Wednesday, August 24, 2011

With courage and grace


This statement by Coach Pat Summitt helps us realize that a diagnosis of Alzheimer's is something that people can accept (and accept in others) and not a reason for withdrawal or denial. It takes courage and public transparency to make a statement like this statement. It takes understanding for an organization like a major university to to stand by someone willing to face up to a difficult diagnosis.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Big Data and Digital Epidemiology

In the following TEDMED video Nathan Wolfe, director of the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative goes beyond talking about the role of viruses in human history to suggest the implications of connectedness and information exchange.

Cause for notice

What will become of the nation's healthcare policies and institutions if American moves dramatically toward becoming a theocracy in 2012?

http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/17/17612/?iref=obnetwork

Thursday, August 18, 2011

The price of diplomacy

There is an article on the CNN site today reporting evidence that dogs have an ability to detect cancer by their sense of smell.

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/17/growing-body-of-research-says-dogs-really-can-smell-cancer/?hpt=hp_bn6

There is a link in the CNN article to the following blog post.

http://www.cancer.org/AboutUs/DrLensBlog/post/2006/01/11/Dogs-And-The-Early-Detection-of-Cancer.aspx

Several readers have posted comments saying that they can also smell cancer on others, even in public places. One comments that when she smells cancer on a stranger she does not say anything because it would be socially awkward to suggest that the stranger see a physician. What do physicians who are dermatologists do when they see a mole on person that they they know from professional experience should be removed and sent to a lab for testing? My guess is they say nothing because to do so would probably violate some professional norm or law regarding self referral. We need diplomatic ways to signal concern to one another (including people we don't know) without creating unnecessary alarm or offense. It seems to me that the price of silent diplomacy is high.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Health Literacy and Environmental Health Awareness

I am preparing to take two online courses this fall offered by Georgia Health Sciences University. One course is in environmental health. I plan to write a paper regarding health literacy and environmental awareness. An article by D. W. Baker (2006) addresses the meaning of health literacy in terms of the reading and writing that constituted literacy when I was growing up. But literacy today extends the use to use computers and mobile devices. There appears to be a huge and growing literature on mHealth - regarding things like health-related applications running on tablets and smart phones.

http://mashable.com/2011/08/09/kids-tech-developmental-health/

I have not yet concluded what to think about the pros and cons of children growing up in an electronically connected world. As a person who sometimes finds that eye contact interferes with my ability to think while speaking, the article above caught my eye. It is apparent to me that technology is changing humanity in parts of the world in which electronic devices are everywhere. This video of a child's first experience with an iPad is interesting. What are the implications for her future health literacy?



Reference

Baker, D. W. (2006). The meaning and the measure of health literacy. Journal of General Internal Medicine: Official Journal of the Society for Research and Education in Primary Care Internal Medicine, 21(8), 878-883.

Monday, August 1, 2011

House vote on the debt ceiling legislation - August 1, 2011

I watched the members of the U.S. House of Representatives vote on the debt ceiling legislation this evening and am reflecting now on the meaning of it. The scholarly explanation is that as a complex adaptive system our political system is presently stuck in a dysfunctional attractor. Assuming the U.S. Senate votes for the same language tomorrow and the President signs, I think they will have essentially kicked the can down the road a piece. I think our nation will soon lose its AAA credit rating and that all Americans will experience the equivalent of a substantial tax increase - not just the few who were saved from a return to their obligations during President Clinton's presidency. In my opinion, this bill will have more adverse financial consequences for "corporate jet owners" than a more responsible bill would have had. A more responsible bill would have prevented a probable loss in the nation's credit ratings that I think will hit every American -- not just those who are best able to buy their access to political power. I doubt that the stock markets of the world will be pleased by this legislation. My only moment of celebration this evening was the return of Representative Gabrielle Giffords. To me, she is more than a member of Congress. She is a living symbol of a great nation and of courage and survival.

Regarding the specific subject of this blog, a CNN announcer this evening made reference to future cuts affecting healthcare providers but not patients. Whatever affects providers is going to affect patients directly or indirectly.