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News Room
Kaiser Family Foundation to Launch Non-Profit Health Policy News Service
The Kaiser Family Foundation is launching Kaiser Health News (KHN), an independent news service, to report on the nation's complex health care system and the increasingly urgent political and policy debates surrounding it. The goal of the new effort is to provide in-depth coverage and news at a time when cash-strapped news organizations are being forced to scale back their efforts in this crucial area. Kaiser Health News will be headquartered at Kaiser's Washington, D.C. building and be headed by two veteran journalists who have spent years covering health care. Laurie McGinley, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and editor, is the former deputy bureau chief for global economics and national health care policy correspondent at The Wall Street Journal. Peggy Girshman, an Emmy-winning editor and producer, is a former managing editor of National Public Radio and an executive editor at Congressional Quarterly.
The centerpiece of KHN will be in-depth stories on new developments in the health care system and on health care initiatives and debates in Washington and in state capitals. Supplementing the stories will be columns, video interviews, graphics, and multimedia features, as well as a daily synthesis of news stories from around the countrywhich Kaiser already provides.
http://www.kff.org/newsroom/khn102908nr.cfm |
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Pandemic Influenza Storybook
The 1918 influenza pandemic killed more than 50 million people worldwide including an estimated 675,000 people in the United States, and it is one of the touchstones for todays public health preparedness initiatives. To put it in perspective, thats more people than all those who died (both military personnel and civilians) during World War I (1914 - 1918). The 1957 Influenza Pandemic caused at least 70,000 U.S. deaths and 12 million deaths worldwide. Improvements in scientific technology made it possible to more quickly identify that pandemic when compared with the 1918 event. These first-person and family accounts contained herein provide an intimate, personal view of the 1918 and 1957 pandemics that goes beyond the staggering statistics associated with those events and, therefore, can help planners re-energize their efforts and fight preparedness fatigue and apathy. The online storybook contains narratives from survivors, families, and friends who lived through the 1918 and 1957 pandemics. Additionally, stories from the 1968 pandemic will be added to this resource as they become available. The Pandemic Influenza Storybook is not a closed book; CDC will continue to accept stories and add them to the book at quarterly intervals.
http://www.pandemicflu.gov/storybook/introduction/index.html |
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Healthy Counties Database
The National Association of Counties (NACo) has launched a new Healthy Counties Database in June 2008, where you can search for model policies, programs and initiatives that counties nationwide have enacted to promote wellness and help prevent childhood obesity. No need to reinvent the wheel. Find out what peer local government leaders have done to enable and encourage nutritious diets, physical activity, and healthy built and social environments. NACo is continually seeking county submissions in order to build the resource. To submit a best practice, please complete this form. To submit a policy, please complete this form and return to Christina Rowland at crowland@naco.org. This project is supported by Leadership for Healthy Communities, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=New_Technical_Assistance&Template=/cffiles/healthycounties/search.cfm |
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Prevention for a Healthier America: Investments in Disease Prevention Yield Significant Savings, Stronger Communities.
An investment of $10 per person per year in proven community-based disease prevention programs could yield net medical cost savings of more than $16 billion annually within five years, concludes a report released by the Trust for America's Health. According to the report, implementing programs aimed at lowering rates of diseases related to physical activity, nutrition and smoking could reduce rates of Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure by 5% within two years; reduce heart disease, kidney disease and stroke by 5% within five years; and reduce some forms of cancer, arthritis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by 2.5% within 10 to 20 years. The report also contains state-by-state return on investment analyses for spending $10 per person per year on prevention. AHA News Now July 17, 2008
http://healthyamericans.org/reports/prevention08/Prevention08.pdf |
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CDC Launches 'Healthiest Nation Campaign' To Improve Health of U.S. Residents
On Tuesday, July 8, 2008, the CDC launched the "Healthiest Nation Campaign," which seeks to promote efforts to improve the health of U.S. residents. According to CDC Director Julie Gerberding, the campaign will seek to include efforts to improve health in social policies in all levels of government and all sectors. Gerberding will discuss the campaign at an upcoming conference "Shaping Policy for a Healthier Nation" in Washington, D.C., that will include more than 300 representatives from the business, non-for-profit, health care, sports and entertainment sectors.
