Top 5! April 27, 2009
Posted by Michelle Lugalia in Top 5.add a comment
A lot happened this past week!
- 17 year olds can now get themselves the Morning After pill! The reviews are mixed as to whether this is a good or bad thing. On one side teens are getting at it (and by it..I definitely mean sex) earlier and earlier in age while on the other side advocates are claiming that the pill hasn’t made a dent on the unplanned pregnancy rates. Though excited about the judge making a decision based on “science not politics”, i’m left wondering….why 17?
- The field of public health has a lot to learn from the folks at Consumer Research. As if eating the right foods for our well-being isn’t hard enough! According to this study, those folks who know better than to eat junk food, are more likely to rate higher on measures of self-control but given the choice between junk food and a healthier option are more likely to delve into the former. Why? Check out the article and find out.
- Speaking of social determinants, the NYtimes highlighted research indicating that Friends are good for our health! According to the article we are yet to nail down why exactly this is so, but I know some Harvard professors who are probably on their way to sorting it all out for us. In the mean time call up your buddies for a chat, you life my depend on it.
- You may have missed it because it was under the Television section, but apparently the Gates foundation has put their money where our eyes are. The article details how Gates in cahoots with Viacom have created Get Schooled, an effort to influence public knowledge and behaviors by weaving ” education-theme story lines into existing shows or to create new shows centered on education”. I am very pleased and can generate a couple of shows that would benefit its audiences from this type of campaign.
- SWINE FLU! As an aspiring public health professional, I am all eyes and ears around how this situation is and will be handled. The CDC and WHO are on it and have released alerts and protocols. I did an internal jig when I saw it being framed as a “Public Health Emergency”! Maybe this will make it easier to explain to folks what public health is and could be!
Have a wonderful week y’all!
Top 5 Headlines April 17, 2009
Posted by Katelyn Mack in Top 5.add a comment
This week several fascinating articles highlighted social determinants of health. The headlines and a brief description are below for your reading pleasure.
- Another Awkward Sex Talk: Respect and Violence by Perri Klass, published in the New York Times. Parents have an incredible impact on children, from uptake of smoking to modeling violent behavior.
- Even a Dietician Can Find it Hard To Craft a Diet that Covers All the Bases by Jennifer Hugot, published in the Washington Post. With such complex dietary guidelines something’s got to give: either we need to develop better guidelines or communicate nutrition messages more clearl. If not, the complexity will continue to stifle people in promoting their own and their family’s health.
- 1500 Farmers Commit Mass Suicide in India, published in The Independent. A horrifying example of how climate change and environmental policy are integrally linked to population health.
- She Turned a Diagnosis Into a Cause, published in the Boston Globe. Okay, so I may be a little biased on this one — it does share the story of new Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health, Julio Frenk and his wife, Felicia Knaul. Two brilliant people engaging in dialogue over an emerging public health concern in the developing world: breast cancer.
- Beth Israel Faulted for Staph Outbreak in Mothers, Babies by Patricia Wen and Liz Kowalczyk, published in the Boston Globe. What is most surprising about this story to me, is the reason for the widespread media attention to this issue at BI — CEO Levy’s tireless effort for transparency. While hospitals elsewhere in Boston likely are enduring similarly grave problems, those hospitals work tirelessly to make sure that the media (and you) never hears about it!
Top 5 April 1, 2009
Posted by Michelle Lugalia in Health Reform, Neighborhoods, Politics, Top 5.1 comment so far
The following are the Top 5 health issues (besides the peanut scare) that I’ve seen a lot in the news, heard on the bus, talked to friends about…some socially determined…others not quite…wait…who am I kidding? I’m in SHDH…anything can be socially determined. Right?
- The air is thick with debate about autism and its causes. Whose fault is it? Folks across the country are increasingly opting to pass on routine shots yet the powers that be have declared that there is no evidence that it is those pesky, meddling vaccines that we all had shot into our arms back in the day after all (whew)! But with emerging outbreaks in new and specific populations there still is much mystery around where it comes from, who it touches, why and what it means for our futures.
- Health care reform. Seems like everyone’s in the mood…or getting there, but thank goodness the administration is all about it. But what do some of the highlights tell us about the shape that our health system will eventually take and what priorities will be championed? What will make the final cut, who will be the model for health systems reform? Who’s gonna pay for it and who determines it all? From senior advocacy groups to insurance companies, everyone seems to want their say. Rumor has it that those special interests are still alive and kicking…and may be the real determinants of many of our public health troubles. Only time will tell. At least in terms of bipartisan support our administration seems to have learned from history, let’s hope it works.
- The recession is KILLING US! Apparently.
- The first lady is championing food access and building a platform of support for the benefits of local, organic produce. Change has come to the White House and the administration in several forms and is now itching to take over our school cafeterias in an effort to begin addressing obesity and malnutrition in schoolchildren ….Yes we can! I’m gonna go find a patch of land and start digging too, Tom Vilsak style!
- Finally, some issues never die even though they should have a long time ago. Believe it or not lead still lurks amongst us! Do you know what is in your backyard? Shout out to Head Start whose routine screening detected the young boy’s lead levels. Attention public health practitioners, we can change the world …one federally funded public health intervention at a time!
