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April 24, 2008Resources for National Child Abuse Prevention MonthChild Welfare Information Gateway: April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time to focus on ways to support families and prevent child abuse now and throughout the year. Visit the 2008 National Child Abuse Prevention Month website at www.childwelfare.gov/preventing/preventionmonth for resources and strategies on engaging communities and supporting families. The website features Promoting Healthy Families in Your Community: 2008 Resource Packet, a guide for service providers on strengthening families by promoting key protective factors that prevent abuse, which is available at www.childwelfare.gov/preventing/res_packet_2008. Thank you for all that you do to protect children and strengthen families. Posted by Michael at 9:50 PM | TrackBack Environment Key Early: Genes' Role Expands in Alcohol DependenceFrom EurekAlert! - Breaking News: The influence of genetics increases as young women transition from taking their first drink to becoming alcoholics. A team of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that although environment is most influential in determining when girls begin to drink, genes play a larger role if they advance to problem drinking and alcohol dependence. The researchers studied 3,546 female twins ages 18 to 29 to ferret out the influences of genes and environment in the development of alcohol dependence. The road to alcohol dependence involves transitions through many stages of drinking behaviors: from the first drink to the first alcohol-related problems (such as drinking and driving, difficulty at school or work related to alcohol use) to alcohol dependence. Environmental factors the twins shared, such as exposure to conflict between parents or alcohol use among peers in school, exerted the largest influence on initiation of alcohol use. "Alcohol dependence is a psychiatric disorder, but drinking alcohol in moderation is normative and is a part of many cultural traditions," Sartor explains. "For example, 85 percent of women in our study reported having at least one drink in their lifetimes whereas only about 7 percent became alcohol dependent." Past studies have focused more on men than women, but Sartor says it is important to study both sexes because risk factors that contribute to alcohol problems differ somewhat between males and females. This study was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health. Posted by Michael at 1:11 PM | TrackBack Concrete Examples Don't Help Students Learn MathFrom EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Researchers led by Jennifer Kaminski, researcher scientist at Ohio State University's Center for Cognitive Science, found that college students who learned a mathematical concept with concrete examples couldn't apply that knowledge to new situations. "These findings cast doubt on a long-standing belief in education," said Vladimir Sloutsky, co-author of the study and professor of psychology and human development and the director of the Center for Cognitive Science at Ohio State. For example, there is the classic problem of two trains that leave different cities heading toward each other at different speeds. "If students are later given a problem using the same mathematical principles, but about rising water levels instead of trains, that knowledge just doesn't seem to transfer," she said. In the various experiments, some students learned these principles using generic symbols, in which combinations of two or more symbols resulted in a predictable resulting symbol. And in all cases, the study showed that most undergraduate students picked up the knowledge easily. However, the true test came later when the researchers asked these students to apply the same principles in a totally different setting, which was described to them as a children's game from another country. The problem may be that extraneous information about marbles or containers might divert attention from the real mathematics behind it all, according to Kaminski. The authors said they doubt this paper will end the debate over approaches to teaching mathematics, but they hope it will generate interest into systematic examination of which ways of teaching mathematics are most effective. Posted by Michael at 1:09 PM | TrackBack Clean Energy Ventures Dominate 2008 Global Social Venture CompetitionFrom Ascribe Newsfeed: A plan to make clean energy affordable around the world to poor, rural households without access to electricity won the grand prize of the 2008 Global Social Venture Competition at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business. The winning team, MicroEnergy Credits Corp. from Columbia Business School at Columbia University in New York, received the $25,000 cash prize at an awards ceremony last Friday (April 18). The competition now counts Columbia Business School, London Business School, Indian School of Business and Yale School of Management as partners. This year, Thammasat University in Thailand and ESSEC Business School in France joined the University of Geneva and a consortium of business schools in Korea called Social Venture Competition Korea as outreach partners. This year's Global Social Venture Competition at UC Berkeley drew entries for the preliminary round from a record 245 teams from 23 countries, up from 160 team entries last year. The 10 finalist teams that had been selected at the semi-finals held at the regional partner schools met at UC Berkeley in February and March for a final round business plan evaluation by judges from the fields of social investment, philanthropy, venture capital, design, academia and corporate social responsibility. We provide direct, immediate access to mainstream national media for 600 colleges, universities, medical centers, public-policy groups and other leading nonprofit organizations. AScribe transmits news releases directly to newsroom computer systems and desktops of major media organizations via a supremely trusted channel - The Associated Press. We also feed news to major news retrieval database services, online publications and to developers of web sites and Intranets. And AScribe does it at a cost all organizations, large and small, can afford, a fraction of what corporate newswires charge. Posted by Michael at 1:07 PM | TrackBack FoodFit.com Founder Announces Top Healthy Food BlogsFrom PR Newswire: Former U.S. Undersecretary of Agriculture for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Ellen Haas today announced her choices for the 10 best healthy food blogs. This is the first year Haas has named the top healthy food blogs, chosen for their focus on local foods and healthy cooking. Haas' own blog, Ellen's Healthy Table, discusses current food and nutrition issues from food safety to food policy, and features recipes from nationally recognized chefs. "Diet has long been the cornerstone of a healthy life," said Chris Schroeder, CEO and President of The HealthCentral Network. "FoodFit.com's mission to offer healthy, delicious recipes and tips for healthy living is shared by these excellent food blogs." Haas is the author of recently released book Fast and Fit, a healthy recipe resource for people on the go. She is also the author of