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=53171 |
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Hospitals Receive AHA Award For Improving Community Health Through Effective Collaborative Projects
On July 7, 2008, the American Hospital Association (AHA) awarded the AHA NOVA Award to five collaborative hospital-led programs that improve community health by extending help to low-income, uninsured or underserved children and adults, the chronically ill and racial and ethnic minorities. Each program will be honored at a July 26 ceremony held during the association's annual Health Forum Leadership Summit in San Diego. "Hospitals do so much for the community, yet they depend upon the caring and compassion of other groups and organizations to offer the most to those in need," said AHA president and CEO Rich Umbdenstock. "The AHA NOVA Award recognizes those hospitals working collaboratively with others that provide valued and compassionate programs to their community and today's winners are truly inspirational examples." Established in 1993, the AHA NOVA Award recognizes hospitals and health systems for their collaborative efforts toward improving community health.
The AHA NOVA AWARD winners are: (1) ENERGIZE! Pediatric Diabetes Intervention Program
WakeMed Health & Hospitals, Raleigh, NC; (2) Every Child Succeeds
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH; (3) Memorial Hermann Health Centers for Schools
Memorial Hermann, Houston, TX; (4) Nutrition Center for Maine
Saint Mary's Health System, Lewiston, ME; (5) Partnership for Community Health
California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, CA.
http://www.aha.org/aha/press-release/2008/080707-pr-nova.html |
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Call for Conference Breakout Sessions
The Association for Community Health Improvement is inviting proposals for Concurrent Breakout Sessions for its March 11-13, 2009 national conference. Drawing more than 450 professionals from hospitals, health systems, foundations, public health, and community health organizations, the ACHI meeting has become the premier gathering that stimulates real change and improvement in how community health programs are planned, run, and evaluated. All submissions must address one of the conference's four following topic tracks:(1) Leading Community Health Assessments to Set Priorities, Programs, and Policies; (2) Achieving Community Benefit Excellence; (3) Improving Health by Addressing Our Social and Built Environments; and, (4) Building the Skills of Community Health Leaders (for Today and the Future). In addition, the overall conference will reflect the cross-cutting theme of working to achieve health status equity, and proposals are encouraged to address equity and disparities issues. Proposals due: Friday, August 8, 2008; Notification of acceptance: Friday, September 12, 2008; Presenter Agreement due: Friday, September 26, 2008; and, Presentation materials due: Friday, January 9, 2009
http://www.communityhlth.org/communityhlth/conf2009/annualbreakouts09.html |
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Community-Based Ways to Help Teens Struggling With Drugs, Alcohol and Crime
A national group of project directors today called on communities across the nation to better help teens beat drugs, alcohol and crime using a groundbreaking approach tested at 10 pilot sites. They have issued a national report which shares a six-step model to bring about change, reveals a road map for communities to plan for innovation, and offers step-by-step instructions and examples on how to implement this new way of helping teens in trouble. The project directors oversee Reclaiming Futures initiatives funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Together, they have authored the report, How to Implement a Model to Get Youth Off Drugs and Out of Crime, based on six years of creating and testing new ways to help teens that enter the juvenile justice system and previously received little or no care for their drug or alcohol problems. The report describes how judges, probation officers, treatment specialists, families and community members can take steps right now to improve the future of these youths. "When communities recognize this dire need and begin to work together to save these young people, real change can occur," said Laura Nissen, Ph.D., Reclaiming Futures national program director. "The authors of this report are the feet on the ground pioneering new approaches to help teens in trouble. It is our hope that the lessons they've learned will assist and motivate others to address this pressing need." The Reclaiming Futures model recommends screening each teen for drug and alcohol problems, assessing the severity of the teen's drug and alcohol use, providing prompt access to a treatment plan coordinated by a service team; and connecting the teen with employers, mentors and volunteer service projects. More at:
http://www.rwjf.org/pr/product.jsp?id=32311&c=EMC-CA131 |
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CaringBridge: Providing Hope and Healing for Patients, Families and Caregivers
In 1997, CaringBridge founder Sona Mehring's close friend suffered a life-threatening pregnancy. To keep family and friends informed about the critical situation, Sona and friends created a website. The site allowed family members to communicate information to a wide circle of people without disturbing the mothers need for rest or placing additional demands on hospital staff. CaringBridge is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit web service that connects family and friends during a critical illness, treatment or recovery. A CaringBridge website is personal, private and available 24/7. It helps ease the burden of keeping family and friends informed. A CaringBridge website helps keep loved ones informed during difficult times. In return, family and friends give patient and caregiver support through guestbook messages.
