More studies are drawing a link between social determinants of health (SDOH) food insecurity and health outcomes, with the latest in Health Affairs showing that food insecurity yielded some $2,500 in healthcare expenditures for a whole family in one year. [ Patient Engagement HIT] 

That amounts to about 20 percent higher yearly healthcare expenditures for food insecure families than those families not experiencing food insecurity.

But the data also showed that the around 20 percent of households that have a mixture of health insurance plans and carriers might stymie efforts to mitigate food insecurity, with payers questioning how investments will impact their own member panels.

Food insecurity is a unique social determinant of health because it has a trickle-down effect on the entire family. If one family member is food insecure, it is likely the entire family is food insecure and therefore the whole family may see the impacts on their health.

“Evaluating the relationship between food insecurity and total family health care spending could provide a better understanding of the financial implications of food insecurity for families overall,” the researchers wrote in the study. “This nuanced information is important for understanding the potential impact of food insecurity interventions, which can have spillover effects throughout the family even when targeted to an individual.”

Full article here>

###

The state Senate on Monday approved an agreed-upon bill to ban assault weapons in the state, a plan that health leaders across Illinois have called for in recent weeks. [Health News Illinois]

The proposal, approved along party lines, includes provisions that ban the manufacture, sale and purchase of assault weapons and attachments. It also places limits on capacity magazines.

Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, and Gov. JB Pritzker said in a joint statement after the vote that the agreed-upon language will head for a House vote on Tuesday.

“Gun violence is an epidemic that is plaguing every corner of this state and the people of Illinois are demanding substantive action,” they said in the statement. “With this legislation we are delivering on the promises Democrats have made and, together, we are making Illinois’ gun laws a model for the nation.”

The vote came hours after leaders of some of Chicago’s major health systems joined the call for action.

"I think we can all say enough is enough,” Dr. Omar Lateef, CEO of RUSH University System for Health, said during a press conference at Rush University Medical Center. “That should not be a controversial statement.”

Lateef was joined by officials from Sinai Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, University of Chicago and others to request state lawmakers take action before the lame duck session ends Wednesday. 

Dr. Tanya Zakrison, a member of the section of trauma and acute care surgery at the University of Chicago, said such weapons “traumatize not only patients and their families, but the entire team tasked with their care.”

“The Legislature cannot leave the lame duck session without passing a comprehensive assault weapon and high-capacity magazine ban that is enforceable,” she said. “This matter is urgent. Our communities shouldn’t have to wait another day to be safe from gun violence.”

 The press conference came a week after hundreds of Illinois physicians called on Illinois lawmakers to take up such legislation.

###

As the new year begins and the depths of inter approach, U.S. infectious disease experts monitoring the "tripledemic" stew of viruses that have been plaguing the country say there's good news — and bad.

The good news is the worst appears to be over from the RSV surge that has been making life miserable for many children and their parents. RSV cases have been falling steadily since the end of November, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At the same time, the flu — which also came roaring back this fall after mostly disappearing for the previous two years — looks like it's finally receding in most places, according to the latest data out Friday from the CDC.

"In a couple areas, we're seeing activity increase or plateau," Dr. Shikha Garg, a medical epidemiologist at the CDC, told NPR in an interview Friday. "But in most areas, it's been declining."

The virus posing the biggest threat right now is — you guessed it — the one that causes COVID-19.

COVID "concerns us most" in the days and weeks ahead

"We're seeing sustained increases of COVID infections across the nation," Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, told NPR in an interview. "So COVID is the thing that concerns us most as we look at the days and weeks ahead."

Full article here> 

###

Step addressing gun violence in Illinois - The Illinois House passed a modified ban on high-powered weapons and large-capacity magazines early Friday. [Health News Illinois and ABC7]

The assault weapons legislation quickly advanced to the full House and after late-night debate passed on a 64-43 vote.

The bill would ban the manufacture, sale and possession of dozens of firearms defined by the state as assault weapons.

