A New Toolkit for Evaluating Health Education Materials
The California Family Health Council, Inc. (CFHC) is pleased to announce a new resource entitled Evaluating Health Education Materials: A Toolkit on Meeting the Title X Information and Education Guidelines.
Originally designed to help Title X Delegate Agencies in California offer their clients culturally and linguistically appropriate health education materials and services, the toolkit can easily be tailored to meet the needs of other programs, with or without Title X funding.
Addressing Information and Education Needs Among Family Planning Clients
If you are a Title X funded program, this Toolkit will provide concrete and creative suggestions for meeting the TitleX I&E guidelines. Even if your agency is not Title X-funded it will help you better serve the information and education needs of your clients.
The Toolkit begins by highlighting the theoretical framework and rationale behind the I&E regulations. It answers such questions as:
- Why is it important to evaluate health education materials? - What is health literacy? - What are the challenges many clients face? - What is linguistic and cultural competency?
When health education materials are easy to read and culturally acceptable to the clients served, you as a health care provider, can enhance your services and improve your clients’ care.
UCSF study finds routine HIV screening in community health centers boosts HIV testing
Post Date: 14-Dec-2009
Contact: Jeff Sheehy jsheehy@ari.ucsf.edu 415-597-8165 University of California - San Francisco
UCSF researchers have that found routinely offering rapid HIV tests to patients in community health centers can significantly increase the number of patients screened for HIV.
Study findings are published in the December 2009 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
"In the six centers implementing the new procedures, the number of patients screened for HIV jumped from 3,000 in the prior year to almost 11,000—more than a three fold increase. Our results show that you can successfully implement routine HIV screening in primary care settings," said Janet J. Myers, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine at the UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies.
The research, conducted in partnership with the National Association of Community Health Centers, took place in community health centers in Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina. The national network of centers sees more than 20 million patients, of whom 90 percent are low income, half are rural with most of the rest in inner cities, and two-thirds are racial and ethnic minorities. HIV disproportionately affects health center patients; so increasing testing in these settings is a priority.
Patients in the clinics were offered the tests routinely as part of their primary health care visits. While most patients offered a test accepted, results varied by health center and by race, ethnicity and age. Patients over age 55 were less likely to receive testing when offered. And non-white patients, particularly Latinos, were more likely to receive testing when it was offered.
By Charles Bankhead, Staff Writer, MedPage Today Published: December 13, 2009
SAN ANTONIO -- Last month the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force published new recommendations for screening mammography. In a departure from previous recommendations, the task force concluded that regular mammograms should begin at age 50, instead of 40, and continue through 74. The group said younger women should talk to their healthcare providers about the risks and benefits of screening mammography and then make a decision about whether to proceed with it. The task force also recommended screening every other year, rather than annually.
News of the recommendations elicited immediate and forceful responses on both sides of the issue. In this MedPage Today Infocus™ report, two breast cancer specialists interpret the mammography recommendations and their potential effect on clinical practice. Edith Perez, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., and Laura Esserman, MD, of the University of California San Francisco, spoke with MedPage Today during the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Posted thanks to kind permission from our friends at MedPageToday.com.
Happy Holidays from the Cooperative Purchasing Program of the California Family Health Council!
Our vendor Global Protection Corps. certainly has the holiday spirit. Their Christmas line of condoms are fun and undeniably festive. Rightly named "Frosty's Magic Hats" and "Christmas Sheath's", these merry little prophylactics are a great way to spread some cheer about condom use.
Creative outreach like this is just another reason why we love offering Global Protection products to our members for special prices. If you would like to save on products like these, then consider becoming a member of our Cooperative Purchasing Program.
If you would like to see what other fun products Global Protection has to offer, check out their online catalog.
