2nd Sunday Receives Recognition

The Physical Activity Team in the School of Human Environmental Sciences will be recognized at the 2009 KASEP annual meeting on March 18, as the Outstanding Project of 2009. Team members include Janet Kurzynske, Chair Nutrition and Food Sciences, Ingrid Adams and Kelley Weber also with NFS, Mark Purshwitz, Ag Engineering, Deborah Murray and Tyrone Atkinson, HEEL, Travonia Hughes, FCS Postdoctoral Fellow, and Diana Doggett, FCS Extension Agent.

The idea for the 2nd Sunday campaign emerged from the Built Environment Conference as a way for local communities to use existing community infrastructure to highlight the plight of physical activity as well as utilize one of the best community infrastructures, the road systems in every county. The concept of 2nd Sunday is for each community to close a highway, much the way they do with community parades, to encourage citizens to get out and walk, bike, skateboard, or other activities that can bring a community together for physical activity. The 2nd Sunday of October was chosen to bring the state together in a myriad of locally driven activities, planned and implemented at the grassroots level. The Physical Activity Committee served as facilitators and supporters of local efforts.

Governor Steve Beshear signed a proclamation designating 2nd Sunday in October for this purpose.

Harvard Offers Graduate Course on Learning to Walk???

Harvard Medical School's HEALTHBeat newsletter reports that although we learn to walk before age 2, most of us do not do it correctly. Walking correctly can prevent heal and knee injury. Although the US Department of Health and Human Services recommends vigorous walking for 21/2 hours a week, according to Harvard, there are no directions on how to walk. Harvard offers seven tips for walking correctly.

CDC Reports Data for Injuries and Deaths Among Children

The CDC has recently reported data regarding Kentucky's unintentional death and injury rates for children. The unintentional injury death rate was 23.1 per 100,000 population; this was higher than the national rate of 15.0 per 100,000 population. The unintentional injury death rate was 23.1 per 100,000 population; this was higher than the national rate of 15.0 per 100,000 population.

Kentucky averages 255 deaths of children 0 - 19 in a year's time. Transportation deaths and injuries lead the report at 14.7%.

Kentucky Improves Health Ranking Among States

In 2008, Kentucky improved its health status ranking among the other 49 states by improving from 43rd to 37th in the state rankings, according to the United Health Foundation. However, the incidence of obesity since 1990 has increased 135%. Our percentage of Kentuckians without health insurance increased over 2007. Not surprising considering the economic climate.

Rise in Stress: Poor Health Habits

In the Boston Globe Sunday paper, an article reports on the consequences of the poor economy on health. Doctors and hospitals are reporting patients picking up bad habits they once had kicked, foregoing screening, and higher levels of stress. They are blaming it on the economy. Massachusetts health status in 2008 was third. Kentucky's health status improved from 43rd in 2007 to 37th in 2008. If Massachusetts is seeing this trend, what is the trend for Kentuckians?

More Funding for SCHIP

The Los Angeles Times reported on the January passage by Congress of additonal funding for SCHIP to cover an additonal 4 million children in the United States. It is expected to be signed into law by President Obama. This surely will impact Kentucky, with 67,000 eligible kids who are not currently enrolled.

According to the Washington Post and Kaiser Health News, Americans are struggling even more to pay medical bills in this worsening economy. Many of these have insurance but struggle to pay
" fewer benefits, higher co-pays and additional deductibles -- and are at risk for large out-of-pocket bills when serious illness or injury strike. "

Submitted by Dr. Bob Flashman

AMA Journal Reports Seniors Mixing OTC and Prescription Drugs

The New York Times reported on an American Medical Association journal that 1 in 25 seniors mixes over the counter drugs with prescription drugs and supplements and are at risk of suffering a bad reaction.

NIH Health Disparities Conference Focuses on Success in Addressing Gaps

The National Institute of Health in a fact sheet on health disparities frames the issue in this way: "Americans enjoyed improved health and longer lives during the latter part of the 20th century. However, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Asian/Pacific Islanders, who represented 25 percent of the U.S. population, continued to experience striking health disparities, including shorter life expectancy and higher rates of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke, substance abuse, and infant mortality and low birth weight. Scientists believed these health disparities resulted from the complex interaction among several factors such as biology, the environment, and specific behaviours that were significantly impacted by a shortage of racial and ethnic minority health professionals, discrimination, and inequities in income, education, and access to health care."

In Kentucky, Appalachia also is impacted by high poverty levels, a shortage of health professionals, inequities in education and access to health care. HEEL was funded to address the rural health disparities in health literacy. One such project is Team UP! which successfully leveraged a state and local partnership to improve screening rates of never or rarely screened women in 9 east Kentucky counties. This project is being presented at a poster session at the NIH Summit on the Science of Health Disparities this week in National Harbor, MD.

KY Children not as Healthy as they could be : A Snapshot of Kentucky

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has published a report ranking the states on surrounding social, economic and physical environment factors that affect our health. According to RWJ "the levels of health for most Kentucky children fall short of levels for children in the most advantaged subgroups in the state and across the country."

The reports states:
"Kentucky ranks 30th among states based on the size of the gap in infant mortality by mother’s education, when comparing the current overall state rate of 6.2 deaths per 1,000 live births with the lower rate—3.9 deaths per 1,000 live births—seen among infants born to the state’s most educated mothers.

Kentucky ranks 29th among states based on the size of the gap in children’s general health status by family income, when comparing the current overall rate of 13.1 percent of children in less than optimal health with the lower rate—5.3 percent—seen among children in higher-income families."

