Iowa Community Empowerment Newsletter, August 2002, Vol. 3, no. 4

Monthly newsletter for the Iowa Department of Public Health

Iowa Community Empowerment Newsletter, April 2002, Vol. 3, no. 8

Monthly newsletter for the Iowa Department of Public Health

Iowa Community Empowerment Newsletter, October 2001, Vol. 2, no. 5

Monthly newsletter for the Iowa Department of Public Health

Iowa Community Empowerment Newsletter, August 2001, Vol. 2, no. 4

Monthly newsletter for the Iowa Department of Public Health

Iowa Community Empowerment Newsletter, February 2001, Vol. 2, no. 1

Monthly newsletter for the Iowa Department of Public Health

Iowa Community Empowerment Annual Report, 2001

Annual report for Iowa Community Empowerment part of the Iowa Department of Public Health

Iowa Community Empowerment Newsletter, October 2004, Vol.5, no.5

Monthly newsletter for the Iowa Department of Public Health

Iowa Health Focus, February 2005

Monthly newsletter for the Iowa Department of Public Health

Iowa Health Focus, March 2005

Monthly newsletter for the Iowa Department of Public Health

Protocol of the COSMIN study: consensus-based standards for the selection of health measurement instruments

Background: Choosing an adequate measurement instrument depends on the proposed use of the instrument, the concept to be measured, the measurement properties (e.g. internal consistency, reproducibility, content and construct validity, responsiveness, and interpretability), the requirements, the burden for subjects, and costs of the available instruments. As far as measurement properties are concerned, there are no sufficiently specific standards for the evaluation of measurement properties of instruments to measure health status, and also no explicit criteria for what constitutes good measurement properties. In this paper we describe the protocol for the COSMIN study, the objective of which is to develop a checklist that contains COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments, including explicit criteria for satisfying these standards. We will focus on evaluative health related patient-reported outcomes (HR-PROs), i.e. patient-reported health measurement instruments used in a longitudinal design as an outcome measure, excluding health care related PROs, such as satisfaction with care or adherence. The COSMIN standards will be made available in the form of an easily applicable checklist.Method: An international Delphi study will be performed to reach consensus on which and how measurement properties should be assessed, and on criteria for good measurement properties. Two sources of input will be used for the Delphi study: (1) a systematic review of properties, standards and criteria of measurement properties found in systematic reviews of measurement instruments, and (2) an additional literature search of methodological articles presenting a comprehensive checklist of standards and criteria. The Delphi study will consist of four (written) Delphi rounds, with approximately 30 expert panel members with different backgrounds in clinical medicine, biostatistics, psychology, and epidemiology. The final checklist will subsequently be field-tested by assessing the inter-rater reproducibility of the checklist.Discussion: Since the study will mainly be anonymous, problems that are commonly encountered in face-to-face group meetings, such as the dominance of certain persons in the communication process, will be avoided. By performing a Delphi study and involving many experts, the likelihood that the checklist will have sufficient credibility to be accepted and implemented will increase.

Iowa Health Focus, August 2005

Monthly newsletter for the Iowa Department of Public Health

Iowa Health Focus, October 2005

Monthly newsletter for the Iowa Department of Public Health

Department of Human Rights Division of Persons with Disabilities Annual Performance Plan Report, September 2005

This report is published in accordance with the Accountable Government Act to improve decision-making and increase accountability to stakeholders and citizens. This report contains performance information regarding our primary programs including, the Youth Leadership Forum, the College Leadership Forum, the State Access Grant and the Client Assistance Program. Major accomplishments this year include continuation of our core programs, a key role in the Iowa Great Places initiative and providing Cultural Competency training to governmental and non-governmental agencies.

Iowa Community Empowerment Newsletter, December 2005, Vol.6, no.6

Monthly newsletter for the Iowa Department of Public Health

Iowa Community Empowerment Newsletter, June 2001, Vol.2, no.3

Monthly newsletter for the Iowa Department of Public Health