http://www.caringbridge.org/ |
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Keeping America Healthy: A Guide and a Catalog of Successful Programs
The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease has released a catalog of successful programs in the workplace, schools, communities and health systems to improve health and reduce chronic disease. The companion Executive Summary or Guide provides an overview on the effects of chronic disease and the evidence supporting the positive impact that population health improvement activities can have on health, health care costs, and overall economic gains. The guide provides examples of effective population health improvement programs that have been implemented in a variety of settings (workplaces, communities, schools, and within health care systems), and analyzes what makes them successful. The guide also provides a list of nine essential elements of successful programs. The guide is available at: http://promisingpractices.fightchronicdisease.org/uploads/Executive_Summary.pdf and the 171 page catalog is available at:
http://promisingpractices.fightchronicdisease.org/uploads/Best_Practice_Catalog.pdf |
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Health Care Providers and Patients Need To Ask and Tell
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has launched Time to Talk, an educational campaign to encourage patients particularly those age 50 or older and their health care providers to openly discuss the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM ). CAM is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine, such as herbal supplements, meditation, naturopathy, and acupuncture.
According to a national consumer survey conducted by NCCAM and AARP, almost two-thirds of people age 50 or older are using some form of CAM, yet less than one-third of these CAM users talk about it with their providers. The NCCAM/AARP survey revealed some reasons why this doctor-patient dialogue about CAM does not occur. The most common reasons survey respondents cited were
* That the physician never asked
* They did not know they should discuss CAM
* There was not enough time during the office visit.
More than one-half of respondents who had talked about CAM with their physician said they (not their physician) initiated the CAM discussion. The telephone survey was administered to a nationally representative group of 1,559 people age 50 or older. Full NIH News Release of June 6, 2008 at:
http://www.nih.gov/news/health/jun2008/nccam-06.htm |
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AHRQ Brief Details Prevalence, Cost of Chronic Conditions
The federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released a statistical brief suggesting that chronic diseases affect roughly 60 percent of the U.S. adult population and accounted for more than half of all medical expenses in 2005, AHA News Now reports. The analysis highlights data from adults age 18 and older collected in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component and Medical Provider Component in 2005. In its report, AHRQ emphasizes the link between age and chronic disease prevalence, finding that 36.4 percent of adults ages 18 to 34 reported having at least one chronic condition in 2005, compared with 91.5 percent of adults age 65 and older. Similarly, just 14.4 percent of adults ages 18 to 34 reported having two or more chronic conditions, compared with 76.6 percent of adults age 65 and older. Meanwhile, adults ages 18 to 34 reported that chronic disease treatment accounted for roughly 29 percent of their medical expenses, compared with 50 percent of medical expenses for adults ages 35 to 54, 56.6 percent for adults ages 55 to 64, and 58.9 percent for adults ages 65 and older. Moreover, the 60 percent of U.S. adults with at least one chronic condition accounted for roughly 90 percent of health expenditures for all chronic and acute conditions combined in 2005. Overall, spending on chronic disease treatment in 2005 averaged $1,064 per person for patients with one chronic condition and $4,571 per person for those with two or more chronic conditions. Per-person spending also rose with age, topping out at an average of $5,966 for the elderly with two or more chronic conditions (AHA News Now, 5/28/08; AHRQ statistical brief, May 2008).