See the complete report at RWJF website.

Study Reveals Problems in Costs and Quality of American Health Care System

A study from the Commonwealth Fund reported on the website Cover the Uninsured, a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows that "chronically ill Americans are more likely to forgo medical care because of high costs or experience medical errors than patients in other affluent countries," reports Reuters. "Fifty-four percent of Americans surveyed said high costs prevented them at some point from getting recommended medical care, filling prescriptions or seeing a doctor when ill." Read more of the Reuters' article. Submitted by Dr. Bob Flashman.

Giving Children Cough Medicine

The new FDA recommendations are to NOT give children under 4 cough medicine. One year ago, the FDA began looking into the hazards of using over the counter cold medicines in children and last month, the FDA and manufacturer's of cough-cold medicines announced that products will have new labels warning against their use with children under 4.

Will parents who grew up being given these medications, pay attention to the labels? As a mother who kept children's cough medicines on hand, I understand the prevalent use of such medications. That is why the FDA according to their press release dated October 9, 2008 made the decision to not ban these medications. The fear being that parents would give adult cough medicines to children.

Osteoporosis Tool Kit Available on Line

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services' Kentucky Osteoporosis program has made available on-line a tool kit for Extension Agents, Health Department educators and others wanting reliable information for teaching community members about the importance of Bone Health for adults and children. HEEL staff members serve on the state advisory committee and contributed to the development of this tool kit. Access the tool kit at: http://www.chfs.ky.gov/dph/ach/cd/osteotoolkit.htm

Health Confidence Survey

More than half of Americans with health insurance coverage experienced an increase in health care costs in the past year, according to the 2008 Health Confidence Survey released by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Most who experienced cost increases also reported that these increases had a negative effect on their household finances. In particular, increased health care costs resulted in decreased contributions to retirement and other savings and difficulty in paying for necessities and other bills.
Source: Family Economics News -- Nov. 2008

Bob Flashman

What Does It Cost to Eat a Healthy Diet?

The New York Times reports that he average American spends $7.00 a day on food cost. The World Bank says nearly a billion people around the world live on a dollar a day, or even less. It is difficult to determine the costs to eat healthy. According to the New York Times "many people don’t know how to prepare foods from scratch, or lack the time." Sounds like a good opportunity for the Cooperative Extension Service.

The Costs of Care Giving by Baby Booners to Parents

According to an article in the New York Times on October 28th, corporate America is losing billions of dollars because of the soaring number of employees whose responsibilities for elderly parents result in absenteeism, lost productivity, premature retirement, stress-related health problems and other consequences of attending to unpredictable crises during working hours. There are many costs to employers and to employees that are not adequately being addressed.

Reducing Your Risk of Nursing Home Admission

In the current HEALTHBeat newsletter, Harvard reports that 20-year nationwide survey of people ages 45 to 74 identified five health problems that substantially boost the risk of admission to a nursing home: smoking, inactivity, obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Over time, these problems contribute to many chronic illnesses that can cause disability and death, including heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, and certain cancers.

Taking action on these health problems can help you keep your independence as you age.

State of Mental Health and Aging in America

Good mental health is integral to overall health and is an emerging public health issue. The CDC’s Healthy Aging Program developed "The State of Mental Health and Aging in America" issue briefs. The recently released first issue brief documents the mental health of older adults 50 years of age and older at the national and state-levels using 6 mental health indicators from the 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Cooperative Extension in 12 East Kentucky counties is participating in an outreach research project, Mental Health in Aging Initiative funded by the USDA Rura Health and Safety Education grant. This project focuses on building community capacity in Kentucky through raising awareness of the mental health issue in the aging population. "Aging in Kentucky: A Healthy State of Mind" strives to build the social and emotional support that this issue brief addresses as a problem. Adults age 65 or older reported being more likely, than adults 50-64, of "rarely" or "never" receiving the support ehy needed. (12.2% compared to 8.1%).

DID YOU KNOW?

In the year since increasing the size of street-name signs, repainting median strips, installing larger and brighter stoplights, upgrading walk lights, and adding left-turn lanes along one busy street, Detroit saw a 35 percent drop in injury crashes for drivers age 65 and older and a four percent drop for drivers age 25 to 64.
Source: The Policy Book: AARP 2004 Public Policies, 10-8


Dr. Bob Flashman

Economic Downturn has Consequences for Health

From the Washington Post covering the uninsured electronic newsletter:

More Americans Forgo Care as the Economy Worsens
"From Park Avenue dental offices to the Arlington Free Clinic, the global economic crunch is forcing a growing number of Americans to scale back on medical care," but some physicians worry that "the short-term savings may translate into more severe long-term health implications," reports the Washington Post. Source(s): Connolly and Marr, Washington Post, 10/16/08


Those who lose health coverage when they lose their job, will be interested in:

Some Doctors Treat Uninsured Patients DifferentlyAn article in the Washington Post by Manoj Jain, a doctor practicing in Memphis, describes the ways in which some physicians treat their uninsured patients differently, which can lead to inadequate treatment and serious health problems.Source(s): Jain, Washington Post, 10/14/08

Dr. Bob Flashman

A Resource to Help Assess Social Determinants of Health

The CDC has a new resource workbook for communities wanting to address health equity. This workbook is for community-based organizations seeking to affect the social determinants of health through community-based participatory approaches and nontraditional partnerships.

Jackie Walters