Senate Defeats Antiabortion Amendment to Health Reform Bill
Post Date: 9-Dec-2009
The Senate on Tuesday voted 54-45 to table an amendment to its health reform bill that would prohibit coverage of abortion services in any health plan insuring people who receive federal subsidies, though the action "is unlikely to be the final word on how the issue is dealt with in the health bill," the New York Times reports. The amendment, offered by Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), was virtually identical to anamendment adopted in the House health reform bill (HR 3962) that was introduced by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.). The amendment stated that no federal money could be "used to pay for any abortion or to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion," except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the woman. Women could use their own money to buy "separate supplemental coverage for abortion."
The current language in the Senate bill would allow federally subsidized insurance plans to cover abortion services but would require plans to segregate federal funds from private money that would pay for the services (Pear/Herszenhorn, New York Times, 12/9). During a floor speech before the vote on Nelson's amendment, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the bill's current language represents "a fair middle ground" on the issue (Murray/Montgomery, Washington Post, 12/9). Reid, an abortion-rights opponent who voted against Nelson's amendment, said that the "reason I oppose abortion and the reason I support this historic bill are the same: I respect the sanctity of life" (Hook/Levey, Los Angeles Times, 12/9). He added that the health reform bill is "not an abortion bill" and that the Senate "can't afford to miss the big picture," noting that "[n]either this amendment nor any other should overshadow the entire bill or overwhelm the entire process. ... I will not support efforts to undermine this historic legislation" (Kellman, AP/NPR, 12/9).
Reid was joined by 50 Democrats, two independent and two Republicans -- Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe -- in voting against the amendment. Seven Democrats -- Nelson, Evan Bayh (Ind.), Robert Casey (Pa.), Kent Conrad (N.D.), Byron Dorgan (N.D.), Ted Kaufman (Del.) and Mark Pryor (Ark.) -- voted for the amendment along with 38 Republicans.
Let's be clear. As both caregivers and patients, women bear the brunt of shortcomings in our health care system - high costs, poor quality, and fragmented, uncoordinated care.
That's because women are the primary users of health care, and we continue to use more health services as we age.
It's also because, in most cases, we are primary caregivers for our families. We coordinate care for our spouses, parents and children, and often, at great cost to ourselves, we fill in the gaps when the system fails and care is poor quality and uncoordinated.
With the finish line in sight on health reform, everyone needs to take a close look at what the House and Senate bills will do, not only to expand coverage and contain costs but also to improve the way care is delivered. We should particularly look closely at whether these bills will provided higher quality care for older women, who are more than half of Medicare beneficiaries and 70 percent of those aged 85 and older.
The good news is that the House and Senate bills both contain a number of measures that will improve the way we pay for and deliver health care. These quality improvement measures are vital to preserving and protecting programs like Medicare for the long term, and containing costs and improving efficiencies overall.
For example, both bills move us toward a system that links payment to better quality and better coordinated care. This means we can start paying for health care based on value and better health outcomes, rather than paying based on the number of services or tests performed. This is good news for anyone who has a loved on struggling with illness or health problems. People who navigate the health system know that their loved one needs the right test or treatment at the right time - not an abundance of repeat or erroneous services that don't provide answers or make them better.
Earlier this year, we talked to caregivers around the country about their concerns with our health care system. Poor care coordination and a lack of communication among doctors were foremost on their minds. That's because they've seen first-hand how these problems lead to dangers and waste from bad drug interactions, repeat tests, misdiagnoses, and more.
Both the Senate and House bills also introduce new models of delivering health care that are specifically designed to improve coordination and reduce events like preventable hospitalizations and readmission's, which are all too common now.
Because passing legislation only begins the work to fix our broken health care system, these bills allow us to test new models over time so we can find out what works best and continuously build on our success.
Recently a distinguished group of consume advocates, economists and analysts issued a letter praising the Senate's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act for its payment and delivery reforms.I was proud to coordinate and sign that letter.
Older women have a huge stake in turning our health care system around, and ensuring that it serves them and other vulnerable populations better. If we can make the system work for them, we can make it work for everyone.