http://www.rwjf.org/programareas/features/digest.jsp?c=EMC-ND141&pid=1141&id=7900 |
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Putting It All Together: Guiding Principles for Quality After-School Programs Serving Preteens
Successfully navigating early adolescence depends, in large part, on the availability of safe and engaging activities and supportive relationships with adults, yet many preteens have limited access to positive supports and opportunitiessuch as high-quality after-school programsthat could put them on a path to success. Recognizing this, the Lucile Packard Foundation for Childrens Health commissioned P/PV to identify the characteristics of quality after-school programs that are linked to positive outcomes for preteens. Putting It All Together focuses on six after-school program components associated with positive outcomes for preteens. A free download of this publication is available at:
http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/publications_description.asp?search_id=20&publication_id=234 |
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Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates - 2008 Edition; 'Foundations Today Series', Foundation Center
More than half of the nations 72,000 foundations expect their giving to increase in 2008, while 28 percent project a decrease, according to a study released by the Foundation Center. The study found that grant making by the nations foundations grew by 10 percent in 2007, totaling nearly $43-billion. Community foundations increased their giving by more than any other type of grant maker, giving away nearly 14 percent more than in 2006. Independent foundations increased giving by 13 percent whereas corporate foundation giving increased by more than 6 percent.
The assets of the nation's foundations grew 9 percent from 2006 to 2007, to nearly $670-billion. The 15-page report is available in pdf format at:
http://foundationcenter.org/gainknowledge/research/pdf/fgge08.pdf |
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Completing the Recipe for Children's Health: New Variations on Key Ingredients
A report from a workshop convened by the National Health Policy Forum offers a broad overview of issues surrounding the social and environmental determinants of children's health. The report highlights some of the community-based initiatives that have been successful in providing services to children and families. The report also outlines several potential strategies that emerged from the discussion that could be pursued in order to better coordinate health and social services for children. The 19-page report is available in pdf format at:
http://www.nhpf.org/pdfs_other/MtgRpt(06-28-07)_SocialDeterminants.pdf |
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Health Care Coverage in America: Understanding the Issues and Proposed Solutions
An updated guide, produced for Cover the Uninsured Week, provides an overview of information about health coverage; why health coverage is so important; who is uninsured; how Americans get covered; approaches to covering the uninsured; and questions to ask about any health coverage proposal. The guide also provides a glossary of health insurance terms and a list of over 100 references. Both the 24 page guide and a PowerPoint presentation that shows the key information from the guide are available at:
http://www.allhealth.org/spotlight.asp?wt=spot&si=84 |
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Geography Matters: Child Well-Being in the States
We all know the life chances of children are vastly improved when they are the top priority of supportive families and communities. Most American children live in such secure environments and sail into young adulthood physically and emotionally healthy, becoming productive members of society.
But while all states provide a basic network of social programs to assist vulnerable children and families, children do much better in some states than in others.
