Posts by Lowell Dempsey
Honoring Black History Month
Here are three resources we’re learning from and sharing this month.
Discrimination Makes Me Sick — Literally
Harvard professor David Williams explores the connections between racism and health. His research suggests that discrimination takes a physical toll on African Americans.
“Let the Data Speak for Themselves” is Bad Advice
Professor David Williams, public health researcher at Harvard, frames the black-white life expectancy gap with a metaphor to help people understand the data.
“That’s When Things Started to Change”
For every great societal challenge, there is a moment when we look back and say, “That’s when things started to change.” For our nation’s oral health crisis, that moment is now.
What Happens When Antibiotics Stop Working?
To help reduce the chances of contracting a life-threatening infection during or after surgery, many patients are given antibiotics. But the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, called “superbugs,” threatens to create a world where preventive antibiotics are far less effective, and even the most common or low-risk procedures are more dangerous.
Improving Oral Health for Kids and Communities
Dental Health Aide Therapist (DHAT) Bonnie Johnson, from Emmonak, Alaska, travels around her community providing dental care to children and families in rural Alaska. Tribal leaders, dentists and community members explain how dental therapists like Bonnie have helped radically improve oral health in their villages while inspiring their community, once known for rampant tooth decay and poor oral health, to strive for a different, healthier future.
Suburban Poverty: A Phenomenon That’s More Common Than You Might Think
According to “Confronting Suburban Poverty in America,” authored by Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube of the Metropolitan Policy Program, the poor population in America’s suburbs is growing faster than anywhere else in the country, surging 64 percent in the past decade and growing at more than twice the rate of the urban poor population.
Accessing Health Care as a Young Adult
More young adults have insurance coverage now than before the health care overhaul took effect--3.1 million more, according to a report by the Department of Health and Human Services showing that the proportion of insured adults ages 19 through 25 has increased to nearly 75 percent. That’s in large part thanks to the Affordable Care Act, which requires insurers to allow young adults to remain on their parents’ family plans until they turn 26.
New Report Supports Use of Dental Therapists in U.S.
Nearly 50 million people in the United States can’t get dental care where or when they need it. As community, tribal, state and national leaders debate how best to solve the nation’s intensifying oral health care crisis, a recent research review, entitled A Review of the Global Literature on Dental Therapists: In the Context of the Movement to Add Dental Therapists to the Oral Health Workforce in the United States, indicates that serious consideration should be given to incorporating mid-level providers such as dental therapists into the dental health team.