We're closer than ever to the reforms we need, but victory is not assured. We need to be certain the final legislation includes the key provisions that will improve care coordination and put patients first.
Letter from Eileen Yamada, MD, MPH, Immunization Branch, California Department of Public Health.
Because of the dangers posed by pandemic (H1N1) influenza, and because there are currently insufficient supplies of influenza A (H1N1) 2009 monovalent influenza vaccine that have levels of the preservative thimerosal below the state legal limits, an exemption has been granted from California Health and Safety Code Section 124172 subdivision (a) for influenza A (H1N1) 2009 monovalent influenza vaccine administered to children younger than 3 years old and pregnant women for the period of October 12, 2009 – September 30, 2010.
Under the terms of this law, Health and Safety Code Section 124172, since July 1, 2006 vaccines containing levels of mercury greater than specified limits cannot be administered to pregnant women and young children, except under certain circumstances. Until September 30, 2010, due to the insufficient supplies of influenza A (H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccine, there will be an exemption to this law for influenza A (H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccine; however, there is no exemption for the seasonal influenza vaccine.
The attached documents to health care providers and other stakeholders will also be posted later today at
Health Reform Encounters Two Long Standing Challenges: Confidentiality and Health Information Technology
Post Date: 1-Dec-2009
New Policy Analyses Examine How Sexual and Reproductive Health Providers Might Be Affected
Two new analyses in the Fall 2009 issue of the Guttmacher Policy Review examine how health care reform might affect medical providers—in particular those who provide sexual and reproductive health services—in two important and interrelated areas: confidentiality of services and health information technology.
Confidentiality of Services
Widely used health insurance billing and claims procedures unintentionally but routinely violate basic confidentiality for anyone enrolled as a dependent on someone else’s policy, such as spouses, teens and young adult children of primary policyholders, according to “Unintended Consequences: How Insurance Processes Inadvertently Abrogate Patient Confidentiality,” by Rachel Benson Gold. In particular, the practice of sending “explanation of benefits” forms to a policyholder violates confidentiality for anyone enrolled as a dependent on their policy. This may be especially acute for individuals seeking sensitive services, such as sexual and reproductive health care.
“Confidentiality is a fundamental principle underlying the provision of health care,” says Gold. “By increasing the number of insured individuals and broadening the group eligible to be covered as dependents, health care reform—despite its many positive benefits—could greatly expand the number of affected Americans. It makes it all the more important to address the issue of confidentiality.”
Gold concludes that current policy and practice offer potentially useful models to address long-standing confidentiality concerns, including the development of payment methods that preserve the integrity of the billing process while ensuring the provision of confidential care. In contrast, a failure to address the issue not only erects roadblocks for those needing sensitive services, it could also lead insured teens and other dependents to turn to publicly funded family planning centers for confidential care, thereby exacerbating an already serious funding situation for safety-net providers.
Every year on December 1st, World AIDS Day is observed. Established in 1988 by the World Health Organization, World AIDS Day provides governments, national AIDS programs, faith organizations, community organizations, and individuals with an opportunity to raise awareness and focus attention on the global AIDS epidemic. Worldwide, over 33 million people are living with AIDS, over one million of whom live in the United States.
How can I participate in World AIDS Day?
According to the Guttmacher Institute, 94% of family planning centers offer HIV testing services. Take advantage of this and go out an get tested for HIV today. Start a conversation about HIV prevention with family, friends and colleagues or offer support to people living with HIV/AIDS. Choose to practice safer sex to prevent HIV and decide not to engage in high risk behaviors. Also, check out the World AIDS Day events going on in your community.
- HIV/AIDS in the United States - Asian and Pacific Islanders and HIV/AIDS - HIV Among African Americans - Hispanics/Latinos and HIV/AIDS - Men who have sex with Men and HIV/AIDS - Native Americans, Native Alaskans, and HIV/AIDS - Women and Girls and HIV/AIDS - HIV/AIDS among Persons Aged 50 and Older
