The Front Page Blog: Blogs on Health

When I think about American cities that can best illustrate the complex relationship between health and environment there is no more interesting picture than the one painted by New Orleans, the venue for the November 2014 American Public Health Association (APHA) 142nd annual meeting. The theme of the meeting was “Healthography: How Where You Live Affects Your Health and Well-being,” a concept gaining a lot of momentum in public health and across various private and federal, state and local initiatives. This approach to health and well-being considers both the built…

November is National Caregiver Month, a time to pay tribute to the 44 million individuals caring for older adults and people with disabilities in the United States. Family caregivers have an increased risk of negative health outcomes, including the erosion of physical, emotional and financial health. What can we do to ease their burden? In addition to an array of aging support services provided through a complex network of federally funded programs under the Older Americans Act, Home and Community Based Service State Medicaid waivers, and other emerging programs, the advancement of…

October 29, 2014 is World Stroke Day and the launch of I am woman: Stroke affects me, a two-year, world-wide campaign sponsored by the World Stroke Organization (WSO) and supported by national organizations like the American Stroke Association (ASA). According to the WSO, women have a higher risk of stroke than men, a higher mortality rate from stroke than men, have worse outcomes from stroke than men, and often receive less care than men, despite responding equally well to care.

Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death, and a leading cause of disability…

As population demographics continue to shift, long term services and supports are increasingly important to improve health and quality of life for individuals of all ages and abilities. A key component of long term services and supports are home and community-based services (HCBS), which provide opportunities for individuals, including people with disabilities and chronic conditions, to receive services in their own homes or communities.

As a member of the New Editions Money Follows the Person (MFP) Technical Assistance (TA) Center, I work to support states as they focus on…

August 26th is Women’s Equality Day, a national observance started in 1971 to commemorate the 1920 ratification of the 19th amendment, giving U.S. women the right to vote. While 94 years may seem like a lifetime, and a lot of progress has certainly been made, there is still work to be done. Women’s Equality Day is great opportunity to call attention to women’s ongoing efforts toward achieving full equality. 

Strong women begin as empowered girls, and whether they are rocking the vote or rocking an instrument, everyone benefits from a sense of shared experience, friendship,…

Men’s Health Week was established by Congress in 1994 and is celebrated every year the week before Father’s Day. This year we celebrate on June 9-15, 2014.

To quote Congressman Bill Richardson (Congressional Record, H3905-H3906, May 24, 1994): “Recognizing and preventing men’s health problems is not just a man’s issue. Because of its impact on wives, mothers, daughters and sisters, men’s health is truly a family issue.” The celebration of this week gives us all an opportunity to bring a heightened awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment…

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. During May, communities come together to promote awareness and understanding of mental illness.

Mental illness affects most families. One in four Americans will have a mental illness at some point in their lifetime. Half of all mental illnesses begin by age 14 and 75% begin by age 24. Mental illnesses include anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, among many others. To increase access to care and create an open dialogue about mental illness, communities must address service system issues.

In 2013,…

This Sunday marks the celebration of Mother's Day and the beginning of National Women’s Health Week (NWHW). NWHW is an annual week long observance led by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office on Women’s Health (OWH) that aims to empower women to make their health a priority and increase their understanding of what it means to be well. 

Mother’s Day is a chance to show our appreciation and celebrate mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and special women in our lives who have taken care of us over the years, through childhood and beyond. In the United States, the onus…

I appreciate the important Republican and Democratic thought leaders who are focusing on the need to provide long-term services and supports (LTSS) for people with disabilities and chronic health conditions and older Americans. The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) recently announced plans to draft policy and legislative solutions that will address public and private financing options, as well as how and where the services and supports are delivered. 

LTSS encompasses assistance with personal care, activities of daily living, housekeeping, health care routines that may be…

Over 12 million Americans receive long-term services and supports (LTSS) to meet their daily needs in a variety of settings, provided by family and/or paid workers. In late September, the bi-partisan Commission on Long Term Care issued its Report to Congress.

The Commission’s Report issued a “call to action,” declaring that:

  • New approaches are needed to bring LTSS care integration, technology, and innovative workforce strategies together to reduce costs and improve outcomes.
  • Creative financing efforts are needed to affordably insure the risk of needing LTSS and…