November 04, 2009
links for 2009-11-04
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The Network for Multicultural Research on Health and Healthcare, a consortium of researchers from major research institutions around the country, examines health care disparities affecting minorities with chronic diseases and has produced a special supplement of the Journal of General Internal Medicine examining Latinos and health care, shedding light on important issues that have been left out of the health care reform debate.
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The University of Kansas Medical Center has helped develop a program aimed at reducing smoking rates among residents of Native American Indian reservations, Indian Country Today reports.
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The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has awarded grants of up to $258,500 each to seven organizations to support the development and testing of interventions aimed at reducing racial and ethnic care disparities, AHA News Now reports.
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Posted by Staff
October 29, 2009
links for 2009-10-29
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a user-friendly document to help risk assessors understand how children are exposed to pollution.
More information on the documents: http://www.epa.gov/childexpfactors/highlights
A new study by Oregon State University researchers shows that those in poverty in rural Oregon often know what kinds of foods they should be eating, but face tough choices between eating well and spending less money for meals.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
October 28, 2009
Health Disparities Lectures Posted on Website
During this fall semester at Case Western Reserve University, the Center for Reducing Health Disparities has been videotaping lecturers for the graduate health disparities course that is offered for nursing, medicine, public health, social work, epidemiology and biostatistics students. We are pleased to announce that we are posting those lectures to our website at www.ReduceDisparity.org. Please visit the education tab to see the variety of lectures offered including:
- Introduction to Health Disparities
- Evaluation of Health Programs
- Health Disparities in Asthma
- Model Community-Health Programs (breast cancer, re-entry, dental programs)
There are more lectures to come as well. Please visit our website for more information.
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Category: Breast Cancer; Cultural competency; Dental Care; Disparities; Genetics; Global Health Care Justice; Health Disparities; Health Disparities Class; Health Disparities Course; Hispanic Health; Ohio; Pollution; Public Health; Racial Disparities; Research; air quality; asthma; case western; health care access
Posted by Staff
links for 2009-10-28
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Three studies presented this week at the American College of Gastroenterology's 74th Annual Scientific meeting in San Diego underscore the growing disparities in gastrointestinal disease, particularly colon cancer and Barrett's Esophagus, among certain ethnic and gender populations, including African Americans, Latinos and women. These race- and gender-specific disparities underscore the need for education and vigilance among these populations and perhaps more aggressive screening tactics than the population in general.
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The study, reported in The Cereal Food Advertising to Children and Teens Score (FACTS) Report, was part funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and was conducted by researchers from Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. It is being presented at Obesity 2009, the 27th annual scientific meeting of The Obesity Society, in Washington on 27 October. One of the findings from the researchers was that not one the cereals targeted to children in the US meets the nutrition standard required to advertise to children in the United Kingdom..
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The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, examined data from national surveys taken from 1988 to 1994 and a second time period, from 1999 to 2004. In both time periods, men had more heart attacks than women. But the rates in men improved from 2.5% in the first time frame to 2.2% in the second time frame while women’s rates increased from 0.7% to 1%.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
October 15, 2009
links for 2009-10-15
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"End-of-life care discussions appeared to be more effective in ensuring that white patients' treatment preferences were honored," said Holly Prigerson, PhD, senior author of the report in The Journal of Clinical Oncology. The study is posted on the journal's web site and will be published in a future print edition.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
October 14, 2009
links for 2009-10-14
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A new study recently published online by the American Heart Journal shows that more than half of all randomized clinical trials, or RCTs, for cardiovascular disease are not reporting vital information about the study populations race or ethnicity.
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The study published in the medical journal Chest, found that among 1,485 asthmatic children from four U.S. states, black children were twice as likely as white children to have gone to the emergency room for an asthma attack in the past year. Overall, 39 percent of black children had visited the ER, compared with 18 percent of white children.
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A study being published today in the Archives of Internal Medicine calculates that people who live in neighborhoods that are conducive to physical activity and healthy eating have a 38% reduced risk of developing diabetes compared with people who don’t.
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Children in Philadelphia who attended public schools and shopped at corner stores before or after school purchased almost 360 calories of foods and beverages per visit, according to new research published in Pediatrics.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
October 12, 2009
Children On Medicaid Still Face Difficulty Getting Dental Care
The Associated Press is reporting on the continuing problem of getting children proper dental care. Medicaid does cover dental care, but finding dentists that accept Medicaid is a challenge.
State officials told the GAO that many children can't find dentists who accept Medicaid, and dental providers cite low reimbursement rates and patients skipping appointments as challenges to treating kids in the federal-state health insurance program for the poor.
Part of the problem is that there is no way of knowing how many of the children on Medicaid actually see a dentist. The Government Accountability Office recommended that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services "develop a plan for sharing promising practices among states and reviewing dental services in states with low access rates."
Click here to read the article.
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Posted by Staff
October 10, 2009
links for 2009-10-10
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Discussion of a new report by the Commonwealth Fund that shows the wide disparities in health care across the U.S. and how each state fares in comparison.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
October 06, 2009
links for 2009-10-06
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"Women's health advocates say issues such as maternity coverage and fair pricing affect far more women, who have received inadequate care and coverage for too long."
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The rates are highest in Africa, but North America follows closely behind, concludes the first part of the report, a collaboration with the World Health Organization. The report, and its implications, are to be discussed this week at a child health meeting in India.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
Breast Reconstruction Varies By Race
Researchers (Amy Alderman et al) at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have published a study on the October 5 online version of the Journal of Clinical Oncology where they found that language barriers in non-English speaking Latinas were a factor in whether or not reconstructive breast surgery occurred.
