February 04, 2010
links for 2010-02-04
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The legislation aims to remove financial barriers to treatment for people with mental health problems. About 140 million Americans in more than 450,000 employer plans will benefit from improved coverage.
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A New Jersey study found that African-Americans with cancer are less likely to survive it than whites, and residents of poor neighborhoods less likely to survive than are those in wealthier areas of the state. The racial disadvantage diminishes when socioeconomic status is a consideration, but does not disappear, according to the study in the February issue of the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved.
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Melanoma is more than 10 times higher in whites compared to blacks, but over a five-year span, blacks have a 78 percent lower survival rate compared to 92 percent of whites, according to study background material.
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Posted by Staff
February 03, 2010
links for 2010-02-03
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The recession is forcing states such as Washington to pare back health insurance programs for low-income people, even as growing joblessness boosts demand for help. Five of six states that use state funds to assist adults not covered by Medicaid are considering cuts, barring new enrollment or raising fees.
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The February teleconference sponsored by Living Beyond Breast Cancer will focus on the impact culture, wealth and the healthcare system have on the quality of life and survival of women affected by breast cancer. Keynote speaker for this event is Kimlin Ashing-Giwa, PhD. To register, visit their website at http://www.lbbc.org/index.asp and look at the calendar of events.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
January 26, 2010
links for 2010-01-26
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In the past three decades, obesity among American youths has increased from 5 percent to more than 17 percent. In light of this, the study’s authors suggested that clinicians should be aware of guidelines for lipid screening and treatment among youths.
Twenty percent of young people aged 12-19 years in the United States have at least one abnormal lipid level, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Abnormal lipid levels are major risk factors for heart disease, the leading cause of death among adults in the United States.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
New Publication by CRHD Faculty Member, Dr. Daryl Thornton
Dr. Daryl Thornton, medical director at MetroHealth Medical Center's Medical Intensive Care Unit and faculty at the Case Center for Reducing Health Disparities has published a paper in the Journal of the National Medical Association that highlights the need for patient-physician conversations regarding organ donation in minority populations. Typical discussions on organ donation occur at end of life, but should be discussed in primary care physicians offices before then.
Dr. Thornton surveyed a random sample of 831 primary-care physicians nationwide, which included minority physicians and found that the topic of organ donation needs to be addressed on many levels.
While 30% of physicians reported discussing end-of-life care with their patients, fewer than 4% reported discussing donation with their patients. However, only 36% felt that discussing donation was outside of their scope of practice.
Dr. Thornton's work is highlighted in today's issue of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and the article itself is available online at the Journal's website, page 52.
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Posted by Staff
January 20, 2010
What difference does 100 years make?
Journal of the American Medical Association has a feature "JAMA 100 Years Ago", which reprints articles transcribed verbatim from articles published 100 years ago. The January 20, 2010 issue has an article titled Preventable Waste of Life, originally published January 22, 1910. It is a very interesting article, in that it discusses a pamphlet issued by the Provident Savings Life Assurance Society of New York titled "The State and the Death-Roll", authored by Mr. E.E. Rittenhouse, who was president of that society. The pamphlet talks about the reduction of infectious disease that was seen in that time period along with the increase in "non-communicable diseases due primarily to personal habits, overwork, etc."
How far have we come in 100 years? Here are some quotes from the article to ponder:
Mr. Rittenhouse concludes that this abnormal increase in the death-rate from non-communicable disease is due to the early wearing out of vital organs due to excesses in eating, drinking, working and playing - in short, intemperate living and the strenuous life.
We try to protect a man from a disease which another might give him, but, without the slightest help, permit him to die of a disease which he may unknowingly give himself.
We as a nation have come a long way in working to educate people on diet, exercise and smoking and the ramifications of those choices in lifestyle. There continues to be considerable debate about access and insurance issues, for which there are varied opinions on what "is or isn't" working for our nation. Consider these 100-year-old recommendations:
As a remedy for existing conditions, Mr. Rittenhouse urges that the state inaugurate a systematic and permanent campaign of education for the prevention of diseases of all kinds by the distribution of health bulletins, the liberal use of health and medical inspectors and by other methods. He also suggests that the state provide free medical examinations, periodically, for any who may desire them, for the purpose of detecting disease in time to check and cure it. This plan, he says, would enlarge the work of the health departments and would require an increased staff of inspectors and medical examiners, but this would be well within the bounds of reason and would be amply justified by the results.
The article points out that Mr. Rittenhouse's pamphlet is evidence of the "rapid growth" of public opinion on disease prevention and that business and commercial interests only need to realize that this "waste of life" is a loss of their interests as well.
To read the article on the JAMA website, click here.
Category: deaths; preventable; prevention
Posted by Staff
January 19, 2010
links for 2010-01-19
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It is estimated that from 2000 to 2005, at least 330,000 South Africans died prematurely and 35,000 babies were infected with HIV as a result of former president Thabo Mbeki's decision to withhold antiretroviral drugs, based on advice from American AIDS denialists.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
January 16, 2010
links for 2010-01-16
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
January 14, 2010
Announcing Spring Cultural Competency in Research Conference
The Case Center for Reducing Health Disparities in partnership with the Community Engagement Core of the Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative (CTSC) at Case Western Reserve University are hosting a unique one‐day conference that focuses on the rich cultural background of three Cleveland neighborhoods and how research can become better informed with cultural sensitivity. This conference includes Lolly the Trolley tours of the Stockyard neighborhood, Hough neighborhood, and Asiatown. Community leaders will guide participants through these neighborhoods, making stops along the way back to the conference center where the remainder of the program will take place. Participants will discuss how their morning experience can better inform their research. The conference, scheduled for May 19, 2010, is open to researchers, community organizations, and health care providers and is provided at a cost of $20 per participant. For more information or to register, please visit the Center for Reducing Health Disparities website or the Community Engagement Core website.
