Public Health Practice | The Pump Handle

Drug Safety Public health takes on the opioid abuse and overdose problem, building on strengths as conveners, educators

November 30, 2012 The Pump Handle 2Comment

A decade ago, only about 10 percent of the patients at Cincinnati’s Center for Chemical Addictions Treatment were admitted for opioid addiction and abuse. During the treatment center’s last fiscal year, that number was up to 64 percent. The numbers reflect a startling trend in Ohio and throughout the nation — a trend that public health workers are taking to task.

Environmental Health Exploring links between working conditions and obesity in low-wage workers

November 28, 2012 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 3Comment

Most current strategies to address the obesity problem in Americans focus on individuals changing their behavior. A new report illuminates why those strategies alone ignore the work environment as a contributor to obesity risk.

Mental Health New study highlights need for workplace interventions that reduce depression risk

November 26, 2012 The Pump Handle 1Comment

Exploring reliable links between work and depression, which is a significant health and economic burden for individuals as well as society, is somewhat murky. But a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health used two analytic strategies to address such criticism.

Drug Safety Physicians take lead role in confronting opioid misuse, but still face hurdles

November 16, 2012 The Pump Handle 6Comment

Since 2000, overdose deaths due to prescription painkillers in Utah have increased by more than 400 percent. By 2006, more Utahans were losing their lives to prescription drug overdoses than to motor vehicle crashes. For Dr. Lynn Webster, a longtime pain management physician, the startling numbers were a call to action.

Drug Safety Chronic pain patients caught in the middle of growing opioid abuse problem

November 9, 2012 The Pump Handle 19Comment

It took six years of going from doctor to doctor to doctor for Penney Cowan to finally receive a diagnosis for her chronic pain: fibromyalgia. Doctors had told her she’d just have to learn to live with the pain — a condition that some days made it hard to lift a cup of coffee. So when she decided to join the pain program at Ohio’s Cleveland Clinic, she didn’t have high hopes. She says she expected the effort to fail.

APHA Annual Meeting Public health association adopts new policies opposing military recruiting in schools, supporting taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages

November 5, 2012 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 1Comment

At last week’s American Public Health Association (APHA) annual meeting its Governing Council adopted about a dozen new policies to guide the Association’s advocacy activities.

Public Health Practice Hurricanes, healthcare, and elections

October 31, 2012 Liz Borkowski, MPH 4Comment

When it comes to disaster preparedness and to healthcare, the two presidential candidates have fundamentally different approaches.

APHA Annual Meeting APHA Annual Meeting focuses on prevention and wellness

October 30, 2012 Liz Borkowski, MPH

The American Public Health Association’s annual meeting is taking place this week in San Francisco, with the theme of “Prevention and Wellness Across the Life Span.”

Education Despite record of saving lives and money, poison centers face uncertain funding future

October 26, 2012 The Pump Handle 2Comment

Earlier this year, federal officials put their foot down: New Hampshire could no longer use federal preparedness money to supports its poison control efforts. The directive sent state lawmakers scrambling to find extra funds. Without new money, New Hampshire callers to the Northern New England Poison Center would get a recording telling them to call 911 or go to the emergency room.

Public Health Practice Worth reading: Polio, pregnancy, and wily mosquitoes

October 25, 2012 Liz Borkowski, MPH

A few recent pieces worth a look.