As the sorry numbers in this report show, a huge gap exists among states on a wide variety of child well-being indicators. The state they live in should not adversely influence the life and death of childrenbut it does. Such inequalities affect all Americans, rich and poor alike, and weaken both our economy and our democracy. Download and/or order free copy of the report at:
http://everychildmatters.org/homelandinsecurity/index_geomatters.html |
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Jailing Communities: The Impact of Jail Expansion and Effective Public Safety Strategies
Communities are bearing the cost of a massive explosion in the jail population which has nearly doubled in less than two decades, according to a new report released today by the Justice Policy Institute (JPI). The research found that jails are now warehousing more people--who have not been found guilty of any crime--for longer periods of time than ever before. The research shows that in part due to the rising costs of bail, people arrested today are much more likely to serve jail time before trial than they would have been twenty years ago, even though crime rates are nearly at the lowest levels in thirty years. The report found jail population growth (22 percent), is having serious consequences for communities that are now paying tens of billions yearly to sustain jails. Jails are filled with people with drug addictions, the homeless and people charged with immigration offenses. The report concludes that jails have become the new asylums, with six out of 10 people in jail living with a mental illness.
http://www.justicepolicy.org/images/upload/08-04_REP_JailingCommunities_AC.pdf |
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Older Americans 2008: Key Indicators of Well-Being
This is the fourth in a series of reports produced by the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics (Forum) that describe the overall status of the U.S. population age 65 and over. This report has been expanded to include a one-time special feature on two important issues facing many older Americans today -- literacy and health literacy. By examining a broad range of indicators, researchers, policymakers, service providers, and the Federal government can better understand the areas of well-being that are improving for older Americans and the areas of well-being that require more attention and effort. The report includes 38 indicators that are grouped into five sections: Population, Economics, Health Status, Health Risks and Behaviors, and Health Care.
http://agingstats.gov/agingstatsdotnet/Main_Site/Data/Data_2008.aspx |
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Unnatural Causes........is inequality making us sick?
Unnatural causes is a four-hour documentary series exploring our socio-economic and racial inequities in health. The series will air on four consecutive Thursdays, March 27 to April 17, 2008 (check local listings). Unnatural causes goes beyond popular conceptions linking health to medical care, lifestyles and genes to explore evidence of other more powerful determinants: the social conditions in which we are born, live and work.
Conceived as part of a larger impact campaign in association with leading public health, policy and community-based organizations, the series is a production of California Newsreel with Vital Pictures, Inc.
http://www.unnaturalcauses.org/ |
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The Massachusetts Forum for Creating Healthier Communities
The Mass Partnership for Healthy Communities runs the MassForum training from September 2008 through June 2009. The MassForum offers community teams and individuals a unique, extended opportunity to enhance skills and learn new strategies to create healthier, safer communities. The MassForum centers on a series of nine full-day monthly trainings devoted to exploring ideas, enhancing skills, developing strategies, learning how to better recognize and address opportunities, accessing tools and resources, and advancing the goal of building safer and healthier communities.
http://www.masspartnership.org/documents/MassForum_Brochure_2008-6.pdf |
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Commission to Build a Healthier America
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America is a national, independent, non-partisan group of leaders that will raise visibility of the many factors that influence health, examine innovative interventions that are making a real difference at the local level and in the private sector, and identify specific, feasible steps to improve Americans health. Americas public debate on health has mostly centered on access to and affordability of care, even though a large body of evidence tells us that, in most cases, whether or not a person gets sick has little to do with seeing a doctor. This Commission will focus on those factors beyond medical care that have an enormous influence on health and will ask what we can do about it. These factors include: * Early Life Experience * Education * Income * Work * Housing * Community * Race and Ethnicity * The Economy. While data are collected on many of these factors, these data are rarely analyzed or acted upon with the intention of improving health. The Commissions journey builds on the Foundations years of investment in programs that foster better health outcomes. Under the leadership of Co-Chairs Mark McClellan and Alice Rivlin, the Commission will capitalize on the perspectives and experience of a multidisciplinary group of leaders with involvement both in and outside of the health care field.
