UNC, Duke Lead First Statewide Shaken
Baby Prevention Research Project in US
Child abuse prevention experts from the University of
North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
Injury
Prevention
Research
Center
and School
of Medicine
and Duke
University
Medical
Center
will undertake a $7 million statewide shaken baby prevention project. The
project, the largest and most comprehensive in the country, is funded by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
and The Duke Endowment and is led by a broad coalition of stakeholders from
the National Center for Shaken Baby Syndrome, University of British Columbia
and state and county agencies, service providers and non-profit organizations.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/unc-duke-lead-f.php
Mothers' Stress May Increase Children's
Asthma
Children whose mothers are chronically stressed during
their early years have a higher asthma rate than their peers, regardless of
their income, gender or other known asthma risk factors. "Evidence is
emerging that exposure to maternal distress in early life plays a causal role
in the development of childhood asthma. The findings appeared in the second
issue for January of the American Journal or Respiratory and Critical Care
Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/mothers-stress.php
**************************************************************************
Have a Website? Place HandsNet Headlines on your site
– visit http://www.handsnet.org/addheadl.htm
************************************************************************
What Are the Causes and Consequences
of Childhood Obesity?
The January 2008 special issue of The Annals, published
by SAGE, explores the problem of obesity in the young, providing kids, their
parents and caregivers a road map for a healthier lifestyle both for them
and for future generations. "Clearly we need to help the 9 million children
in this country who are overweight, and we need to do it now," writes
Amy Jordan, Guest Editor, author, and director of the Media and the Developing
Child sector of the Annenberg
Public
Policy
Center
at the University
of Pennsylvania.
"The authors in this special issue provide a research agenda that, if
implemented, will continue the interdisciplinary approach we have taken to
understand the problem of childhood overweight and obesity and the collective
effort we will need to solve it."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/what-are-the-ca.php
Sense of Personal Control Influences
Latinas' Decisions about Sexual Debut
A sense of personal control over sexual behaviors strongly
influences Latina
women's decisions of when to first engage in sex, report researchers from
the University of Chicago Medical Center in the November
issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health. This suggests that Latina women's
own beliefs regarding timing of first sexual intercourse may outweigh the
influence of family, friends, and partners. The study also revealed a high
correlation between a young Latina's decision
about when to first initiate sexual activity and her family's expectations.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/sense-of-person.php
**Civic Engagement
Shifting Trends Among
Adults About Benefits, Consequences of Children Going Online
The 2008 report of the Digital Future Project has identified
several sobering trends in views about going online -- in particular in adults'
opinions about Internet use by children. - The percentage of adults who said
that the children in their households spend too much time using the Internet
reached 25 percent of respondents -- an increase for the third year in a row
and the highest percentage yet reported in the seven years of Digital Future
Project studies. The findings about adult views of children's online behavior
and more than 100 other issues are published by the Center for the Digital
Future at the USC Annenberg School for Communication.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/annual-internet.php
Negative Campaign Ads Contribute to
a Healthy Democracy
Political attack ads, widely demonized by pundits and
politicians, are instead a kind of multi-vitamin for the democratic process,
sparking voters' interest and participation, according to a new book co-authored
by University
of Wisconsin-Madison
political scientist Kenneth Goldstein. "There's this gut reaction that
if a political advertisement is negative, it must have a deleterious affect
on American politics," says Goldstein. The book, "Campaign Advertising
and American Democracy," pokes holes in the prevailing wisdom that negative
ads are bad for democracy and tend to suppress voter involvement.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/university-of-w.php
New Book Explores History of Racism
in America
The origins and development of racism in North
America are traced in a new book by St. Lawrence
University Emeritus Professor of Anthropology Richard J. Perry. "'Race'
and Racism: The Development of Modern Racism in America" explores the
diverse ways in which people in a variety of cultures have perceived, categorized
and defined one another without reference to any concept of "race."
In the book, Perry examines the inception and persistence of the concept of
"race," and discusses the biology of human variance, addressing
the fossil record of human evolution.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/new-book-explor.php
**Economic Security
Community Action Agencies Welcome Low-Income
Heating Assistance
The nation's Community Action Agencies welcomed today's
news from Washington
that more funds are on the way to help low- and moderate-income Americans
pay their rising energy bills. President Bush released $450 million from
the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) contingency fund, which
Community Action Agencies across the country will deliver to energy consumers
in their communities. David Bradley, executive director of the National Community
Action Foundation, which represents the nation's 1,100 Community Action Agencies
in Washington, called
the increment a "good down-payment on the ballooning debt Americans owe
energy suppliers."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/community-actio-1.php
HHS Provides $450 Million in Energy
Assistance to Low-Income Families
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt announced the release of
$450 million to help eligible low-income homeowners and renters meet home
energy costs. The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funds
will provide states, territories, tribal areas and the District
of Columbia with heating assistance for the winter
months ahead. Every year, more than five million low-income households across
the country receive assistance under LIHEAP.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/hhs-provides-45.php
Strategy for an Economic Rebound
According to the Economic Policy Institute, because the United States
is either already in a recession or is headed for one, policy makers need
to act now to craft an effective economic stimulus package to spur growth
and job creation. Without a stimulus of sufficient magnitude, the U.S.
economy is likely to see a decline in growth or even a formal recession, leading
to higher unemployment, declining or stagnant wages, and a host of other economic
problems.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/strategy-for-an.php
**Education
Teens Confident in Their Inventiveness;
Hands-On, Project-Based Learning Needed
American teens are confident they can invent solutions
to some of the world's pressing challenges, such as protecting and restoring
the natural environment, but more than half feel unprepared for careers in
technology and engineering, the Lemelson-MIT Invention
Index has found this year. The Lemelson-MIT Invention
Index, which gauges Americans' attitudes toward invention and innovation,
also found there is an important need for more project-based learning in high
schools.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/survey-shows-us.php
No Child Left Behind: Researcher Finds
Misplaced Focus on High-Stakes Testing
New research by University of
Maryland Education Associate Professor Linda Valli
provides clear evidence that the No Child Left Behind
Act's focus on high-stakes testing has "actually undermined the quality
of teaching in reading and math." Valli says that declines her research found in high quality
teaching are directly related to "the pressure teachers were feeling
to 'teach to the test.'
