Changing the Way Public Health Works on the Internet

Connecting asthma, health care costs and social inequity; mold in schools; the Breathe Easies, and more

17 October, 2013

Dear Digest subscribers,

Over the past few weeks several traditional and social media outlets have featured articles that are each interesting in their own right. Taken together, however, they paint an even more compelling picture linking medical care delivery, health care costs, and social inequity. The first story, “Children’s Hospital Aims to Cut Asthma-related ER Visits,” explores the work of an asthma clinic based in an Emergency Room in that serves families with some of the area’s most out of control asthma. The second, “The Soaring Cost of a Simple Breath,” uses the high costs of asthma drugs – and the barriers those costs create to positive health outcomes – as a case study for prescription drug costs across disease areas. Last but not least, a blog post from Health Affairs unpacks an analysis of over thirty nations, connecting “the dots from inadequate social spending to excess poverty and income inequality to more chronic illness and higher health care spending.” The images, family stories and data are a fresh reminder about the links between the health of our communities and social and environmental conditions.

And now on to other interesting and helpful resources. Enjoy.

Opportunities

Creating Healthy Neighborhoods: Outdoor Air Pollution, Health Impac...

Environmental Management of Pediatric Asthma: Guidelines for Health...

Registration Now Open for the 5th Annual Environmental Health Leade...

Participant Enrollment Now Open for Severe Asthma Study at UCSF

Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology Issues Call for Papers

Resources

Green Cleaning, Sanitizing and Disinfecting: A Toolkit for Early Ca...

Wee Breathers Program Helps Health Professionals Address Asthma in Young Children

Health in All Policies: A Guide for State and Local Government

The Influence of Setting on Care Coordination for Childhood Asthma ...