Public Health News Roundup: May 9

Exercise May Increase Survival Rates for Some Cancer Patients
A review of 27 observational studies published between January 1950 and August 2011 finds that exercise may help improve survival for people with breast and colon cancer. The study was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Read more on cancer.

OSHA Begins 2012 Campaign to Protect Outdoor Workers Summer Heat and Sun
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has kicked off a national outreach initiative to educate workers and employers about the dangers of working outdoors in hot weather. The outreach effort builds on last year’s campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of too much sun and heat.

Workers at risk include those on farms, construction workers, utility workers, baggage handlers, roofers, landscapers and anyone else who works outside. OSHA has developed heat illness educational materials in English and Spanish; a curriculum for workplace training; a dedicated website; and a free app that lets workers and supervisors monitor the heat index for a worksite. The app displays a risk level for workers based on the heat index, and worker safety information from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration heat alerts.

Read more on worker safety.

Johns Hopkins Establishes New Center for AIDS Research
Johns Hopkins University has been awarded $15 million over the next five years from the National Institutes of Health to establish a new Center for AIDS Research. A major priority for the new center will be to address Baltimore’s HIV epidemic. A report by the Baltimore City Health Department released last year found that despite national advances in HIV prevention and treatment, Baltimore continues to be among the top 10 urban areas in the country in HIV incidence rates.

At the end of 2009, there were 13,048 people in Baltimore living with HIV/AIDS and HIV infections were being diagnosed at a rate of almost one and a half per day. A 2006 study showed that the lifetime expense of treating each new case of HIV in Baltimore costs about $355,000. That expense, according to the Health Department’s report, “puts a significant strain on evolving health care systems, especially in a city like Baltimore with a high poverty rate.”

Read more on HIV/AIDS.

New IOM Report Identifies Key Strategies to Prevent Obesity

A new report from the Institute of Medicine, Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention, released today in conjunction with the Weight of the Nation Conference, finds that progress in stemming the obesity epidemic has been too slow, and that obesity has a negative impact on productivity and is the factor behind millions of people suffering from chronic and often debilitating diseases.

The report focuses on five key goals in order to prevent obesity:

• Integrating physical activity into people’s daily lives.
• Making healthy food and beverage options available everywhere.
• Transforming marketing and messages about nutrition and activity.
• Making schools a gateway to healthy weights.
• Galvanizing employers and health care professionals to support healthy lifestyles.

Read more about the report and watch a video commentary about the report, featuring James S. Marks, Senior Vice President at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Follow coverage of the meeting on RWJF.org, @RWJF_ChdObesity, www.rwjf.org/childhoodobesity and on NewPublicHealth.

Are You Sitting Down for This?

Standing while working has become a way-of-work for some of the NewPublicHealth staff, and most report that after a brief breaking in-period the foot aches give way to a more alert, healthier-feeling workday.  So we were amused, and delighted, to see this recent essay on the merits and drawbacks of standing versus sitting all day in PARADE magazine by author A.J. Jacobs. The excerpt is from Jacobs’ new book, Drop Dead Healthy.

Read the excerpt.

>>Weigh in: Were you standing or sitting while you read this post? Which would you rather be doing?

Public Health News Roundup: April 16

DOT Proposes Updating Car-Braking Safety Standards
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has proposed updating existing safety standards to ensure drivers can better stop a vehicle — even if both the brake and accelerator pedals are depressed at the same time, either by accident or because the accelerator pad is stuck. Research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that a “Brake-Throttle Override” requirement will help prevent crashes by allowing the driver to maintain control of the breaks, in these situations. Read more on transportation safety.

Worksite Health Promotion Program Reduces Absenteeism
Workers participating in a workplace wellness program had a twenty percent reduction in absenteeism during the first year, according to a study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Read more on what employers are doing to help empower their employees to live healthier lives.

Women Tend to Get Less Exercise than Men
U.S. women get, on average, 18 minutes of exercise each day, which is twelve minutes less than the average for men, according to a new study in Preventive Medicine. Professional health organizations, including the American Medical Association, recommend that both genders get less  thirty minutes of exercise on most days to reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. Read more on physical activity.

Intel: Employee Health and Professional Development – Through Retirement

Late last year, NewPublicHealth spoke with Marc Freedman, MBA, CEO and Founder of Civic Ventures, about the “encore career movement”—a new stage of life and work that combines necessary continued income with new meaning and a chance to create social change. “One of the real challenges from people moving into this period is how you get from what’s last to what’s next. A lot of people are being discouraged, especially in this economy, when they are spending time and money to find themselves in these do-it-yourself ventures,” said Freedman. “We’re interested in trying to create better pathways for people in something that’s really distinct from retirement and the stage of work.”

To that end, Civic Ventures partnered with Intel to pilot the Encore Fellowship program, which provides paid, part-time, yearlong assignments working at local nonprofits, and is open to all Intel employees who are eligible for retirement. NewPublicHealth recently spoke with Amber Wiseley, U.S. Retirement Benefits Program Manager, and Julee Weller, U.S. Health Benefits Program Manager, both at Intel, to find out more about the Encore program, as well as the company’s broader approach to employee health and wellness.

NewPublicHealth: What is Intel’s overall approach to health and wellness for employees?

Julee Weller, U.S. Health Benefits Program Manager, Intel

Julee Weller: Intel is strongly committed to developing a culture where employees and their families are healthy, productive, and engaged in living wellness-oriented lifestyles every day.

