks than their counterparts with high education and income levels. Men in clerical, service, farming, craft, repair, construction, and transport occupations, and manual laborers had 30-58% higher CVD mortality risks than those employed in executive and managerial occupations.Conclusions and Global Health Implications:Socioeconomic and racial disparities in CVD mortality are marked and have increased over time because of faster declines in mortality among the affluent and majority populations. Disparities in CVD mortality may reflect inequalities in the social environment, behavioral risk factors such as smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, disease prevalence, and healthcare access and treatment. With rising prevalence of many chronic disease risk factors, the global burden of cardiovascular diseases is expected to increase further, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where over 80% of all CVD deaths occur.

Despite urgent need for innovation, adaptation, and change in health care, few tools enable researchers or practitioners to assess the extent to which health care facilities perform as learning organizations or the effects of initiatives that require learning. This study's objective was to develop and test a short-form Learning Organization Survey to fill this gap. The authors applied exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to data from Veterans Health Administration personnel to derive a short-form survey and then conducted further confirmatory factor analysis and factor invariance testing on additional Veterans Health Administration data to evaluate the short form. Results suggest that a 27-item, 7-factor survey (2 environmental factors, 1 on leadership, and 4 on concrete learning processes and practices) reliably measures key features of organizational learning, allowing researchers to evaluate theoretical propositions about organizational learning, its antecedents, and outcomes and enabling managers to assess and enhance organizations' learning capabilities and performance.

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Health disparities are real. The evidence base is large and irrefutable. As such, the time is now to shift the research emphasis away from solely documenting the pervasiveness of the health disparities problem and begin focusing on health equity, the highest level of health possible. The focus on health equity research will require investigators to propose projects that develop and evaluate evidence-based solutions to health differences that are driven largely by social, economic, and environmental factors. This article highlights ongoing research and programmatic efforts underway at the National Institutes of Health that hold promise for advancing population health and improving health equity.