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/no-child-left-b.php
TV Show to Examine No Child Left Behind's
Six Years of Progress
Marking the sixth anniversary of the landmark No Child
Left Behind Act, the U.S. Department of Education's
monthly TV show, Education News Parents Can Use, will explore progress in
American education under the act with examples of achievement gains, parental
choice options and award-winning schools. The program aired on January 16th
from 8
to 9 p.m. ET
on the Dish Network, dozens of PBS stations and numerous cable outlets.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/tv-show-to-exam.php
**Health
The Public's Views on Health Care Reform
in the 2008 Presidential Election
A Commonwealth Fund survey of adults age 19 and older,
conducted from June 2007 to October 2007, finds that large majorities of the
public, regardless of political affiliation or income level, say that the
candidates' views on health care reform will be very important or somewhat
important in their voting decision. A majority of adults would favor a requirement
that everyone have health insurance, with the government helping those who
are unable to afford it; support for such a requirement, however, is not strong
and varies by political affiliation, geographic region, and income.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/the-publics-vie.php
Health Care Reform and 2008 Elections:
New Reports Examine Candidates' Plans, Public's Views
Eighty-one percent of Americans believe that in order
to help reach the goal of health insurance for all, employers should either
provide health insurance to their workers or contribute to the cost of their
coverage, according to survey data released today by The Commonwealth Fund.
Nearly nine of 10 (88%) Democrats, nearly three-quarters (73%) of Republicans,
and nearly four of five (79%) Independents would support such an employer
"play or pay" requirement.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/health-care-ref.php
759,000 Children with Asthma Endure
Gaps in Insurance Every Year
Every year, 759,000 children with asthma may be at risk
of a major asthma attack while they have no health insurance. About 30 percent
of those families earn more than 200 percent of the federal poverty level,
putting them above the threshold for the state children's health insurance
program in most states. "Too many children with this chronic condition
are without insurance at some point during the year," said Jill Halterman, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of Pediatrics
at the University
of Rochester
and author of the study that appears in Ambulatory Pediatrics today. "These
children need to have ongoing treatment from a primary care provider to avoid
serious health complications.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/759000-children.php
Health Literacy Practices in Primary
Care Settings: Examples from the Field
Low health literacy is widespread among U.S.
patients, yet limited research has been done to assess the effects of health
literacy practices designed to combat the problem, particularly among safety-net
providers in primary care settings. This report presents findings from a
2005 study in which the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved first
did an online survey of health care facilities across the country and then
followed it up with visits to five selected sites for staff and patient interviews.
The study identified five health literacy practices that staff considered
especially valuable for their group's patients and potentially applicable
to other clinics.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/health-literacy.php
**Homelessness
New Resources Offered To Rural Homelessness
Organizations
A new Rural Homelessness
Capacity Building program
launched this month will support the work of faith-based and community-based
organizations serving homeless populations in rural America.
"Many small rural community organizations just don't have the funding,
networks, and information they need in order to help their homeless neighbors,"
explained Moises Loza,
executive director of the Housing Assistance Council, which created the new
program. "Through the Rural Homelessness
Capacity Building program,
they can access tools and resources that will enable them to better serve
homeless people."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/new-resources-o.php
**Nutrition and Healthy Diet
Researchers Find Association between
Food Insecurity and Developmental Risk in Children
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine
(BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC), in collaboration with researchers
from Arkansas, Maryland, Minnesota and
Pennsylvania,
have found that children living in households with food insecurity,
are more likely to be at developmental risk during their first three years
of life, compared to similar households that are not food insecure. The U.S.
Department of Agriculture estimates that 16.7 percent of all U.S.
households with children less than six years of age had food insecurity in
2005, reporting limited or uncertain availability of enough food for an active
healthy life.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/researchers-fin-1.php
Weight-Loss Tips Differ in African-American,
Mainstream Magazines
Magazines catering to African-Americans may be falling
short in their efforts to educate readers about weight loss, a new University of
Iowa study suggests.
African-American women's magazines are more likely to encourage fad diets
and reliance on faith to lose weight, while mainstream women's magazines focus
more on evidence-based diet strategies, according to the study by UI researcher
Shelly Campo, published in a recent issue of the journal Health Communication.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/study-weightlos.php
**Seniors
Fall Prevention Program Study for America's Seniors
Bankers Life and Casualty Company has joined LifePlans, Inc. and the United States Department of Health
and Human Services in implementing a study with senior Americans on fall prevention.
"Over thirty-percent of adults over age 65 fall
each year, and falls are a leading cause of injury deaths and the most common
cause of nonfatal injuries." LifePlans, which
specializes in creating products and services for long- term care clients,
spent three years researching and designing a model program with the Department
of Health and Human Services, who will provide financial backing for the study.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/bankers-life-an.php
**Substance Abuse
Substance Abuse among the Developmentally
Disabled: An Infrequent but Troubling Concern for Society
While mentally retarded or developmentally disabled
people may be as vulnerable to substance abuse as the population at large,
common approaches for substance abuse treatment often conflict with standard
practice in managing MR/DD needs. This important issue is examined in a thoroughly
research report contained in the latest issue of Families in Society, a scholarly
journal for social services and health professionals.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/substance-abuse-1.php
