Public Health

In the Wake of the Supreme Court Decision: Health Care Cost Reduction Strategies

Marijka Lischak — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Taylor Walsh

Principal, Integrative Health & Wellness Strategies

The all-permeating factor at the center of discussions after the Supreme Court's decision on the Affordable Care Act is the unchecked growth of the cost of care.

The Weight of the Nation: Bringing Researchers, Policymakers and the Public Together to Address the Issue

Connie Harich — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 10:00:52 +0000

This year, public health stakeholders have launched three key communication pieces to refocus the problem of obesity. Although these pieces are standalone efforts, they show how powerful coordinated efforts between researchers, local public health professionals and the American public can be. Together, these three pieces can give stakeholders at multiple levels concrete actions they can take to combat the problem of obesity.

Can You Trust Your Gut? The Importance of Asking Your Audience in Health Communications

Connie Harich — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 10:00:40 +0000

Heather Pierce

Director of Strategic Communications, Palladian Partners, Inc.

Palladian worked closely with NIDA staff to develop the first-ever, easy-to-read website on drug abuse, designed for adults with low reading literacy (eighth grade or below reading level).

Local, State and the Federal Government Must Do More to Prevent Injuries

Marijka Lischak — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 16:44:08 +0000

Laura Segal

Director of Public Affairs, Trust for America's Health

According to a new report, many states and the federal government do not have policies or laws that we know can protect citizens from injury, the leading cause of death for Americans under 44.

Public Health, Mobile and Social Media: a Nexus of Opportunity

Jonathan Orr — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 12:07:46 +0000

Jason Bonander

Director, Office of Informatics and Information Resource Management, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The challenges facing the public's health today are as serious as they have ever been. Obesity and diabetes are significant health issues for a large proportion of the U.S.

Prescription Drug Abuse and Recovery—It Takes a Village

Jonathan Orr — Tue, 29 May 2012 15:34:55 +0000

Amarie Campbell

Health Policy Associate, Altarum Institute

In reading Dr. Hua Carroll’s January post here in the Health Policy Forum on the "Cultural Differences in the Treatment of Pain," two statements stood out to me:

Unlocking the Promise of Public Health Surveillance Data

Jonathan Orr — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:49:34 +0000

Randy Durbin

Director, Medical Epidemiology and Health Informatics

Erica Griffin

Senior Policy Analyst, Altarum Institute

The promise of public health surveillance based on near real-time health data is based on the notion that there will be uniform participation among providers, the systems will be easy to utilize, the data will be timely and standardized and the information gained for the systems will be useful.

Viral Hepatitis: The Alarm is Sounding on a Silent Epidemic

Jonathan Orr — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:44:23 +0000

Antigone Dempsey

HIV/AIDS and Sexual Health Lead, Altarum Institute

Today, more Americans are dying from viral hepatitis than HIV/AIDS.

Healthy Food Choices and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

Jonathan Orr — Thu, 03 May 2012 11:53:47 +0000

John E. Courtney, Ph.D.

Executive Officer, American Society for Nutrition

With the rapidly changing economic trends within the United States, participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has ballooned recently.

Where You Live Shouldn’t Determine How Healthy You Are (But it Can)

Jonathan Orr — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:31:11 +0000

Laura Segal

Director of Public Affairs, Trust for America's Health

Your health shouldn’t be determined by where you live, but two new reports show that where you live, learn, work and play have a major impact on how healthy you are and how long you live.

Playing Smart: Getting Started on Joint Use Agreements

Jonathan Orr — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:15:41 +0000

Danielle Marshall

Director of Community Engagement, KaBOOM!

The City of Niagara Falls was “spending a lot of money to maintain marginal courts where people didn’t want them anyway, and we were getting complaints from neighbors who lived nearby.” “We wanted to use all of that money to create one large-scale park with actual pro

AIDS 2012: The World is Invited, but Who Will Respond and Who Will Come?

Jonathan Orr — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:04:11 +0000

Jesse Milan, Jr., JD

Vice President and Director, Community Health Systems, Altarum Institute

The world’s largest—and most important—conference for bringing together service providers, advocates, policymakers and scientific and social science researchers to learn about and share advances in prevention, treatment, care and policy for an epidemic that counts 34 million living with HIV/AIDS worldwide takes place in Washington, D.C., from July 22 - 27. However, not everyone who could benefit from this conference will be able to enter the U.S. to attend, and it's worrisome that many people here in the U.S. who most need to hear its messages might not pay attention.

Edging into the Center: Health Prevention, Improving the Research Process, and the Placebo Effect

Jonathan Orr — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 12:38:24 +0000

Taylor Walsh

Principal, Integrative Health & Wellness Strategies

It is often difficult to discern what is happening on the fringe of things and then decide whether any of it matters.

Cultural Differences in the Treatment of Pain

Marijka Lischak — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Hua Carroll, M.D.

Director, Pharmacovigilance, KAI Research, Inc., An Altarum Company

Due to the rapid increase in prescription drug abuse, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared prescription drug abuse an epidemic. The latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicates that over 70 percent of people who abused prescription pain medications obtained them from friends or relatives, while approximately 5 percent got them from a drug dealer or over the Internet.

The Walmart Opportunity: Can Retailers Revamp Primary Care?

Marijka Lischak — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:57:40 +0000

Kaiser Health News

Just as Walmart and other retailers shook up the prescription drug business by offering $4 generic drugs, the industry now aims to apply its negotiating and marketing clout to tackle problems that vex consumers and the health sector: unpredictable costs, a lack of primary care doctors and inefficient management of chronic illnesses, whose costs drive the majority of health care spending.