A spokesperson for Illinois Senate President Don Harmon."These are critically important issues, and the Senate Democratic Caucus is committed to enacting the most effective legislation possible.
"Senators are giving these proposals an extensive review and careful evaluation.

Read more on measures on gun violence here>
https://lnkd.in/gV9eyRkp

###

State of Equity (formerly Health in All Policies) transforms public institutions to advance racial equity and health through capacity building, government accountability, and community partnerships. We are a small nonprofit team helping to build a state and nation that advances racial equity and health in our communities through three program areas: The Capitol Collaborative on Race and Equity, Health and Equity in All Policies, and National Racial Equity Strategy for States. [Public Health Institute] 

Read more>

Download four-page brief here> 

Download 169-page guidelines here> 

###

Patient education messaging provided in emergency department settings was able to sway COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and uptake, according to a recent study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. [Patient Engagement HIT]

Even two years after FDA’s COVID-19 vaccine approval, vaccine hesitancy is still rampant, especially among minority populations.

Recent Kaiser Family Foundation data showed that 23 percent of the United States population is reluctant to be vaccinated, with Hispanic people less likely than their White counterparts to receive a vaccine.

Primary health facilities have been vital in addressing barriers to COVID-19 vaccine adoption. Past surveys have indicated that 77 percent of patients say provider recommendations influenced vaccine decision-making, highlighting the importance of primary care providers for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

Full article here> 

###

Artificial intelligence, or AI, has been around for decades. In the past 20 years or so, it’s become a growing part of our lives. Researchers are now drawing on the power of AI to improve medicine and health care in innovative and far-reaching ways. NIH is on the cutting edge supporting these efforts.

At first, computers could simply do calculations based on human input. In AI, they learn to perform certain tasks. Some early forms of AI could play checkers or chess and even defeat human world champions. Others could recognize and convert speech to text.

Today, different forms of AI are being used to improve medical care. Researchers are exploring how AI could be used to sift through test results and image data. AI could then make recommendations to help with treatment decisions.

Some NIH-funded studies are using AI to develop “smart clothing” that can reduce low back pain. This technology could warn the wearer of unsafe body movements. Other studies are seeking ways to better manage blood glucose (or blood sugar) levels using wearable sensors.

Learn more about the different types of AI and their use in medical research.

###

Women’s health varied by health insurance coverage, with uninsured women experiencing some disparities in preventive care and insured women reporting unwelcome surprises about the limits of their coverage, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) study. [TechTarget]

“Despite the role that health insurance plays in helping people afford health care and reducing patients’ financial risks when they need routine care, get sick, or need to be hospitalized, scope of coverage and affordability can still be challenging for many women with insurance coverage,” the study found.

Most women reported having good, excellent, or very good health. However, those who reported fair or poor health were largely concentrated in Medicaid (30 percent) and uninsurance (23 percent) populations.

Full article here>

###

...A wide variety of infections can cause ME/CFS, and SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, is no different: Many cases of long COVID are effectively ME/CFS by another name. The exact number is hard to define, but past studies have shown that 5 to 27 percent of people infected by various pathogens, including Epstein-Barr virus and the original SARS, develop ME/CFS. Even if that proportion is 10 times lower for SARS-CoV-2, the number of Americans with ME/CFS would still have doubled in the past three years. “We’re adding an immense volume of patients to an already dysfunctional and overburdened system,” Beth Pollack, a scientist at MIT who studies complex chronic illnesses, told me.

Full article here>https://lnkd.in/eBTap9ja

###

Patient access to mental healthcare is poorer among women, with high costs and limited provider availability stymying the process, according to new figures from the Kaiser Family Foundation. [KFF]

Mental healthcare access issues are playing out in gender-based health disparities, with a smaller proportion of the women who need mental healthcare attempting to access it compared to men. 

The healthcare industry is finding itself at a crossroads in terms of mental healthcare. Nearly three years into a pandemic that disrupted work and daily life for virtually everyone, the US healthcare system needs to come to grips with skyrocketing mental health needs. 

Full article here>

###