Learning from others is a fundamental strategy inculcated early in life and fundamental for survival. Oppositional behavior sometimes creeps in and can either be innovative, yielding new and better methods or counter-productive, creating distressful and worse outcomes. The evolutionary advantage is to differentiate quickly and follow the better path.
2 min read
Adopting best practices from trusted sources can prevent unnecessary COVID-19 deaths
Topics: Bulletin
4 min read
Economic Security Underpins SDOH
Poverty, the bottom line or commonality among the social determinants of health (SDoH), was underscored last month in a
New England Journal of Medicine Perspective, “
Medical-Financial Partnerships—Beyond Traditional Boundaries.”
“Financial well-being, measured using various metrics, affects nearly every health indicator, from birth weight to longevity. Income is perhaps the most obvious financial metric linked to health. The richest 1% of people in the United States live 10 and 14 years longer (for women and men, respectively) than the poorest 1%.”
Topics: Bulletin
2 min read
Transferring hospital marketing dollars to prevention for long-term benefit
Does advertising by hospitals and healthcare systems have any relationship to quality? This question was answered in a
Journal of the American Medical Association article last month. The unsettling conclusion stated:
Topics: Bulletin
3 min read
Blue Zones Project SWFL’s Food Policy Council Finds Solutions to Child Food Insecurity During COVID-19
For all the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic presented, it paved the way for new solutions to answer some of society’s most persistent challenges.
As one example, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) response to child food insecurity during COVID-19 has enabled schools across the country to institute free universal feeding programs for all children 18 and under, regardless of enrollment status, and opened a leadership
opportunity for schools to
play a more expansive role in closing the nutrition gap for students and their families.
Topics: Food Access Featured
2 min read
U.S. Congress Launches Social Determinants of Health Caucus
Help is on the way: the Congressional Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) Caucus was formed earlier this month to “
explore opportunities to improve the impact of services delivered to address social determinants with the support of federal funding. It will work to amplify evidence-based approaches to holistic well-being.”
Topics: Bulletin
1 min read
Wellness on purpose
Imagine if you lived a healthy lifestyle by accident, making healthy choices without superhuman willpower. Starting in 2015, Blue Zones Project by Sharecare partnered with Cambia Health Foundation and local sponsors to set Oregon communities on a path to longer, better lives through shifts in people, policy, and places.
Topics: Blue Zones Project - Oregon Featured
2 min read
Historical public health innovations and SDOH
Pandemics are not new, nor is society’s attention to the social determinants of health. Fortunately, science has progressed, bringing public health measures including infection control, appropriate sanitation, wholesome environments, and most recently, the miracle of effective vaccines to society in record time.
Topics: Bulletin
2 min read
Engage in a healthy lifestyle and decrease your change of a dread disease
Cancer, a dread disease, is somewhat preventable. Healthy habits, careful vigilance, and good care including new therapeutics make a significant difference, as noted in a National Institute of Health and
National Cancer Institute report released last week.
Topics: Bulletin
2 min read
"Healthy Multipliers" can change the course of health and well-being
Aspiring to health and wellness rather than turning to sickness and healthcare is beneficial in at least two ways—avoiding both the misery and the expense of disease. A
Journal of the American Medical Association statistical analysis published last month, entitled “
Social Determinants of Health and Geographic Variation in Medicare per Beneficiary Spending,” addressed this thesis by comparing the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) with the cost per Medicare fee-for-service enrollee within 3,038 counties. About 100 counties’ populations were too small or did not have data and therefore were excluded.
Topics: Bulletin
2 min read
Personal health care and the pandemic
“
A surprising pandemic side effect: People have become more engaged with their health” is the headline of an
engaging essay, highlighting positive outcomes from people becoming self-sufficient when traditional services were in short supply.