http://www.commissiononhealth.org/ |
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The Disparities Reducing Advances Project (DRA)
The Disparity Reducing Advances Project (the DRA Project) is a multi-year, multi-stakeholder project developed by the Institute for Alternative Futures (IAF) to identify the most promising advances for bringing health gains to the poor and underserved and accelerating the development and deployment of these advances to reduce disparities. The next decade will see a myriad of advances in prevention and treatment that will yield significant health gains. Significant advances are likely in risk identification, bioinformatics, behavior modification, patient-centered care, and complementary and alternative medicine. Typically the poor and underserved are the last to benefit from such advances. Health disparities in the US are significant. The causes of health disparities go beyond access to healthcare to include social, environmental and behavioral causes. The DRA Project works to overcome this reality by targeting the advances with the highest potential for reducing health disparities and then creating a network of organizations committed to accelerating the development and deployment of those advances. The network includes healthcare systems and local providers, major Federal government agencies, technology developers, and consumer and patient organizations.
http://www.altfutures.com/dra/#2 |
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Preventing Falls: Effective Community-Based Interventions
Falls are a threat to the health and independence of older adults and can significantly limit their ability to remain self-sufficient. Today, there are proven interventions that can reduce falls and help older adults live better, and longer. CDC has produced two documents that provide information about community-based interventions to prevent falls in older adults.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/preventingfalls/ |
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Promoting Healthy Families in Your Community : 2008 Resource Packet
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Children's Bureau, Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, its Child Welfare Information Gateway, and the FRIENDS National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention created this resource packet to support a wide range of service providers who work with parents, other caregivers, and their children with the common goal of promoting healthy families. The packet contains resources to promote community awareness of five important protective factors that can help families protect children from the risk of child abuse and neglect, including tip sheets for parents in English and Spanish. These resources were developed with input from numerous national organizations, Federal partners, and parents committed to promoting healthy families.
http://www.childwelfare.gov/preventing/res_packet_2008/ |
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Stop Underage Drinking Town Hall Meetings
Underage drinking continues to be a leading public health problem in the United States. Alcohol use threatens the safe and healthy development of more young people than any other substanceeven more than tobacco and illicit drugs! Alcohol use among children and adolescents starts early and increases rapidly with age. As part of a national effort to help communities in their efforts to stop underage drinking, a series of Town Hall Meetings (THMs) will take place across America during the week of March 31April 4, 2008. More information about Town Hall Meetings (schedules & places) is available at StopAlcoholAbuse.Gov, a comprehensive portal of Federal resources for information on underage drinking and ideas for combating this issue. People interested in underage drinking preventionincluding parents, educators, community-based organizations, and youthwill find a wealth of valuable information at his site.
http://www.stopalcoholabuse.gov/ |
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PEW Report Finds More than One in 100 Adults are Behind Bars
Washington, DC - 02/28/2008 - For the first time in history more than one in every 100 adults in America are in jail or prisona fact that significantly impacts state budgets without delivering a clear return on public safety. According to a new report released today by the Pew Center on the States Public Safety Performance Project, at the start of 2008, 2,319,258 adults were held in American prisons or jails, or one in every 99.1 men and women, according to the study. During 2007, the prison population rose by more than 25,000 inmates. In addition to detailing state and regional prison growth rates, Pews report, One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008, identifies how corrections spending compares to other state investments, why it has increased, and what some states are doing to limit growth in both prison populations and costs while maintaining public safety.
As prison populations expand, costs to states are on the rise. Last year alone, states spent more than $49 billion on corrections, up from $11 billion 20 years before. However, the national recidivism rate remains virtually unchanged, with about half of released inmates returning to jail or prison within three years. And while violent criminals and other serious offenders account for some of the growth, many inmates are low-level offenders or people who have violated the terms of their probation or parole. The full 37-page PEW report is available at:
http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/One%20in%20100.pdf |
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Prisoner Reentry Guide for Faith-Based and Community Organizations
The Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, U.S. Department of Labor has released a 66-page document entitled "Mentoring Ex-Prisoners: A Guide for Prisoner Reentry Programs." The guide was developed and written by Renata Cobbs Fletcher, Pulbic/Private Ventures, under a grant funded by the U.S. Department of Labor. The guide is designed for community-based and faith-based organizations interested in establishing or enhancing prisoner reentry programs. The guide covers a variety of topics, including designing a mentoring component, hiring a mentor coordinator, developing policies and procedures, recruiting mentors, training and matching mentors and providing supervision and support.