Diabetes Fit Food, Fit Food: Eating Well for Life and Great Adventures in food: Fresh Ways to Celebrate Every Meal. By offering connections to renowned experts, a network of patients and caregivers who share "real world" experience, and in-depth information, sites in The HealthCentral Network make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients and caregivers. The HealthCentral Network also manages the highest-quality health advertising network, not building size for size's sake - but targeting condition-specific audiences who value and engage with information from marketers on their terms. In January 2008, the Company received a significant minority investment from IAC/InteractiveCorp and additional investment from its original investors, and IAC CEO Barry Diller joined The HealthCentral Network's board of directors. Posted by Michael at 1:02 PM | TrackBack Sexual Harassment at School -- More Harmful than BullyingFrom EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Schools' current focus on bullying prevention may be masking the serious and underestimated health consequences of sexual harassment, according to James Gruber from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and Susan Fineran from the University of Southern Maine in the US. Their research (1), just published online in Springer's journal Sex Roles, shows that although less frequent, sexual harassment has a greater negative impact on teenagers' health than the more common form of victimization, bullying. Gruber and Fineran's study, the first of its kind to compare bullying and sexual harassment victimization using equivalent measurements and time frames, looked at the frequency and health implications of both bullying and sexual harassment among 522 middle and high school students. Bullying was more frequent than sexual harassment for both boys and girls - just over half the students (52%) had been bullied and just over a third (35%) were sexually harassed. Almost a third (32%) had been subject to both behaviors. Girls were bullied or harassed as frequently as boys, but gays, lesbians and bisexuals -- sexual minorities -- were submitted to greater levels of both. Both behaviors have a negative effect on victims' health. Girls and sexual minorities, however, appeared to be the most affected by sexual harassment, suffering from lower self-esteem, poorer mental and physical health, and more trauma symptoms (thoughts and feelings arising from stressful experiences) than boys. In the authors' view, schools' current focus on preventing bullying, as well as the tendency to regard sexual harassment as a form of bullying rather than an issue in its own right, draws attention away from a serious health issue. Posted by Michael at 12:55 PM | TrackBack Medicare Advantage: Options for Standardizing Benefits and Information to Improve Consumer ChoiceFrom The Commonwealth Fund: MA plans potentially provide additional value, but as plan choices have proliferated, consumers contemplating their options have had difficulty understanding how they differ. Through "standardization"---more consistent types of information and a limited number of dimensions along which plans vary---MA plans could reduce complexity and improve beneficiaries' ability to make informed choices. Such standardization steps would offer more meaningful variation in the health coverage options available to beneficiaries, Medicare officials and their community partners would find it far easier to educate beneficiaries about their health plan choices, and beneficiaries would better understand what they were buying. Standardization might also strengthen the ability of the market-based Medicare Advantage program to incorporate beneficiary preferences.
Posted by Michael at 12:52 PM
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: As the 2008 national presidential election heats up, one topic remains a voter hot button and a constant debate issue -- the health care crisis in America. Political affiliations aside, there is one aspect everyone can agree on -- the importance of access to quality health care. But what defines 'quality' health care today" According to a new survey conducted by Kelton Research for the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, a vast majority of Americans wish their doctors demonstrated the 'care' in the term heath care. "Many past studies have shown a strong correlation between patient and doctor satisfaction and better overall patient outcomes when doctors develop a relationship with their patients," said Arnold P. Gold, MD, founder of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. As the leading Foundation dedicated to keeping the care in healthcare, the Arnold P. Gold Foundation sponsored the online survey of 1,000 Americans over the age of 18 to garner patient perceptions about their physicians' commitment to providing compassionate care. Survey respondents indicate that along with the need for better beside manner, less than half (47 percent) of the doctors visited have displayed an interest in their overall well-being as a person rather than the specific ailment at hand. The Foundation's strategy was twofold -- 1) to impact physicians' values and behaviors throughout the educational experience; and 2) to establish collaborative relationships with medical schools and universities to re-establish the critical balance of educating both technically skilled and caring doctors. By professing an oath and receiving the iconic "white coat" at the inception of their medical education, students commit to making service to their patients their primary responsibility.
Posted by Michael at 12:48 PM
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From Education Newsfeed: U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today joined First Lady Laura Bush to teach a first grade science class on the characteristics of ocean animals at Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School in Washington, D.C. Mrs. Bush and Secretary Spellings taught the class together to honor the tenth anniversary of Teach For America Week. Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates and professionals of all academic majors and career interests who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools. Each year, Teach For America Week brings together leaders from a variety of sectors to serve as guest teachers and inspire students across the nation. More than 150 distinguished guest teachers help to raise awareness about the challenges facing students in low-income communities and demonstrate that when students are given the educational opportunities they deserve, they reach their highest potential. "Teach For America is on the leading edge of a movement that's transforming our country's schools by rejecting ineffective habits and embracing creativity," said Secretary Spellings. "With every new success, innovative organizations such as Teach For America demonstrate to the public, and most importantly, to students, that if we raise the bar, our children will rise to the challenge." Mrs. Bush and Secretary Spellings taught a lesson about the characteristics of ocean animals. The students then participated in a learning activity supervised by Mrs. Bush and Secretary Spellings and engaged in a question and answer session.
Posted by Michael at 12:46 PM
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From Ascribe Newsfeed: When shoppers take their jeans off between April 24 and May 1 and bring them to select Levi's stores nationwide, they'll receive a 20 percent discount off a new pair of Levi's jeans. Proceeds from the sales will help fund Goodwill job training programs that benefit hundreds of thousands of people each year. "Social responsibility and supporting local communities are corporate values that have been woven deeply into the e fabric of Levi Strauss & Co. since the company was founded more than 150 years ago," says Mark Breitbard, President of Levi's Brand, Retail. In San Francisco, Goodwill assistant store managers will "shadow" Levi Strauss & Co. employees at the Levi's Store in Union Square to learn about everything from store operations and greeting customers to stocking the displays. "501 Day" is a day to encourage both employees and consumers across the country to take part in a variety of volunteer activities. Levi's Jeans have captured the attention, imagination and loyalty of generations of diverse individuals in more than 110 countries around the world and continue to do so today through jeanswear innovation. Each organization serves people with disabilities, low-wage workers and other job seekers by providing education and career services, as well as job placement opportunities and post-employment support. Goodwill Industries International reported an estimated $3 billion in revenue and channels 83 percent of its revenue directly into its programs and services. AScribe transmits news releases directly to newsroom computer systems and desktops of major media organizations via a supremely trusted channel - The Associated Press.
Posted by Michael at 12:36 PM
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Facing ever-declining performance in their schools, and frustrated by reports of corruption and petty politics in the school boards, mayors and legislative bodies in the United States' largest cities have in recent years dismissed the elected boards and moved to a model of appointed boards. With cities such as Boston, Chicago, and New York City in the lead, this bold move has been mostly praised in the media and by the public. In a groundbreaking new article for the American Journal of Education, education scholar Frederick Hess (American Enterprise Institute) observes that "few researchers have sought to examine [in a systematic fashion] the effects of governance reforms on achievement, reform, school improvement, or similar outcomes," thus leaving unexamined the comparative merits of the two systems. In "Looking for Leadership: Assessing the Case for Mayoral Control of Urban School Systems," Hess opens a critical discussion of the progress of this important trend, and lays the groundwork for a vitally important conversation about big city education. During the Progressive era, roughly the years 1890-1920, large cities installed elected school boards to save the education system from the politicking and patronage that marred local politics at the time. In his research, Hess also finds that to even initiate mayoral control reform, the mayor in question must have an unusually high abundance of political capital. Even the cases where the transfer to mayoral control is politically successful, Hess find that there exists little analysis of the test scores, graduation rates, and other markers of actual educational success.
Posted by Michael at 6:25 PM
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From Ascribe Newsfeed: Philadelphia high school principals, superintendents, and teachers learned about the growing biotechnology industry and how to prepare students for careers in biotechnology opportunities when the first-ever Biotechnology Day was held February 25 at The Wistar Institute.The winner of the 2008 Wistar Institute Science Journalism Award is Terry McDermott, a Los Angeles Times staff writer. The judges praised winner McDermott's exhaustive reporting and commended him for bringing to light a scientific problem - how memory is stored - that has defied explanation for decades. Judges commented that the award-winning entry captured what it is like to work in a research laboratory and "brought the scientific process to life." They also applauded the Los Angeles Times for devoting significant space to the coverage of basic biomedical research. The six members of the 2008 judging committee were: Deborah Blum (co-chair), professor of journalism, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a 1992 Pulitzer Prize winner; Joe Palca (co-chair), senior science correspondent for National Public Radio; Sue Goetinck Ambrose, science writer for The Dallas Morning News and a 2004 winner of the award; Robin Marantz Henig, freelance journalist and contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine; Jon Palfreman, independent documentary film producer; and Nancy Shute, senior writer for U.S. News & World Report. The event was a project of the Biotechnology Education Task Force, a project oforganized by the Life Science Career Alliance, the Wistar Institute, and Community College of Philadelphia, organized the event. The Life Science Career Alliance is a public/private partnership that includes members representing industry, labor, education, and the workforce investment boards in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties.
Posted by Michael at 6:22 PM
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From Ascribe Newsfeed: Three high school science teachers from Palm Beach County schools will start their six week summer internships on June 16 in the research laboratories of Scripps Florida in Jupiter. Palm Beach County science teachers Retha Prescod from Atlantic Community High School, Karensa Wright from Seminole Ridge Community High School, and Meghan Cok from Boca Raton Community High School will be able to use the laboratory experience as a springboard to create opportunities in discovery-based learning for their students, affect change in their classrooms, and serve as a resource for other educators. "We have a very intensive program designed for our science teachers this summer," said Deborah Leach-Scampavia, Scripps Florida's Education and Outreach Administrator. Charitable Trust, the education outreach program continues to grow each year. This remarkable opportunity to work with world-class scientists at one of the nation's top nonprofit independent biomedical research institutes is only one of several education programs offered by Scripps Florida. For more information about the Scripps Florida Education Outreach Programs, please visit www.scripps.edu/florida/ edprograms or contact Deborah Leach-Scampavia, Education Administrator, at leach@scripps.edu. The Scripps Research Institute is one of the world's largest independent, non-profit biomedical research organizations, at the forefront of basic biomedical science that seeks to comprehend the most fundamental processes of life. Scripps Research is internationally recognized for its discoveries in immunology, molecular and cellular biology, chemistry, neurosciences, autoimmune, cardiovascular, and infectious diseases, and synthetic vaccine development. AScribe transmits news releases directly to newsroom computer systems and desktops of major media organizations via a supremely trusted channel - The Associated Press.