Receipt of breast reconstruction varied significantly by patient race/ethnicity (40.9% of whites, 33.5% of African Americans, 41.2% of highly acculturated Latinas, and only 13.5% of less acculturated Latinas; P < .0001). Nearly 14% of less acculturated Latinas said they did not know how to get breast reconstruction, compared with less than 2% for all other groups (P<.001).
The lower rates in limited English speaking populations did not represent a lack of interest in reconstruction. The researchers suggest that there should be increased efforts to present breast reconstruction options to patients. Stronger efforts should be made particularly to those who speak limited English.
For more information, you can read a description in Medical News Today or the article at the Journal of Oncology webpage.
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Posted by Staff
October 02, 2009
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"Before 1990, the mortality rate for both rural and urban communities had been about the same — and both were decreasing. Death rates in rural and urban America have continued to decrease since 1990, but the rate of decline has been much faster in urban areas" reports the Daily Yonder.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
October 01, 2009
links for 2009-10-01
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This 8 page brief uses data from the 2008 Ohio Family Health Survey and identifies disparities in health behaviors, risk factors, family income and other issues.
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Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2009-2010 was released September 30, and it shows that breast cancer deaths have been falling in the US since the early 1990s, with the biggest drops in women under 50. However, as of 2006, breast cancer death rates were 38 per cent higher in African American women than white women. The report provides possible explanations for that disparity.
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There is rejoicing today at agencies that work with recipients of food vouchers through the Women, Infants and Children program in California. Starting Thursday, WIC recipients -- more than 8 million of them -- will be able to use vouchers to buy fresh fruit and vegetables, under a program revision that has been years in the making.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
September 30, 2009
links for 2009-09-30
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The State Indicator Report on Fruits and Vegetables, 2009 released includes information, policy, and behavioral indicators of fruit and vegetable consumption.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
September 29, 2009
links for 2009-09-29
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A new study finds that diabetes significantly increases a woman’s risk of developing atrial fibrillation, a common and potentially dangerous irregular heart rhythm that doctors often miss.
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Prostate cancer patients of low socioeconomic status are more likely to die than patients with higher incomes. That is the finding of a new study from Swiss researchers to be published in the December 1, 2009 issue of Cancer.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
September 28, 2009
Dialysis Patients Often Not Told About Transplant Options
Are people told about the full range of options when they begin dialysis? Information detailed in the Sunday edition of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review suggests that they are not. Kidney transplants can add years to a patient's life, and is overall, a much cheaper procedure than long-term dialysis care. Some key factors are fear, education of kidney disease and options, organ "availability" and the insurance associated with care.
The Tribune conducted its own four month investigation and found:
More than 32,000 of the 105,653 people who started treatment for kidney failure in 2006 were not informed about the option of kidney transplantation, according to the latest available information reported to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The article also spoke with some dialysis providers who dispute the claim that they don't provide information on transplants to enough of their patients.
Read the story on the Pittsburgh Tribune website.
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Posted by Staff
September 24, 2009
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"While we often hear media reports of genes that account for race differences in health outcomes, genes are but one of many factors that lead to the major health conditions that account for most deaths in the United States," said Thomas LaVeist, PhD, director of the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions and lead author of the study.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
September 19, 2009
links for 2009-09-19
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"Racial health disparities cost the United States $229 billion between 2003 and 2006 — money that could help cover an overhaul of the nation's health care system, according to a new report by Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland researchers," The Baltimore Sun reports.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
September 17, 2009
Center for Reducing Health Disparities, Kidney Foundation of Ohio, and City Fresh
The Case Center for Reducing Health Disparities is partnering with the Kidney Foundation of Ohio, Inc. (KFO) to provide information to City Fresh customers about kidney health, health disparities and nutrition. City Fresh is a program of the New Agrarian Center. The goal is to build a more just and sustainable local food system in Northeast Ohio.
City Fresh seeks to meet the needs of both urban and rural communities by improving access to fresh locally grown food for urban residents and marketing opportunities in the city for local farmers.
The City Fresh program impacts the local food system through the development of neighorhood food centers, nutrition education, urban market garden training, and the cultivation of direct farm to business connections.
City Fresh includes a wide range of community partners, including the City of Cleveland Health Department, Heifer International, Ohio Farmers Union, the Great Lakes Brewing Company, the Clark-Metro Community Development Corporation, the Urban Community School, and the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission.
City Fresh has “Fresh Stops”, which offer a way for neighbors to easily connect with food that is locally grown by farmers within the City and in the countryside. There are 8 Fresh Stop locations within Cuyahoga County including stops in Cleveland Heights, Beachwood, Buckeye Neighborhood, East Cleveland, Kamms Corners, Lakewood, Trinity Commons, and at the Urban Community School on Lorain Road. Staff from the Case Center for Reducing Health Disparities will be going to various locations over the next few weeks including Urban Community School (September 17), Buckeye – E. 118 and Buckeye (September 22), and East Cleveland – Huron Hospital (September 29).
For more about City Fresh, visit www.cityfresh.org.
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Posted by Staff
links for 2009-09-17
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The Alabama Department of Public Health announces a decline in Alabama's infant mortality rate in 2008, with a rate of 9.5 deaths per 1,000 live births and a total of 612 infant deaths. In 2007 Alabama's infant mortality rate was 10.0.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
September 16, 2009
links for 2009-09-16
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"Ultimately, the research -- and the comments -- reiterate the fact that we should be careful with our assumptions. Broadly extrapolating results of studies done in men to women, perhaps especially when it comes to heart disease, is risky."
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff