Latest California Healthline Stories
Obesity, Diabetes Lead Latino Health Agenda
Greg Talavera said he’s never seen anything like it.
Talavera, vice president of clinical affairs at the San Ysidro Health Center in Southern California, was in Sacramento last week for a forum on health risks in the Latino community.
“From a public health perspective, I am alarmed,” Talavera said. “Child obesity is an epidemic. This is the biggest epidemic since the AIDS epidemic.”
Physicians Scarce for Latinos in California
There are two main hurdles to getting quality health care among the Latino population, according to David Hayes-Bautista, founding director of UCLA medical school’s Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture.
Access is the No. 1 issue and linguistic competency is No. 2, Hayes-Bautista said.
Hayes-Bautista was part of a forum convened last week in Sacramento by the Latino Community Development Foundation — a forum that included Health and Human Services Secretary Diana Dooley and a number of state Senate and Assembly members.
Wireless Medicine’s Promise: Less Cost, Better Care
Starting at the cellular level, wireless devices could change the practice of medicine. But like any transformative technology, risks accompany the vast promise of mobile health. That was one take-home message from a national conference of health care journalists last week in Philadelphia.
Gay and Lesbian Health Bills in Committee
Recent research by UCLA and UCSF highlighted an area of study that has not received much attention — the health risks and challenges of the general lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Now the state Legislature is considering two bills that try to address those needs.
AB 673 by John Pérez (D-Los Angeles) would require the state’s Office of Multicultural Health to include LGBT patients in their duties. And SB 747 by Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) would require medical providers to take a 2- to 5-hour course on gender issues.
Path Set for Dealing with Alzheimer’s in California
An official 10-year state plan is slated to be released today that could change the way California handles coordination of care for people with Alzheimer’s.
We’ll have details in Capitol Desk at 10 a.m. today when state Senator Elaine Alquist (D-Santa Clara) is scheduled to release the document.
“This is the first state plan for Alzheimer’s since the 1980s,” according to Debra Cherry, executive vice president of the California Southland chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.
End-of-Life Expert Susan Tolle on Rolling Out Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment
Susan Tolle of the Oregon Health & Science University spoke with California Healthline about how California could learn from Oregon’s experience implementing Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment.
San Diego Veterans Encouraged by New PTSD Rules
Under new Department of Veterans Affairs regulations, the evidence required to prove claims of post-traumatic stress disorder has been dramatically reduced. Officials expect this will streamline the claims process and make benefits available to a greater number of San Diego veterans.
Improving California’s Approach to Chronic Conditions
The arrival of national health reform offers opportunities to improve the way California’s health care system deals with chronic conditions. We asked stakeholders how policymakers, legislators, health care providers and insurers could best take advantage of these opportunities.
L.A., Orange County Weigh Resources To Fight Obesity
As Americans’ girths continue to widen, Los Angeles and Orange County are scaling up interventions to deal with the growing obesity problem that threatens not only the health of California, but its economy, too.
San Diego Embarks On 10-Year Trek Toward Better Health
With the support of a $16.1 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant, San Diego is reshaping public health and the design of its care delivery system to meet future health challenges and reduce the burden of chronic disease.