The Burness Effect Blog

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.

How Healthy Is Your County?

The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (a Burness client) released the 2012 County Health Rankings. The Rankings highlight the healthiest and least healthy counties in every state, as well as those factors that influence health outside of the doctor’s office

Bamboo Charcoal: A Sustainable Energy Source for Africa

When we think of bamboo, we rarely think of Africa. Though most of us know the plant as panda food or as the backdrop of Chinese movies like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, it is also a source of alternative energy that can combat soil degradation and massive deforestation in Africa.

Food and Farming at the Heart of Climate Discussion

Last week, a group of 14 international agriculture experts from around the world wrote an opinion piece in Science magazine urging the scientific community to address the importance of agriculture in the climate change debate.

Patients Want Easier Access to Their Doctors’ Notes

Would easier access to doctors’ notes improve patient health? 1 in 5 respondents to a survey in this month’s Annals of Internal Medicine said easier access would likely provoke them to take better care of themselves.

Bedbugs’ Spread Fueled by Inbreeding, Treatment Resistance

To adapt a phrase, bed bugs don't die, they multiply. A single mated female can spawn many colonies and then mate with her offspring. The offspring can also mate with each other. That is, bed bugs can survive, and even thrive, by inbreeding.

Venomous Snakebites: A Neglected Tropical Disease

At the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), a symposium on snakebites revealed that getting bitten by a snake is a far greater problem than people have been led to believe.

Safe Farming: No More Praying for Rain

Traditional crop insurance relies on farm visits, a proposition which doesn’t add up for small farmers. Kilimo Salama uses creative, low-cost methods, such as weather stations and mobile money transfers, to remotely determine whether weather conditions justify a payout for farmers.

Insurance Payouts Help Herders Rebuild After Massive Livestock Losses

Around 650 herders in Northern Kenya signed up for insurance policies to protect them and their livestock investments from drought losses. At a time when global attention for the worst drought in half a century has waned, nearly all were compensated.

Four-year universities have long dominated the higher education conversation, but now community colleges—critical to helping Americans gain skills needed in difficult economic times—are finally receiving recognition too. The Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program (a Burness client) recently released its 10 … Continue reading Spotlight on Community College Excellence →