HEALTH DISPARITIES BLOG

May 28, 2010

links for 2010-05-28

• The Republic - Medical: Many can't read medical instructions
  Thirty-five percent of the pharmacies could provide no translation service and the rest offered only limited translation services. The results showed that 44 percent of pharmacies located in counties where Hispanics made up more than a fourth of the population were unable to translate instructions.
• Louis Provenzano: Language Access and the Prevention of Medical Errors
  Statistics show that language is a major factor in cases of misdiagnosis and instances of poor treatment at hospitals, and delays in service or access to preventive care. Medical error in general is a troubling issue, but patients with limited English proficiency are almost twice as likely to suffer adverse events in U.S. hospitals, resulting in temporary harm or death, according to a pilot study by The Joint Commission - an independent, not-for-profit organization that evaluates and accredits more than 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States
• From rats to heaters, doctor-lawyer team fights barriers to family health care
  The success of the integrative approach of a medical-legal partnership is one reason advocates say there is bipartisan support, even in health care-weary Congress, for a federal demonstration project to measure the effects on patients, physicians and health centers, said Ellen Lawton, executive director of the National Center for Medical Legal Partnership. Medical Legal partnerships exist as part of a grass-roots program launched in Boston in 1993 and currently there are 85 partnerships in 37 states.
• Area school districts purchase produce from nearby farms | thenorthwestern.com | Oshkosh Northwestern
  Omro is among a growing number of Wisconsin school districts that are serving students fresh, locally grown produce through the National Farm to School program — part of an initiative to bring healthy food from local farms to school children. The program sprouted from a desire in the late 1990s to support community-based food systems, strengthen family farms and promoting healthy eating habits in students.
• AHIP Statement On HHS's National Action Plan To Improve Health Literacy
  "The National Action Plan released by HHS calls for all sectors to become engaged in the effort to ensure that consumers have the tools they need to navigate our health care system. Our members are responding to this challenge, and we stand ready to work with others to address this important foundation for the reform of our health care system."
• Amnesty International Report Highlights Health Care Access Among Global Human Rights Abuses
  Amnesty International highlights the number of people living in "extreme poverty" or on less than $1.25 per day, the disproportionate effect that limited progress on Millennium Development Goal targets has had on women and the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by 'ongoing armed conflicts and insecurity.