America, has it really come to this? A man robbed a bank for $1 in order to be arrested so that he could get health insurance in jail! Here is the link to follow the story.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/nc-man-allegedly-robs-bank-health-care-jail/story?id=13887040
In looking at the US and where we stand regarding the health status of our population in comparison to other countries is actually surprising. We are ranked 30th behind other countries who we often stereotype as being 'behind' the US. PBS had completed a television series, Unnatural Causes, Is Inequality Making Us Sick. This chronicles the social determinants of health such as race, socio-economic status, education, and place of residence. According to one author in this series, ones' health outcomes can be predicted by looking at the zip code in which one lives. Here is the promotional video to the series:
As health care providers we need to take into account our patients' social determinants of health in order to provide the best care possible as well as creating an environment in which we will be able to have the best outcome for our patients.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Exercise in Our High School Population - Troubling Statistics
The CDC has recently reported findings from a study conducted in 2010 that should not shock us. Click on the link to the story that was found in CNN below:
- · High school students are not engaging in enough regular physical activity
- · Only 15% of HS students get the one hour of daily aerobic exercise a day
- · 1/3 of HS students drink 2 or more sodas, sport drink or other sugary beverages a day
- · HS girls are far less likely than boys to meet the recommendation for exercise
- · Students in higher grades are less likely than underclass students to get enough exercise
- · 63% of the HS students polled consumed at least 1 soda or other sweetened drink per day; 33% drank 2 or more
Studies have also linked increase in consumption of these sugary drinks and lack of exercise by adolescent populations to obesity. In turn, more adolescents are being identified with Type II Diabetes, traditionally an adult pathology.
There is no easy solution to manage adolescent obesity as there are many more variables that contribute (ie. Parent involvement – or lack thereof; value of exercise; access to safe places to play). However, something that may be able to assist is to have states follow the guidelines the National Standards for Physical Education (NASPE) has developed both at the preschool level and k-12 levels. These Standards are linked below.
Having our children more physically engaged may assist in curbing the effects of overweight, inactive children who then grow up to possibly be overweight, inactive adults.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Is Treating All Our Patients "Equally", Equal?
I realize with this post that I may upset some individuals as what I propose and question revolves around the mantra of 'equal treatment for all'. With regard to medicine, research has been able to identify pockets of populations that have higher risk factors to develop specific pathology - ie. CVD, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity to name a few.
I am wondering if in fact, to treat our patient populations equal, that rather than provide the same interventions, preventative protocols and treatments that we actually have to treat each individual patient differently. This would entail actually getting to know our patients on a personal level and finding more about them. We make assumptions all the time about individuals based upon what they are wearing, the cars they drive, the schools they attend, the neighborhood in which they live and the vernacular in which they use. The link I have posted below gives one perspective for a teenager who had 'outed' themselves and had identified as being a lesbian. It not only chronicles both the support she has received from her family, but also the difficulty she has had to endure in her school life.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/06/10/lgbt.acceptance/index.html?hpt=hp_bn6
In reading both this article and another article that was recently published, "The Sissy Boy Experiment", I came to question if in fact, we as health care practitioners are missing something in our practice. Here is a video of CNN's Anderson Cooper discussing what this experiment was about.
What I propose is that we need to understand and practice that each patient who seeks our assistance is, in fact unique. They come to us with their own values and life experiences. We know that literature suggests there are risk factors that will place one individual at a higher rate of developing a pathology. From the literature, we have observed that GLBTQ populations suffer at higher rates of depression and substance abuse; that certain races will acquire a higher rate of pathology over others; and that there are socio-economic factors that tie into childhood obesity. Perhaps, as clinicians, we need to be sure we are taking the 'whole person' into account when we provide care to our patients, and not make assumptions based upon what we see or hear. Just as not all African Americans will develop high blood pressure, nor will all children from lower socio-economic status develop obesity, not all individuals who identify as GLBTQ will develop depression or substance abuse issues. We as clinicians, however, need to be ready to provide the best health care we can to our individual patient based upon them, not our past experiences with other patients, but our experience with this unique patient.
I am wondering if in fact, to treat our patient populations equal, that rather than provide the same interventions, preventative protocols and treatments that we actually have to treat each individual patient differently. This would entail actually getting to know our patients on a personal level and finding more about them. We make assumptions all the time about individuals based upon what they are wearing, the cars they drive, the schools they attend, the neighborhood in which they live and the vernacular in which they use. The link I have posted below gives one perspective for a teenager who had 'outed' themselves and had identified as being a lesbian. It not only chronicles both the support she has received from her family, but also the difficulty she has had to endure in her school life.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/06/10/lgbt.acceptance/index.html?hpt=hp_bn6
In reading both this article and another article that was recently published, "The Sissy Boy Experiment", I came to question if in fact, we as health care practitioners are missing something in our practice. Here is a video of CNN's Anderson Cooper discussing what this experiment was about.
What I propose is that we need to understand and practice that each patient who seeks our assistance is, in fact unique. They come to us with their own values and life experiences. We know that literature suggests there are risk factors that will place one individual at a higher rate of developing a pathology. From the literature, we have observed that GLBTQ populations suffer at higher rates of depression and substance abuse; that certain races will acquire a higher rate of pathology over others; and that there are socio-economic factors that tie into childhood obesity. Perhaps, as clinicians, we need to be sure we are taking the 'whole person' into account when we provide care to our patients, and not make assumptions based upon what we see or hear. Just as not all African Americans will develop high blood pressure, nor will all children from lower socio-economic status develop obesity, not all individuals who identify as GLBTQ will develop depression or substance abuse issues. We as clinicians, however, need to be ready to provide the best health care we can to our individual patient based upon them, not our past experiences with other patients, but our experience with this unique patient.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Grief - Who Helps Us?
As athletic trainers we are educated to react and respond to a multiple of scenarios. Students have courses in prevention, management, acute care, rehabilitation, evidence-based medicine, administration and professional development. Educators constantly prepare students by asking - “What do we do if?” or “What do we do when?”
I am not sure how much we prepare ATS to process tragic situations when they occur. Certainly, in educational programs we are to cover content that deals with loss – but oftentimes, that is framed as to how our patients will handle loss – the loss of a season due to injury, the loss of the function of a body part, the loss of a game. I don’t feel we educate enough on how we as ATs, will also be grieving in tragic events, and we too, may need assistance to develop healthy coping mechanisms.
This news article, I believe, highlights the need for ATs to also consider what is done for themselves to healthfully handle tragic situations that may arise in our professional lives. Hayden Walton was a healthy 13 year old boy, who was struck in the chest while playing baseball. This strike interrupted his heart rhythm, and although paramedics arrived to the scene to assist, Hayden died the next day.
I know there was not an AT who provided health care in this news story, but imagine that instead of this being summer baseball, this was a high school athlete. Imagine the AT was there to provide assistance – to do everything they had been trained to do - and the outcome was still the same. I do not feel we have a support system ‘built-in’ the professional framework. Too often, ATs are left on their own to attempt to process the loss. Perhaps it is time for the profession to model something similar to the profession of nursing – specifically oncology nursing in which there are networks of support built into their daily work life.
This topic had affected me so much that I wrote a manuscript with a few other colleagues and had accepted into the ATEJ. I am placing that link here should you want to read.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)