public health policy | The Pump Handle

Affordable Care Act Health care & the election: What do voter beliefs say about future health policy?

October 28, 2016 Kim Krisberg

While health policy hasn’t been at the forefront of this year’s presidential election, the next person to sit in the White House could have a transformative effect on health care access, affordability and inequity. Of course, with so many variables in play, it’s hard to predict what either candidate could realistically accomplish on the health care front. However, a new report might provide some insightful clues.

Food Safety & Nutrition Study finds dozens of health, medical organizations take soda company money

October 19, 2016 Kim Krisberg 1Comment

After years of alarming increases in child and adult obesity and billions spent to treat related medical problems, one might think health organizations and soda companies would be on firmly opposite sides of the fence. But a new study finds that a surprising number of health groups accept soda sponsorship dollars, inadvertently helping to polish the public image of companies that actively lobby against obesity prevention efforts.

Addiction & Substance Abuse More evidence that indoor smoking bans and smart public health policy are good for people’s health

July 21, 2015 Kim Krisberg

Because there can never be enough research to illustrate the positive impact of public health policy on people’s health, here’s another one. This one found that comprehensive smoke-free indoor air laws resulted in a lower risk of asthma symptoms and fewer asthma-related doctor’s visits.

Drug Safety Messaging study: Putting a human face on opioid addiction increases public support for naloxone

July 17, 2015 Kim Krisberg 1Comment

Every day in the U.S., more than 40 people die after overdosing on prescription painkillers. Deaths from a more notorious form of opiates — heroin — increased five-fold between 2001 and 2013. Addressing this problem — one that’s often described as a public health crisis — requires action on many fronts, from preventing abuse in the first place to getting those addicted into treatment. But when it comes to overdoses, there’s one answer we know works: naloxone.

California Study: Declines in air pollutants had direct positive effect on children’s health

March 17, 2015 Kim Krisberg 3Comment

In the first study of its kind, researchers have found that improved air quality in southern California had a direct effect on children’s respiratory health. The findings point to the effectiveness of smart public health policy — in other words, even as southern California experienced increases in traffic and commerce, aggressive air pollution policies resulted in cleaner air and healthier kids.

Education Study: Public views of drug addiction much more negative than views of mental illness

October 14, 2014 Kim Krisberg 7Comment

When it comes to substance abuse disorders, public health and the public at-large are hardly on the same page — in fact, they’re not even reading the same book. And that’s a serious problem for sustaining and strengthening efforts to treat addiction and advancing effective public health policy.

Food Safety & Nutrition Two new studies find food policy interventions have support and impact

June 10, 2014 Kim Krisberg

Five million dollars. That’s how much the fast food industry spends every day to peddle largely unhealthy foods to children. And because studies have found that exposure to food marketing does indeed make kids want to eat more, advertising is often tapped as an obvious way to address child obesity. Fortunately, a new study finds that the public agrees.

Government New research estimates that one in eight U.S. children will experience maltreatment

June 6, 2014 Kim Krisberg 1Comment

Researcher Christopher Wildeman has spent his whole career describing and quantifying the more unpleasant parts of people’s lives and his latest study on the surprising prevalence of childhood maltreatment is no exception. Still, there is a bit of a silver lining.

Public Health Practice Is fear a useful measure in preventing outbreaks?

August 29, 2013 Sara Gorman PhD 8Comment

In Los Angeles in 1924, after a series of mysterious deaths, Yersinia pestis, or bubonic plague, was swiftly identified as the culprit. Immediate quarantine of exposed people in selected areas helped to make the outbreak less than a devastating epidemic. But some public officials and newspaper reporters, in a desperate attempt to explain the origins […]

Education Study finds high support for public health interventions, few worries about encroaching ‘nanny state’

March 18, 2013 The Pump Handle 2Comment

A new study finds that the public does, indeed, support legal interventions aimed at curbing noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity. However, they’re more likely to support interventions that create the conditions that help people make the healthy choice on their own.

Liz Borkowski, MPH	Celeste Monforton, DrPH,
Kim Krisberg	Garrett Brown