On Monday, July 12, 2010 I attended the Pre-Diabetes Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill held in cooperation with Congressional Diabetes Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Diana DeGette and Rep. Mike Castle and co-sponsored by Results for Life, the American Diabetes Association, Novo Nordisk, and The Endocrine Society. I was astonished to learn that there are 57 million Americans living in danger of developing type II diabetes. For 40 percent of these individuals, full blown type II diabetes is expected to be a reality in as few as 3-8 years. And diabetes is not their only concern. Diabetes translates to a 50 percent increased risk of heart disease or stroke and complications from hypertension, kidney disease, and neurological problems.
Archive for the ‘Disease Awareness’ Category
Tonique
Heaven
Heaven
Games That Changes Lives, Part II
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010Last month, in Part I of this post, I discussed the "Games for Change & Health Workshop: Brainstorming and Game Design Jam for HIV/AIDS" that Spectrum hosted during Digital Capital Week. In part one, I covered the discussion on HIV/AIDS that took place and how a video game could be created to educate others on the disease. In this post, I'll explore turning an idea for a game into reality.
After an in-depth discussion on the HIV/AIDS epidemic and a brief introduction of video game basics and strategy, Limor Schmafman, president of Keystone Tech and chief instigator of Games Gateway, led the group's brainstorming session. I was excited to turn our newfound knowledge into a game that could actually make a difference in the growing HIV epidemic. The group had a healthy debate on the focus of the game: Should the game focus on HIV in DC or on a more global level? Is the target audience those who are already infected or is it people who might be unaware of HIV's prevalence in the United States? Should the game be explicit or more abstract? (more...)
Tonique
Heaven
Heaven
Gaming That Changes Lives, Part I
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010I was very intrigued when I first heard about the "Games for Change" effort that is taking shape in the United States. Games that don't just entertain but educate and foster understanding and social change - I thought it was a fascinating idea. But when I sat in on the "Games for Change & Health Workshop: Brainstorming and Game Design Jam for HIV/AIDS" for Digital Capital Week, I was floored. The workshop, hosted by Spectrum, aimed to educate attendees on HIV/AIDS and "edu-gaming." And, in doing so, supply them with the knowledge to conceptualize video games that could help a variety of audiences better understand HIV/AIDS in Washington, D.C. and around the world. You can watch the live stream of the event in our DC Week video archives.
Two of our panel speakers - David Phillips, an information governance contractor at The National Institutes of Health, and Justin Goforth, RN, Director of Medical Adherence Unit and STD Services, Whitman Walker Clinic - were extremely educated on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Before delving into the gaming aspect, they introduced the hard hitting facts of the virus. After all, we need to know the subject matter before we could brainstorm about the game. (more...)
Seng
Getting Hip To Stopping Diabetes
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
Photo by Michael Murphy
I spent this past Father's Day morning riding 20 miles with my son Bobby on our bikes in the National Capital Tour de Cure in Reston, Virginia. No breakfast in bed for me!
Over the past eight years, Spectrum has sponsored our "Spokes Persons" team in the American Diabetes Association's annual ride to stop diabetes. Tour de Cure rides take place throughout the U.S. each year.
Diabetes is not a "sexy" or trendy disease. It's not as socially "hip" as breast cancer, in the sense that hundreds of thousands of people walk or run or ride to raise hundreds of millions of dollars that flow to diabetes research and survivor organizations, as happens with breast cancer. What's breast cancer got that diabetes doesn't?
For starters, breast cancer deeply scares people, affects mostly women, tugs at our emotions, and generally gets our attention in a big way when we hear about a friend or family member with a diagnosis. And breast cancer reigns supreme among awareness, advocacy and funding.
Too far down the respect scale, too many of the people afflicted with or at risk of diabetes don't understand the severity of the illness. There's a lack of fear due to a lack of education, real appreciation for the devastation diabetes can cause. We are nationally unobsessed with diabetes, unfortunately. (more...)
Maynard
Innovative Efforts to Improve Medication Adherence
Monday, June 28th, 2010Last week, commuting to work on the DC Metro, I stumbled across a New York Times article talking about how some health care groups are paying patients to take their medications in an effort to improve adherence.
For years, people have been talking about medication adherence or the lack thereof and of course we hear the often repeated billion dollar number to characterize the costs associated with avoidable hospitalizations or lost productivity at work. While we might be becoming immune to the billion and trillion dollar figures increasingly found everywhere, there are still a few simple numbers that continue to stand out when it comes to treatment compliance:
- As many as half of all patients do not take their medications as prescribed.
- Upwards of 25% of patients never fill their prescriptions at all.
- Even for those patients who have health insurance and no treatment co-pays, non-adherence rates for almost 40%.
- Many doctors have too many patients and too little time - the average office visit lasts just fifteen minutes. (more...)
Jessica
Gordon
Gordon
Spectrum Celebrates Men's Health Week
Friday, June 18th, 2010
As a rising college senior studying Public Health with a concentration in Women's Health, I find myself researching a wide range of women's health issues: sex education, HPV, cervical cancer, breast cancer, pregnancy, menopause, birth control and much more. In fact, I could probably discuss the HPV vaccine controversies in my sleep! I believe that educating women about their health is a form of women's empowerment. So, when I set out to write my first blog post as an intern for Spectrum, I assumed it would be about one of the women's health issues described above; however, this post is in honor of the opposite sex - men.
This week is Men's Health Week. As a public health advocate, I appreciate that men take a vested interest in monitoring their health. National Men's Health Week was created to advocate and educate people about early detection and treatment of diseases that affect men and boys. Those supporting Men's Health Week sport the color blue to spread the knowledge about this important week to health care providers, policy makers, the media and individuals like myself. Much like National Women's Health Week, it isn't just a "woman's" issue or "men's" issue - health issues of men and women affect everyone.
If there's anything that a public health student knows, it's that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." So, as we approach Father's Day this weekend, I encourage you to wear blue and speak out about men's health issues not only this week, but during the remainder of the year.
You can find more information about National Men's Health Week here.