Posted by Michael at 6:19 PM
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Hearing repeated stories of suffering from trauma victims causes serious psychological stress in clinical social workers, a new Geisinger-led study suggests. In a study appearing in the May edition of Research on Social Work Practice, Geisinger Senior Investigator Joseph Boscarino, PhD, MPH and his co-researchers examined psychological stress, job burnout and secondary trauma among 236 New York City social workers following the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Secondary trauma includes experiencing symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress such as having nightmares or flashbacks, being easily startled and avoiding situations that remind one of the original trauma. Sometimes called vicarious trauma, it can seriously impact the mental health of counselors, first responders, critical care nurses and others in healthcare professions involved with treating those exposed to traumatic events, Boscarino said. "Listening to a person's traumatic experiences can be a very difficult experience for a clinician," Boscarino said. The research team for this study also included Richard E. Adams, PhD of Kent State University and Charles R. Figley, PhD of Florida State University. The National Institute of Health and Green Cross Foundation at Florida State funded the study. Founded in 1915, Geisinger Health System (Danville, PA) is one of the nation's largest integrated health services organizations. Serving more than two million residents throughout central and northeastern Pennsylvania, the physician-led organization is at the forefront of the country's rapidly emerging electronic health records movement. Geisinger is comprised of three medical center campuses, a 700-member group practice, a not-for-profit health insurance company and the Center for Health Research---dedicated to creating innovative new models for patient care, satisfaction and clinical outcomes.
Posted by Michael at 6:12 PM
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: There still appears to be some lack of knowledge regarding Medicare's Part D prescription drug program, although there is evidence that cost-related medication nonadherence may have improved overall, according to two studies in the April 23/30 issue of JAMA. Before implementation of the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act, which was passed by Congress in 2003, millions of individuals who were elderly and disabled had insufficient or no insurance coverage for outpatient medications. Such cost-related medication nonadherence (CRN) is associated with increased risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, and preventable hospitalization," the authors of the first study write. Since January 2006, Medicare beneficiaries have been able to purchase a prescription drug benefit (Part D), subsidized by Medicare and available through private plans. The researchers found that there was a larger absolute decrease in CRN following Medicare Part D implementation (from 14.1 percent in 2005 to 11.5 percent in 2006) than occurred between 2004 and 2005 (15.2 percent to 14.1 percent, respectively). However, no significant changes in CRN were observed among beneficiaries with fair-to-poor health, despite high baseline CRN prevalence for this group (22.2 percent in 2005) and significant decreases among beneficiaries with good-to-excellent health. Those beneficiaries in poor health or with multiple morbidities who had substantially higher baseline CRN did not experience decreases in CRN associated with Part D implementation, although they did report reductions in spending less on basic needs. In comparison with commercial insurance, Part D benefits use complex and high levels of cost sharing to help limit drug costs, including a coverage gap that in 2006 started at $2,250 in total drug costs and ended after $3,600 of beneficiary out-of-pocket spending.
Posted by Michael at 6:10 PM
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Medicare Beneficiaries have limited knowledge of their Medicare Part D outpatient prescription drug benefits. And those who are unaware of the coverage gap are less likely to report any cost-coping behaviors and more likely to report that the costs of drugs created a substantial financial burden, according to researchers. The study shows that many seniors have trouble understanding these benefits, and that this poor knowledge limits their ability to manage their medication needs and costs," said John Hsu, MD, Director of Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Policy Studies and the lead investigator and author of the study. "This study tells us that more education is needed to help Medicare enrollees gain the most from the benefit, but it also tells us that Kaiser Permanente and plans like them that encourage their members to use the medications that are most effective, but least costly, are helping their patients stay healthy and at the same time find the best value in their health care coverage." Increased efforts are needed by Medicare and all Part D plans to offer tools to help physicians and beneficiaries choose the treatment options offering the greatest individual value, explained Hsu. Fewer than one in twelve beneficiaries in this Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plan entered the coverage gap, which is a considerably smaller ratio than suggested by estimates performed before the Part D implementation. "These findings once again reinforce the need to monitor closely how new policy changes affect patients and society in general.
