The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) released new data on California’s adolescent birth rate, finding a record low of 13.9 births per 1,000 females between the ages of 15-19. The record low reflects an 11.5 percent decline between 2016 and 2017. CDPH indicated the decline can be attributed to a number of factors including…
Read More »The National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) recently released a toolkit highlighting state initiatives to help older adults in rural communities age in place by increasing services that help people remain in their homes, expanding and professionalizing the caregiver workforce, improving transportation access and services, and making delivery system reforms within Medicaid programs. The…
Read More »Recently, the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) released the first-ever national recommendations for State Suicide Prevention Infrastructure, a collaborative effort among an advisory panel of experts and stakeholders. The guidelines detail essential infrastructure elements for advancing state suicide prevention efforts, including elements to assist policy leaders and officials assess the status of their current infrastructure…
Read More »In a new report released by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), finds five overarching goals and associated recommendations for health systems, government agencies, and related entities should implement to better integrate patients’ social needs into health care delivery. The report, Integrating Social Care into the Delivery of Health Care: Moving Upstream…
Read More »On Thursday, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) indicated in a report that an overwhelming majority of Californians – 73 percent – favor requiring parents to vaccinate their children for diseases like measles, mumps, and rubella. The view is help by at least seven in ten across genders, political parties, and those with and…
Read More »A new study by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research recently found that Latinos in California continue to fall behind other racial and ethnic groups in coverage and access to healthcare despite significant health insurance coverage gains provided under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). According to the center, Latinos in California are less likely…
Read More »Recently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a series of resources on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, targeted at a variety of audiences, including public health practitioners, local health departments, and communities. The CDC’s Alzheimer’s Disease and Healthy Aging Program has made the following resources available: What is Alzheimer’s Disease? Alzheimer’s…
Read More »This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a report examining“The Real Cost” campaign and its impact on youth tobacco use. “The Real Cost” campaign launched in 2014 to educate at-risk teens about the harmful effect of cigarette smoking and other tobacco products. In a new study published in the American Journal of…
Read More »The California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) recently published a resource document providing an overview of California’s county-based health plans. The document details where county-organized health plans currently operate and how their enrollment and finances have changed between 2012 and 2018. According to CHCF, enrollment in county-organized plans increased 103 percent between 2012 to 2018 and…
Read More »On Tuesday, California State Auditor Elaine Howle released the audit report, “Department of Health Care Services: It Has Not Ensured That Medi-Cal Beneficiaries in Some Rural Counties Have Reasonable Access to Care.” The audit came at the request of Senator Jim Nielsen and was approved by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee in August 2018. The…
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