http://www.dol.gov/cfbci/20071101Mentoring.pdf |
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Navigating the Future: Accessing & Sustaining Resources for Community & Faith Based Organizations Conference
Faith-based and community organizations have made great strides in expanding their partnerships with government at all levels.
Groups of all sizes report exciting results. At these conferences, attendees will learn how to take their organizations to the next level and how to build financial security and sustainability into their programs.
Key topics will include:
* How to apply for government funding
* How to attract private funding
* Managing financial growth
* Managing and planning for organizational growth.
At these conferences, offered by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, attendees will hear from national experts and have the opportunity to network with their peers. There is no cost to attend either conference, but register early because seating is limited.
http://www.sei2003.com/ojjdp/index.htm |
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The Effects of Childhood Stress on Health Across the Lifespan
Stress is an inevitable part of life. It helps children develop the skills they need to cope with and adapt to new and potentially threatening situations throughout life. However, the beneficial aspects of stress diminish when it is severe enough to overwhelm a child's ability to cope effectively. Intensive and prolonged stress can lead to a variety of short- and long-term negative health effects. It can disrupt early brain development and compromise functioning of the nervous and immune systems. In addition, childhood stress can lead to health problems later in life including alcoholism, depression, eating disorders, heart disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases.
The Effects of Childhood Stress on Health Across the Lifespan summarizes the research on childhood stress and its implications for adult health and well-being. Of particular interest is the stress caused by child abuse, neglect, and repeated exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV). This publication provides violence prevention practitioners with ideas about how to incorporate information on childhood stress into their work.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/effects_of_childhood_stress.htm |
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Business Group Wants to Reduce Health Disparities Among Minorities
The National Business Group on Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are teaming up to help employers become aware of racial and ethnic inequities in health care delivery. Health disparities are defined as persistent gaps between the health status of minorities and non-minorities in the United States. Medical research shows some racial and ethnic minority patients are less likely to receive preventive services, diagnoses and treatment for certain chronic conditions, compared to their white counterparts. Given that large employers provide health benefits for most Americans, NBGH believes employers are well poised to leverage their collective resources to bring positive changes.
http://ebn.benefitnews.com/asset/article/540501/index.html |
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Free Online Tool to Help Seniors Find Housing
(SPRING CITY, Pa.) January 22, 2008 In an effort to help the nation's social workers better serve Americans considering senior housing, Social Work Today magazine announced the launch of an online senior housing navigational tool. The new resource, which was developed by SNAPforSeniors, is called the Social Work Today Senior Housing Locator and can be found at www.socialworktoday.com. An estimated one in four American families--some 22 million people--care for an older loved one, friend or neighbor. Many caregivers also have jobs, families and little or no experience with caregiving. Social workers play an integral role in support of caregiver efforts. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are nearly 600,000 social workers across the country, and that number is expected to grow nearly 30 percent by 2010. The Social Work Today Senior Housing Locator allows users to search for assisted living facilities, residential care homes, independent living facilities, continuing care retirement communities and nursing homes--all at the click of a mouse. With a current listing of all licensed senior housing providers in the nation--more than 65,000 facilities--the Senior Housing Locator provides comprehensive information from a single source.
http://housing.socialworktoday.com/ |
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HPV Vaccine: Implementation and Financing Policy in the U.S.