Intel has developed a portfolio of health benefit plans and wellness programs designed to encourage employees to evaluate, improve, and maintain their health and the health of their families. Intel’s award-winning wellness program, Health for Life, is designed to inspire and motivate employees to take action toward achieving their best possible health and quality of life. The program includes onsite primary care (providing employees convenient access to quality care at low cost), onsite biometrics, annual health assessments, fitness programs, wellness seminars, flu prevention, and personalized wellness coaching.

NPH: Have you seen increased productivity or other business or economic benefits from your wellness efforts?

Read More »

Public Health News Roundup: March 16

Kids in Neighborhoods with Biking and Walking Trails Exercise More
Children living in a neighborhood designed with a special bike trail were three times as likely as those in a traditional neighborhood to engage in vigorous physical activity, according to new research presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2012 Scientific Sessions.

Researchers compared two low-income neighborhoods in Chattanooga, Tenn. One had a specially-designed, two-mile, extra-wide trail for biking and walking that connected public housing and single-family residences to a school, library, recreational facility, and park and retail shops. The other area has traditional homes, public housing, a new school, a park and an older, regular-width sidewalk. Researchers found that there was more vigorous activity in former community in the park and along the new trail, including jogging and bike riding. Read more on healthy communities.

Read More »

David Law: “Determined to Bring Healthy Choices Into Our Neighborhoods”

David Law, Joy-Southfield Community Development Corporation

In Detroit, Michigan, the Joy-Southfield Community Development Corporation has developed a targeted approach to promoting health equity, based on the four factors measured by the County Health Rankings: health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors and physical environment. Despite its location in one of the most racially segregated cities in the country, with poor public transportation, high poverty and unemployment, and vast food deserts, the Joy-Southfield neighborhood has become a hub of partnerships and activities aimed at long-term health improvement. Several community groups and funders have collaborated to empower youth through mentoring and community garden projects; renovate vacant properties to attract new businesses; improve community safety; provide job training and foreclosure prevention services and more.

NewPublicHealth spoke with David Law, PhD, Executive Director at Joy-Southfield, about the program.

NewPublicHealth: Tell us about the Joy-Southfield Community Development Corporation. How did your priorities evolve, and how did the County Health Rankings help shape them?

Read More »

Workplace Wellness: Perspectives From a University and a Steel Fabrication Company

More and more businesses and employers are taking action to improve the health of their employees and communities at large. Recently, we spoke with Jeff Johnson, President of Johnson Machine Works, Inc., and Joy Schiller, Director of Wellness at Des Moines University, about why their organizations have made wellness a priority, from the perspective of two very different businesses—one big, one small; one academic, one industrial. Both are members of the Wellness Council of Iowa, a group of business leaders committed to creating healthier workplaces for employees.

NewPublicHealth: Why did your organization join the wellness movement?

Joy Schiller, Des Moines University

Joy Schiller: There’s a real recognition that we as a health sciences university should be kind of a role model for the rest of the state and the nation. I tremendously appreciate as a wellness director that one of our goals is to provide education to our students and opportunities for wellness so our students on a personal level can see the benefits of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. When they go out as health care practitioners, they will be more apt to reinforce to their patients the importance of healthy lifestyle habits and how critical it is to quality of life and preventing chronic health problems.

Read More »

Public Health News Roundup: March 12

No Increase in Brain Cancer Rates Seen During More than a Decade of Expanding Cell Phone Use
A review of U.S. cancer incidence data by researchers at the National Cancer Institute finds that  incidence trends have remained generally constant for glioma, the main type of brain cancer thought to be related to cell phone use, between 1992 and 2008. Cell phone use increased from about zero percent to almost 100 percent of the adult population during that time, according to the study, which was published in the British Medical Journal. Read more cancer news.

DOT Announces Grants to Increase Tribal Transportation Options
The Department of Transportation has announced the availability of approximately $15 million in funding to help American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments strengthen public transportation options. The new funding is aimed at improving access to jobs, education, medical services and other critical needs in under-served rural areas. Read more stories on the connection between transportation and health.

Read More »

Mobilizing Communities Toward Better Health, Income and Education: Q&A With United Way’s Brian Gallagher

Brian Gallagher, United Way Worldwide

United Way Worldwide has evolved from its roots as a fundraising organization to a critical community convener that mobilizes local partners, including businesses, community leaders, public officials and community residents, to expand opportunities for people to live healthy, quality lives. United Way focuses on three key building blocks: a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income to support a family through retirement, and good health. With support from United Way Worldwide, 12 United Ways across the country have formed the United Way network’s first Health Mobilization Group. This peer-learning community will use the County Health Rankings framework to work with the residents, external experts and stakeholders to drive systems change to improve health and health equity in their communities.

NewPublicHealth will conduct an in-depth series on the work of United Way on the ground to improve health, education and income. The series will include Q&As with thought leaders as well as those advancing initiatives at the community level: the leaders in local United Way organizations and their communities. We kick off this series with a conversation with United Way Worldwide President and CEO, Brian Gallagher, MBA, about the organization’s priorities, key partners and methods for mobilizing communities for social change.

NewPublicHealth: United Way focuses on three key issues: education, income and health. Why are these the most critical issues, and how do they work together to impact quality of life?

Read More »