Posted by Michael at 6:08 PM
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From Economic Policy Institute: In a time of economic weakness, public investments in our nation's infrastructure can provide short-term stimulus while also building the foundation for long-term economic growth. The Economic Policy Institute will sponsor a timely forum on Investing in U.S. Infrastructure to address critically needed federal investments in infrastructure, including transportation, school buildings, and information networks. Please join the Economic Policy Institute's Agenda for Shared Prosperity and Gov. Edward Rendell and others for a lively discussion of policy strategies to invest in physical infrastructure. Edward Rendell is making Pennsylvania a leader in pursuing energy independence --- creating jobs in the emerging alternative energy economy while developing effective strategies to reduce dependence on foreign oil. He won passage of the landmark Growing Greener 2 environmental investment package to clean up rivers and streams, improve parks, return abandoned industrial sites to productive use, protect open space and preserve farmland. A member of the Ways and Means Committee, the Budget Committee and the new Select Committee on Energy Independence and Climate Change, he is a strong and creative voice both at home and abroad for the environment, sustainable development, and economic opportunity. Mark Lloyd, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and Affiliate Professor of Public Policy at Georgetown University. A frequent contributor to both academic and popular publications, and he is the author of the 2007 book Prologue to a Farce: Communication and Democracy in America. John Irons, Research and Policy Director for the Economic Policy Institute and the Director of the Agenda for Shared Prosperity, will moderate the forum. RSVP: Click here to reserve your seat now.
Posted by Michael at 6:01 PM
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From The Commonwealth Fund: In order to achieve significant gains in quality and efficiency, the health care delivery system---the way providers are organized and care is delivered---will need fundamental and systemic changes, say health care and health policy leaders. The call for reform is unequivocal: Nearly nine of 10 (89%) respondents to the latest Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey agree on the need for fundamental change. None of the leaders surveyed said no changes were needed, and only a slim portion---8 percent---said modest changes to the delivery system would be sufficient. "Although universal coverage is a prerequisite for a high performance health system, coverage needs to be coupled with care that is accessible and well coordinated," said Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis. When polled about specific strategies for improving the organization of the system, a large majority of health care leaders said that strengthening primary care (90%), encouraging care coordination and the management of care transitions (90%), and promoting care management of complex patients (88%) were very important or important to improving health system performance. Opinion leaders voiced strong support for payment reform: 79 percent view it as an important or very important tactic in changing the delivery system. Despite previous Commonwealth Fund research showing the potential of medical homes to deliver high-quality, coordinated, and accessible care, many individuals in the U.S. don't receive this type of care. Consequently, there has been rapid growth of retail health clinics (e.g., drop-in clinics at Wal-Mart or other stores) over the past two years.
Posted by Michael at 5:57 PM
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From The Commonwealth Fund: Primary care physicians who treat a disproportionate share of black and Latino patients provide more charity care, see more patients, depend more heavily on low-paying Medicaid, and earn lower incomes than physicians seeing mostly white patients. Such practice constraints play an important role in why physicians treating large numbers of minority patients report more problems delivering high-quality care than other physicians---from spending an average of 30 percent less time per patient to having a harder time obtaining specialty care, conclude the authors of "Do Primary Care Physicians Treating Minority Patients Report Problems Delivering High-Quality Care?" The study sheds new light on pervasive racial and ethnic health disparities in the United States by looking beyond individual patient characteristics to community and physician practice resources. The study also examines how higher Medicaid payments might help physicians provide high-quality care. Using data from the 200405 Community Tracking Study Physician Survey, the authors build on research that goes beyond assessing patients' characteristics to examine how the aggregate socio-economic and insurance composition of a provider's patient base contributes to racial disparities. Most (52%) physicians examined had patient panels with less than 30 percent minorities (i.e., low-minority practices), about a third (36%) reported that 30 percent to 70 percent of their patients were black or Hispanic (i.e., medium-minority practices), and 12 percent said that minorities made up more than 70 percent of their patients (i.e., high-minority practices). Moreover, physicians in high-minority practices depended on Medicaid for more than a third of their revenue, or more than twice that of physicians in low-minority practices. When researchers modeled the likely effect of raising Medicaid payments so that they equaled Medicare payments to physicians, they found improvements on several measures, particularly for physicians with high-minority practices.
Posted by Michael at 5:56 PM
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From Education Newsfeed: U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced proposed new regulations to strengthen and clarify No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The proposed regulations focus on improved accountability and transparency, uniform and disaggregated graduation rates and improved parental notification for Supplemental Education Services and public school choice. "I'm proposing new policy tools that will give families lifelines---and empower educators to create dramatic improvement," said Secretary Spellings. Several of the proposed regulations seek to clarify elements of the law that demand school systems be accountable for results and transparent in their reporting to parents and the public, including requiring that states publish data from the Nation's Report Card alongside data from their own tests for students. The Secretary emphasized that measures of student academic achievement may include multiple types of questions and multiple assessments within a subject area. Building on the Department's growth model pilot program, the proposed regulations would outline the criteria that States must meet in order to incorporate individual student progress into the State's definition of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Schools in restructuring need the most significant intervention, and a recent study found that 40 percent of schools in restructuring did not implement any of the restructuring options under the law. Noting that, according to a recent study, 75 percent of high school students in Detroit public schools do not graduate on time, Secretary Spellings announced the Department would build on the work of the National Governor's Association to establish a uniform graduate rate that shows how many incoming freshman in a given high school graduate within four years.