In June 2006, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new vaccine called Gardasil that protects young women and girls from certain strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV). Approximately one in four (27%) women in the United States between 14-59 years old has HPV, making it the most common sexually transmitted infection in the U.S. and a major cause of cervical cancer. A new Fact Sheet, released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation, provides background information on HPV and the vaccine, and highlights the recent state-level developments on financing and implementation. Many private and public insurers cover the vaccine, however, policies vary greatly in terms of age of coverage, provider reimbursement levels, and consumer out-of-pocket costs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that all girls and women ages 11-26 get the vaccine, but as of summer 2007 the CDC reports that only 10% of women ages 18-26 had been vaccinated.
http://www.kff.org/womenshealth/upload/7602_02.pdf |
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Devastating Toll of Diabetes Reaches $174 Billion
Diabetes is costing Americans $174 billion annually, a figure that has increased by 32 percent since 2002, according to a study commissioned by the American Diabetes Association (ADA). The study reveals that the direct economic costs associated with diabetes have reached unprecedented levels. Medical expenditures of care for people with diabetes are estimated to be $116 billion, with a disproportionate percentage of the costs resulting from treatment and hospitalization of people with diabetes-related complications. The findings also suggest that 1 out of every 5 health care dollars is spent caring for someone with diagnosed diabetes. Considering that an additional 6 million more people are believed to have diabetes but have not yet been diagnosed, the study estimates that the actual cost of diabetes may greatly exceed $174 billion.
http://www.diabetes.org/for-media/pr-devastating-toll-of-diabetes-reaches-174-billion-012308.jsp |
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Uninsured and Dying Because of It: Updating the Institute of Medicine Analysis on the Impact of Uninsurance on Mortality
The absence of health insurance creates a range of consequences, including lower quality of life, increased morbidity and mortality, and higher financial burdens. This paper focuses on just one aspect of this harmnamely, greater risk ofdeathand seeks to illustrate its general order of magnitude. In 2002, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) estimated that 18,000 Americans died in 2000 because they were uninsured. Since then,the number of uninsured has grown. Based on the IOM's methodology and subsequent Census Bureau estimates of insurance coverage, 137,000 people died from 2000 through 2006 because they lacked health insurance, including 22,000 people in 2006.
http://www.urban.org/publications/411588.html |
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Among Rich Nations, U.S. Has Highest Rate of Preventable Deaths
More than 100,000 Americans die each year from lack of timely, effective medical care, according to a study that found the U.S. has the highest rate of preventable deaths among 19 industrialized nations. In the five years through 2003, the rate of preventable deaths in the U.S. declined more slowly than in the other 18 market-based, democratic nations, according to the analysis published today by the policy journal Health Affairs. The U.S. is the only one of the 19 nations without universal health care coverage. About 47 million Americans lack insurance to help pay for rising medical costs.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aicuTZz3sykc# |
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Lack of Insurance Increases Cancer Risk
Uninsured Americans are less likely to get screened for cancer, more likely to be diagnosed with an advanced stage of the disease, and less likely to survive that diagnosis than their privately insured counterparts, according to a new American Cancer Society report examining the impact of health insurance status on cancer treatment and survival.
http://caonline.amcancersoc.org/cgi/content/full/CA.2007.0011v1 |
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Native American Center for Excellence, Prevention Technical Assistance Resource Center
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has announced its financial and technical sponsorship of the Native American Center for Excellence, Prevention Technical Assistance Resource Center a first-of-its-kind national Native American-run project to promote effective substance abuse prevention programs in Native American communities throughout the United States. Once it is established, the centers data base will be accessible through SAMHSAs Web site.
http://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/advisories/0711294819.aspx |
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New Government Grant, Contract and Loan Website Debuts
The Office of Management and Budget has launched a new Web site that provides information on all major federal grants, loans and contracts. The new site, USASpending.gov, fulfills one of the key requirements of the 2006 Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, which requires full disclosure on a Web site maintained by OMB of all organizations receiving more than $25,000 in federal funds. The new website will eventually provide a full searchable database of all federal grants, contracts, earmarks and loans.
http://www.usaspending.gov |
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