CDC’s director, Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, on polio eradication.
(From CDC)
We are bundling up like these SHETLAND PONIES IN CARDIGANS and heading out.
Thank you, Waldo Jaquith.
From a book of photographs and essays about London by Chicago-based writer and photographer Brian Leli. Explaining the project on his website,...
…I’ll keep on saying it; Senator Bernie Sanders is great!
Chart of the Day: From ‘Mad Men’ to Medicare, Measuring U.S. Health Care
This week marks two major events. One is the second anniversary of something that’s not that popular: the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare. The second is the return to television of something that’s far more popular: Mad Men. The clear solution is to combine them in one awesome infographic.
There’s some good news. As everyone knows, levels of smoking have fallen precipitously. Cancer is more survivable. More women are doctors. But most of the news is bad. Alcohol consumption, shockingly, is actually higher now than in 1965. Obesity is higher. Diabetes is more prevalent. The most important thing to watch is the top line. It shows dramatically why some sort of health-care reform that controls costs is a pressing need for the nation. The hard part is just figuring out how that works. Frankly, we’d just as soon sit back with a full highball glass and the Mad Men season premiere.
[h/t: Dan Diamond]
An issue that’s been increasingly addressed by the public health and health education fields is getting more recognition, reiterated by a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation study, is that finances are not the only reason people aren’t heading off to see their doctors. The study cites not being able to get to a doctor’s office while it’s open, not being able to get an appointment soon enough, and it taking too long to get to a doctor’s office as some of the additional barriers to getting care. But there are even more to consider: Transportation - cheap or free, and easy to access would be great; companionship - for emotional support if one is not in great mental or physical shape, and/or might be receiving compromising news about their health status; a physician who is both culturally and linguistically competent - understanding both a patient’s language and cultural experiences and definitions that influence health behavior and decision-making; these are all just some of the other issues individuals may face while trying to access healthcare.
Two-thirds of people who experience financial barriers also encounter some of these non-financial barriers - so our most vulnerable populations are even more vulnerable than we previously thought.