Posted by Michael at 5:55 PM
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From Urban Institute: This study examines employment outcomes for youth who age out of foster care through their middle twenties in three states: California, Minnesota, and North Carolina. Results suggest that youth who age out of foster care continue to experience poor employment outcomes at age 24 and generally follow one of four employment trajectories as they transition to adulthood. Youth who age out of foster care often have bouts of homelessness, criminal activity, and incarceration (Courtney, Piliavin, and Grogan- Kaylor, 1998; Courtney, Piliavin, Grogan-Kaylor, and Nesmith, 2001). A primary task in transitioning to adulthood, and the focus of this report, is finding and sustaining employment. It might be hypothesized that some would experience unstable employment in their initial attempts to connect to the workforce, but that these patterns would stabilize when youth reached their mid-twenties. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) requested this study to examine employment and earnings outcomes for youth, through their mid-twenties, who age out of foster care. Low rates of employment persist through age 24: About three out of five youth who age out of foster care are working at age 24 in all three states, a rate lower than that of youth nationally and youth from low-income families. Four patterns of connectedness to the workforce emerge: Never connected youth have a consistently low probability of employment between ages 18 and 24.
Posted by Michael at 5:50 PM
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From Ascribe Newsfeed: Columbia Business School and Columbia Community Service (CCS) announced the 2008 Nancy Rupp Community Agency Scholarships. The scholarships provide funding for local non-profit professionals to attend Executive Education programs at the School's Institute for Not-for-Profit Management (INM). The 2008 recipients are Maleka Covington, Harlem RBI; Bethsheba Cooper, Legal Outreach; Catherine Cajas, Perhaps Kids Meeting Kids Can Make a Difference; and Karen Geer, Opus 118 Harlem School of Music. CCS conducts an annual fundraising appeal to Columbia University faculty and employees and distributes the funds raised to community groups within a 30-block radius of the school. Each year a portion of the appeal is allocated to the Rupp scholarship, which provides tuition assistance to professionals from CCS grantee organizations to attend programs in management and leadership development. "These scholarships provide critical tuition assistance to nonprofit executives for graduate-level professional development, enabling our local community groups to build their management and leadership capacities in order to carry out their organization's mission with greatest impact," said INM director, Francine Lynch. Through Columbia's Institute for Not-for-Profit Management (INM), participants can enroll in programs that build organizational capacity and leadership in the not-for-profit and public sectors. For more information, please visit http://www.gsb.columbia.edu/execed. We provide direct, immediate access to mainstream national media for 600 colleges, universities, medical centers, public-policy groups and other leading nonprofit organizations. AScribe transmits news releases directly to newsroom computer systems and desktops of major media organizations via a supremely trusted channel - The Associated Press.
Posted by Michael at 5:47 PM
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From Economic Policy Institute: What follows, in part, is Economic Policy Institute president Lawrence Mishel's op-ed about how the Nation at Risk report distorted the debate on education reform. For a quarter-century, A Nation at Risk has set the terms of debate on education, with mixed results. Schools are cutting back history, civics, the sciences, art and music, just to prepare for tests in math and reading. Industries such as auto, steel, consumer electronics, and clothing and textiles were closing factories; unemployment approached 10%; and workers' wages were flat lining. The report claimed that increased market shares for Japanese automobiles, German machine tools and Korean steel reflected those nation's superior schools. Yes, we need to improve education from kindergarten through grade 12, as well as expand opportunities for college education and career training. But we also need to fix the credit crisis, expand health coverage, renegotiate unfair trade deals, invest in transportation and technology, and restore workers' rights to organize unions and bargain for better pay and benefits. In fact, education reform, by itself, isn't even the cure-all for low-performing schools in low-income neighborhoods. Kids in these communities need better nutrition, health care and dental care so that they can come to school ready to learn. That's a sobering thought on the 25th anniversary of A Nation at Risk. Lawrence Mishel is president of the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. Readers may redistribute this material to other individuals for noncommercial use, provided that the text, data, and all HTML code remain intact and unaltered in any way. This article may not be resold, reprinted, or redistributed for compensation of any kind without prior written permission.
Posted by Michael at 5:46 PM
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: New research by the Universities of Exeter and Oxford provides the first evidence that a child's sex is associated with the mother's diet. Published today (April 23 2008), in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, the study shows a clear link between higher energy intake around the time of conception and the birth of sons. The findings may help explain the falling birth-rate of boys in industrialised countries, including the UK and US.
Posted by Michael at 5:45 PM
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Spreading rumors and gossiping may not cause bruises or black eyes, but the psychological consequences of this social type of bullying could linger into early adulthood, a new University of Florida study shows. In a study of 210 college students, UF researchers discovered a link between what psychologists call relational victimization in adolescence and depression and anxiety in early adulthood, according to findings published online this month in the journal Psychology in the Schools. Rather than threatening a child with physical violence, these bullies target a child's social status and relationships by shunning them, excluding them from social activities or spreading rumors, said Allison Dempsey, a doctoral student in the UF College of Education and the study's lead author. "Even though people are outside of high school, the memories of these experiences continue to be associated with depression and social anxiety," said Dempsey, who graduated from Columbine High School in Colorado one year before the 1999 school shooting there and now studies school prevention programs. To uncover the relationships between social bullying and loneliness, depression and anxiety, researchers surveyed college undergraduates between the ages of 18 and 25 and asked them to recall their experiences from high school. They were also looking to see if having friends mitigated some of the effects of bullying and if there was any relationship between gender and the severity of psychological symptoms, said Eric Storch, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry in the UF College of Medicine and a co-author of the study.
