| New@Public Health
Harvard School of Public Health, Children Left Behind: How Metropolitan Areas Are Failing America's Children (01/07): Reports that children of color, especially those who are African American, face many challenges compared to whites. This is the first report based on the new diversitydata.org website.
Boston Municipal Research Bureau, Soaring Health Insurance Costs Threaten Boston's Competitive Edge (11/06) (pdf): Reports that the City of Boston's health costs have increased 92% in 6 years, and is taking an increasing share of the city's budget. Recommendations include better management of the health insurance system, participation in the State's insurance pool, and establishing a reserve for retiree health benefits.
Project Bread, Status Report on Hunger in Massachusetts (11/06): Reports that food insecurity increased from 20% to 32% of households from 2002 to 2005, with food insecurity with hunger increasing from 8% to 18% of households.
The Commonwealth Fund, Improving Quality and Achieving Equity: The Role of Cultural Competence in Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care (10/06) (pdf): Provides concrete recommendations for health care improvements, with a major emphasis on cultural competence.
Massachusetts Health Council, Common Health for the Commonwealth: Massachusetts Trends in Determinants of Health (10/06): Looks at public health indicators across ten topic areas, highlighting recent increases in violence, asthma, and school drop-outs, but also revealing a drop in the number of uninsured residents.
Massachusetts Public Health Association, Strengthening Local Public Health in Massachusetts: A Call to Action (6/06): Reports on a survey of local public health authorities. Existing staff shortages compounded by the fact that 18% of public health employees are eligible to retire within 2 years raises questions about the future health of public health services.
Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, The Future of Human Services Workforce in Massachusetts (pdf) (4/06): This report outlines the long-term need for more human service workers, and the difficulties of recruiting and retaining these workers given low pay and difficult work conditions.
Smart Growth BC, Promoting public health through Smart Growth (pdf) (3/06): reviews research on transportation-related health impacts, such as Physical Activity and Obesity and Traffic Safety. Recommends smart-growth land use planning.
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Grading the States 2006 (3/06): an assessment of mental health care in the United States. Presented as an interactive website, the NAMI assigns the nation a grade of D, and Massachusetts a C-, slightly above the national average and well below Connecticut's B, which tied with Ohio for best in the nation. Massachusetts also ranked below Maine (B-) and Rhode Island (C).
National Sleep Foundation, 2006 Sleep in America Poll (3/06): a poll of 1,600 adolescents (ages 11-17, in grades 6-12) and their adult caregivers, conducted between September and November 2005, finds that the average amount of sleep that adolescents get declines with age, and that nearly half get an inadequate amount of sleep on school nights.
National Center for Health Statistics, Deaths: Final Data for 2003 (2/06): information on all deaths in the U.S. in 2003, with analysis of long-term trends. The American Cancer Society reports that deaths from cancer decreased for the first time since the government began keeping statistics on death in 1930. Although the decline is slight, it is believed to be the start of a downward trend, as improvements in prevention, detection, and treatment win out over population factors that have been driving the rates up. Additionally, as tobacco use has declined, death rates from lung cancer, the most common cause of cancer deaths, have decreased.
More research on public health....
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