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Category: Cleveland; Research; competence; cultural
Posted by Staff
January 08, 2010
links for 2010-01-08
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Story of 7-year old January, diagnosed with child-onset schizophrenia. This story points out the hardships families go through when a child is diagnosed with mental illness and the lack of resources available to help those families.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
January 07, 2010
links for 2010-01-07
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
January 06, 2010
New Website Allows Ohioans to Compare Hospitals
The State of Ohio has put together a website that allows patients to review their stay at Ohio hospitals. The site Ohio Hospital Compare is putting Ohio at the forefront of patient advocacy and choice using measures for which patients can respond regarding their experiences from staff attentiveness to care to cleanliness of their room.
Click here to go to the site.
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Posted by Staff
January 05, 2010
links for 2010-01-05
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Galbraith, A.A. et al. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2010;164(1):38-45.
Study comparing the quality of asthma care for children with and without minority-serving providers.
GI symptoms are often overlooked in Autism Spectrum Disorder patients. Autism Research Institute's Director Dr. Stephen Edelson commented, "This is truly a human rights issue; every child deserves proper medical attention--whether or not they have autism. This published report brings much-needed focus to gastrointestinal problems that are commonly associated with the autism spectrum. The conclusions of the report are clear: physicians need to be alert and responsive to such problems when treating these patients; additional research on prevalence, cause, and appropriate treatment is imperative."
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
Increasing Access to Primary Care in One Cleveland Neighborhood
In 2009 Neighborhood Family Practice, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Cleveland, Ohio, received funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The money will allow the FQHC to see 3,000 more patients yearly, bringing the annual average up to about 15,000 patients a year. The money also allowed the center to add jobs as well as increase access and capacity for primary care.
To see a video made about the project, please click here.
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Posted by Staff
January 04, 2010
links for 2010-01-04
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GI symptoms are often overlooked in Autism Spectrum Disorder patients. Autism Research Institute's Director Dr. Stephen Edelson commented, "This is truly a human rights issue; every child deserves proper medical attention--whether or not they have autism. This published report brings much-needed focus to gastrointestinal problems that are commonly associated with the autism spectrum. The conclusions of the report are clear: physicians need to be alert and responsive to such problems when treating these patients; additional research on prevalence, cause, and appropriate treatment is imperative."
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
December 29, 2009
links for 2009-12-29
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Drugs that have been used for decades are being pushed off the market by the FDA and pharmaceutical companies because the medications pre-date modern drug laws and have never been FDA approved. Medications that used to sell for pennies a pill are now being forced out in favor of "new" brand name medications. The example used in the article is colchicine, a medication used to treat gout and other inflammatory illnesses. The FDA granted URL Pharma and their version of colchicine, Colcrys, "three years exclusivity for treatment of gout - a recurrent arthritic inflammatory disease caused by uric acid buildup - and seven years for FMF under orphan drug rules."
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East Carolina University is offering a new online program focusing on ethnic and rural health disparities.
ERHD is a non-credit certificate program designed for health care professionals and others interested in broadening their understanding of health issues and improving their skills in working with ethnic health disparities. The program is composed of 16 modules that may be taken individually or as a full series.
CNN video spotlights a restaurant in Harlem that is making headway into bringing healthier options to inner city neighborhoods.
If you eat too much, exercise too little, drink too much, smoke, take drugs, fail to wear a seat belt or ignore gun safety, there is only so much a doctor or hospital can do for you.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
December 24, 2009
links for 2009-12-24
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"The combination of increasing disability rates plus a growing population of older adults emphasizes the importance of prevention of the many chronic conditions giving rise to disability in the first place," said the study's lead author, Esme Fuller-Thomson, professor of social work at the University of Toronto. "There is evidence, for example, that the doubling of obesity rates over the last three decades may be linked to rising disability in older people, yet the obesity problem is largely preventable."
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
December 23, 2009
links for 2009-12-23
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Are kickbacks the way of the future in swaying the swing votes in Congress? The deal critics have dubbed the Cornhusker Kickback is expected to cost the federal government $100 million over 10 years. The multimillion-dollar deals cut with Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and others to win the 60 votes needed for the historic health care reform bill gave President Barack Obama the margin he needed to fulfill a central campaign promise — but may also have upped the ante for future presidential horse trading.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
December 21, 2009
links for 2009-12-21
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New technology provides access to health care while never leaving home or getting a physical exam from a health care provider. Is it really going to provide adequate health care for patients who use that technology since they are never physically examined by a provider?
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
December 19, 2009
links for 2009-12-19
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This study is the first to use sophisticated techniques to improve disaster preparedness among Hispanics. It shows that lay health teachers who engage people inside their social networks and use culturally tailored content were more effective than mailers at encouraging participants to stockpile water and food and create a family communication plan.
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Childhood obesity is directly related to how close kids live to convenience stores, according to the preliminary findings of a major Canadian study presented at the Entretiens Jacques-Cartier in Lyon, France
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About one out of every 110 U.S. children have been diagnosed with autism, according to a new federal estimate released Friday. Boys are 4 times more likely to be diagnosed, with a rate that is now 1 for every 70 boys.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff
December 15, 2009
links for 2009-12-15
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The Associated Press reports that women with low incomes are being turned away or put on long waiting lists for free cancer screenings in at least 20 states. These states include Illinois,Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Posted by Staff