Public Health Posts
What’s Dental Therapy? A Profession!
It’s official: Dental therapy is a now a recognized profession, with national standards that create a path for training programs at colleges across the country. That’s according to the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), the independent accrediting body for dentistry education programs in the United States.
The Power of Placebos: Using Our Brains to Help Us Heal
Imagine if we could somehow trigger the brain to release endorphins, dopamine and other neurotransmitters to help relieve pain, depression and other health problems. It turns out that scientists and health care providers have already started doing this. It’s called the “placebo effect.”
Children’s Health Care Spending Driven by Rising Costs
With child visits to the emergency room declining and the overall use of prescription drugs by children at its lowest in years, it only makes sense that spending on health care for kids would be down. Right? Not quite.
Prescription Abuse Fuels Rise in Newborn Drug Exposure
Improving strategies for prescribing opioids to women of childbearing age are particularly critical to newborns and their families. Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) occurs when babies are exposed to addictive opiate drugs in the womb, and the effects are terrible. Babies can experience breathing problems, vomiting and tremors in their early days of life.
A Win for the Affordable Care Act
There was a great deal of exuberance in the hallways at Burness yesterday when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) subsidies for people living in states with federally run health insurance marketplaces—and I know we weren’t alone.
Rising Health Spending for Diabetes Patients
More than 29 million Americans, or 9.3 percent of the U.S. population, had diabetes in 2014. While diabetes has been widely recognized as a growing public health challenge in the U.S., a new report from the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI) shows that it also has a substantial financial impact.
Short Distances to Large Gaps in Health
The Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Center on Society and Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) released four new maps illustrating how large gaps in health can exist in very short distances.
Meet the 2015 Heinz Award Recipients
Established to honor the memory of the late U.S. Senator John Heinz, the Awards celebrate extraordinary achievements of individuals in areas of great importance to him: Arts and Humanities; the Environment; Human Condition; Public Policy; and Technology, the Economy and Employment.
Investments in Education Pay Health Dividends
Health care accounts for a vast proportion of the nation’s budget. As Medicaid and Medicare approach their 50th anniversary, such programs comprise over a fifth of all federal outlays. Amid these spiraling costs, policymakers are often pressured to limit spending on other areas, including education. But education and health are intrinsically linked – meaning investments in education are investments in health, and can potentially lower spending.
A Blueprint for Using Data to Improve Health
An explosion of self-monitoring devices and apps that passively track every move and breath we take has brought about an unparalleled opportunity to harness data to improve health. But according to a new report, the public’s concerns about privacy and other barriers to data sharing could halt progress.