Posted by Michael at 5:44 PM
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From Ascribe Newsfeed: When families weigh their choices on which college their children should attend, they tend to focus on cost, academic reputation and campus amenities. The Campus Tolerance Foundation today released analysis based on new research that calls for colleges and universities to provide more information to families about the atmosphere on campus, especially the treatment students can expect to face as members of racial, ethnic, gender or intellectual minorities. Surprisingly high numbers of students report they have either personally been victims of bias incidents or that they have seen bias incidents -- defined as graffiti, insults, physical threat or physical assault committed because of someone's group identification. And although Berkeley's (49 percent) and Columbia's (43 percent) ratings are better than MSU's (64 percent), they still indicate a widespread problem -- nearly 1 in every 2 students has witnessed or experienced bias incidents. The majority of respondents (56 percent) said that the prevalence of intolerance and disrespect toward minorities or other marginalized groups was "sporadic," while 4 percent said it was "pervasive," 15 percent said it was "somewhat common," 16 percent said it was "nonexistent," and 10 percent said they didn't know. Interestingly, 9 in 10 students who said they experienced some form of bias discrimination also said they did not report the incident to school administration or security. The vast majority of students at the universities surveyed in this online survey said that their school is open and accepting to these minority groups. The overall goal of the research project is to eventually develop a comprehensive, broadly-accepted national survey mechanism that fairly assesses the atmosphere on 200 college campuses across the nation.
Posted by Michael at 5:42 PM
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Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Efficient, effective policies to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions work in part by raising the prices of fossil-fuel energy products to encourage energy efficiency and the substitution of clean energy sources for fossil fuel. This is essential to prevent extensive environmental and economic damage from climate change. However, it will raise costs to consumers for a wide array of products and services, from gasoline and electricity to food, mass transit, and other products or services with significant energy inputs. The cost increases will pose special challenges for low- and moderate-income households because, as Congressional Budget Office studies have shown, they spend a larger share of their budgets on energy than better-off households do. Using methodology developed by CBO and data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Agency, we estimate that households in the poorest fifth of the population would, on average, face an estimated $750 to $950, a year in added costs (in today's dollars) if emissions were reduced 15 percent below projected levels, which is a modest emissions-control target. Fortunately, as a separate Center analysis (and CBO analyses) indicate, well-designed climate-change policies can provide sufficient revenue to cushion the impact on vulnerable households so that increases in poverty do not occur, as well as to address other public needs related to climate change. It proposes a set of standards that any mechanisms should meet and explains why various proposals suggested to date do not meet these standards. The paper also outlines a two-pronged approach to protecting low-income consumers that entails providing a "climate-change rebate" to low-income households through established electronic benefit transfer (EBT) systems (a debit card system states use to deliver certain low-income benefits), in combination with targeted tax relief through the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Posted by Michael at 6:12 PM
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Written midway through a three-year longitudinal evaluation of the role Boys & Girls Clubs play in the lives of the youth they serve, this report explores a topic of continuing interest to program operators and funders: What does it take to involve teens in positive out-of-school-time activities? Drawing on survey data from a low-income, ethnically diverse sample of approximately 400 seventh and eighth graders, Clubs attendance data tracked over a period of 17 months, and in-depth interviews with a sample of ninth graders, More Time for Teens identifies a set of factors that appear to contribute to three specific aspects of Club participation: frequency, duration and retention. The report highlights links found between accessible, safe places that provide a variety of informal and formal activities of interest to teens and higher levels of participation. It also distills lessons for programs interested in boosting teen participation. These include establishing relationships when children are younger (these relationships often endure through the teen years), taking into account the importance teens place on friendships and working with teens to establish flexibility in attendance policies as they enter their high school years.
Posted by Michael at 6:01 PM
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From Ascribe Newsfeed: Tobacco interests spent nearly $2 million to influence California elections and legislative policy in 2007, according to a new report by the American Lung Association of California's Center for Tobacco Policy & Organizing (the Center). "Campaign Contributions and Lobbying Expenditures of Tobacco Interests" shows which legislators and how much money was accepted from tobacco interests in 2007, as well as which bills the tobacco interests lobbied. This report for 2007 is one of a series of quarterly reports produced by the Center for the 2007-2008 election cycle. The health care reform legislation would have increased the state tobacco tax by $1.75 per pack. "Make no mistake, the tobacco industry's campaign and lobbying money is designed to protect their profits, which come from addicting a new generation of smokers while keeping current smokers addicted to their deadly products." In addition to this report, the Center unveiled an expanded online database of campaign contributions from tobacco interests to members of the Legislature. For 100 years, the American Lung Association has been the lead organization working to prevent lung disease and promote lung health. With the generous support of the public, the American Lung Association is "Improving life, one breath at a time." For more information about the American Lung Association or to support the work it does, call 1-800-LUNG-USA (1-800-586-4872) or visit http://www.californialung.org or http://www.lungusa.org. We provide direct, immediate access to mainstream national media for 600 colleges, universities, medical centers, public-policy groups and other leading nonprofit organizations.
Posted by Michael at 5:07 PM
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: America's aging citizens are facing a health care workforce too small and unprepared to meet their needs, according to a new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) titled "Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce." The Gerontological Society of America (GSA), the nation's largest organization devoted to aging research, fully supports the publication's call for a labor pool of adequate size and competency to care for a rapidly increasing over-65 population. "This pivotal report lays out a much-needed strategy for developing a network of health professionals and frontline workers to avert a crisis in quality care for older persons," said GSA President Lisa Gwyther, MSW. Committee Chair John W. Rowe, MD, a professor of health policy and management at Columbia University and a former GSA president, said America must prepare itself for demographic changes. "And it's important to understand that older people themselves account for a disproportionate amount of the utilization of health care resources." Despite these trends, "the actual number of geriatricians is going down, not up, in the United States," Rowe added. Marie Bernard, MD, president of The Association for Gerontology in Higher Education (GSA's educational unit), said policymakers must act quickly to address these problems. "To meet the needs of our aging parents and grandparents, we need to increase the number of geriatric health specialists --- both to provide care for those older adults with the most complex issues and to train the rest of the workforce in the common medical problems of old age," Bernard said.
Posted by Michael at 4:58 PM
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Training community members such as barbers as peer educators can be an effective way of spreading information on HIV/AIDS throughout low-literacy, rural communities, say findings published this week in the open access journal Human Resources for Health. Lead researcher, Koen Van Rompay, and colleagues from Sahaya International, the University of California and READ (India) recognised that rural communities are often neglected when it comes to HIV awareness programs. Basic health-care infrastructure tends to be minimal, and there is often low awareness and high stigma regarding HIV (and sexual issues in general), fuelled by low literacy, seasonal migration, gender inequality, spatial dispersion and cultural taboos. In a year-long pilot project, sponsored by the Elton John AIDS Foundation, six non-governmental organisations (NGO) collaborated to build and test an HIV peer education model for communities in the rural district of Perambalur in Southern India. As part of the program, 20 NGO outreach workers, 52 barbers and 102 women's self-help group leaders were trained to be peer educators. Cartoon-based materials including flipcharts, booklets and stickers were developed to teach people about their susceptibility to HIV/AIDS and to suggest practical ways to reduce the risk of infection. Women trained as peer educators enjoyed a sense of pride and increased social recognition, which the researchers hope could help sustain the peer dialogue on HIV/AIDS. Article citation and URL available on request at press@biomedcentral.com on the day of publication. 3. BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/) is an independent online publishing house committed to providing immediate access without charge to the peer-reviewed biological and medical research it publishes.
Posted by Michael at 4:51 PM
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From Urban Institute: Growing fiscal pressures and increasing life expectancy have prompted calls to raise retirement ages. Some fear this change might harm long-career, lower-wage workers. Tying retirement benefit eligibility to years of service might protect low-wage workers who start their careers early. But higher disability rates and greater employment volatility could offset lower-wage workers early labor force starts. Using survey data matched to administrative records, we describe how work histories vary by gender, education, and other characteristics. We find that years of service are not likely to effectively protect the lowest-wage workers, as those with the least education also work the least.
Posted by Michael at 4:46 PM
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: University of Missouri researchers are beginning to understand the communication process by which predators lure victims into a web of entrapment. This information could better equip parents and community members to prevent, or at least interrupt, the escalation of child sexual abuse. The fact that they could be abused in any way, shape or form is horrific--both in the moment of the abuse and in the long-term effect," said Loreen Olson, MU associate professor of communication in the College of Arts and Science. According to the researchers, in order for the process of entrapment to take place, the perpetrator must first gain access to the potential victim through various exploitive means. Deceptive trust development describes the predator's ability to build a trusting relationship with the victim in order to improve the likelihood of sexual encounter. Deceptive trust development is central to other manipulative strategies used by the predator such as grooming. Grooming may include activities such as sitting on a child's bed and watching them get into their bedclothes; "accidentally" touching the child inappropriately; showing the child pornographic images; and making contact or sex play with implicit sexual suggestions. Isolation strategies may include offers to baby sit, giving the child a ride home, and taking advantage of fragile family and friend relationships. Olson, and her co-authors analyzed existing published material on pedophilia and child sexual abuse and proposed their theory that explains the communication process used by child sexual predators. According to the study, the theory of luring communication also may offer important insight into social, deviant and communicative problems plaguing society, such as how con-artists lure victims and the recruitment strategies of gang or cult members.
Posted by Michael at 4:36 PM
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From Ascribe Newsfeed: The Alliance for Children and Families has announced recipients of funding and technical assistance awards as part of a major mentoring initiative for members of the Alliance. Of the 20 agencies, 10 have been identified to serve as mentors, helping the other 10 to strengthen their capabilities for improving the lives of older adults in their communities. The program is part of the New Age of Aging, a five-year initiative of the Alliance for Children and Families designed to help prepare human service organizations throughout North America to best provide services for older adults as the vast baby boom generation ages. The mentoring teams will work together in the coming year to develop supportive learning relationships, motivate leadership, and build organizational and staff capacity related to aging. - Child and Family Services, Newport, R.I. (http://www.cfsnewport.org/), will mentor Children and Families First, Wilmington, Del. "The mentoring program will empower participants through a new way of thinking," says Jonette Arms, project director of the New Age of Aging initiative. The aging boom will create a need for more human services for older adults, while the character of this generation will likely require new approaches and new paradigms for serving the aging population. The Alliance for Children and Families, headquartered in Milwaukee, is the nation's largest membership association of private, nonprofit human service providers. We provide direct, immediate access to mainstream national media for 600 colleges, universities, medical centers, public-policy groups and other leading nonprofit organizations.
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