Halloween and Health

In deference to the holiday, today's post will be of a slightly different nature than the usual fare -- a slightly different tone before we return to election mania.

Preventative medicine is vitally important. That is something that I believe few will quibble with. Emergency rooms are expensive; that has also been well established. Chronic conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes absorb a huge amount of the funds in the health care system, an amount that proper prior behavior can reduce drastically. And Halloween? Halloween is just fun, right?

Like all good things there is dark side to Halloween, and I am not just talking hordes of kids on a massive sugar buzz. The Center for Disease Control has a page up on their web site that details a wide array of health and safety tips ranging from "be careful with toy swords," to advice on substituting health snacks for candy. It's comparatively short and presented as a bullet list, but a good starting point.

The one I really got the most out of this season was a piece by Samara Felesky-Hunt, for The Calgary Herald. Since massive snowdrifts of candy are about to blow through homes across the country her tips for reducing the impact are well timed.

[...] for now, you're dealing with the candy. Here are a few tricks to have up your sleeve before your kids are out of the door on the Halloween neighbourhood prowl.

Have a healthy dinner first. Having a well-balanced dinner with lots of veggies sets the tone for the whole evening. If you send them out with their tummies full, they're less likely to eat candy along the whole way. A healthy dinner -- or even a quick peanut butter sandwich with carrot sticks -- will help to prevent sugar highs and nasty tummy aches later.

The list goes on and is worth a look. You can strike a blow against diabetes, obesity, and sugar fueled hyperactivity all at once. (Hint: look under Sources below.)

SOURCE: "CDC- Halloween Health and Safety Tips" 10/08
SOURCE: "Halloween doesn't have to be unhealthy" 10/30/08
photo courtesy of C.J. Sorg, used under its Creative Commons license

Report: Community Based Prevention = Health Cost Savings

Prevention is generally acknowledged as a key factor in fighting chronic health issues. I don't think there is anyone who would dispute the fact that quitting smoking, while incredibly hard to do, vastly reduces your chances of lung cancer among other nasty illnesses. (I pick smoking as my example here because I am on day 22 without nicotine right now.)

Since these chronic issues consume so much of the expenditures made on health care, it is only natural that prevention should come to the fore as we attempt to craft a new system. As obesity and diabetes statistics skyrocket this becomes more and more obvious. What is interesting is a new report that has just been released which addresses a species of prevention not often spoken of in debates: Community-Based Disease Prevention.

Via MarketWatch:

In its report - commissioned by The California Endowment -- entitled Prevention for a Healthier California: Investments in Disease Prevention Yield Significant Savings, Stronger Communities, the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and Prevention Institute and the Urban Institute find that an investment of just $10 per person per year in proven community-based disease prevention programs to increase physical activity, improve nutrition, and prevent smoking and other tobacco use could save California's health care system more than $1.7 billion within five years. This represents a return of $4.80 for every dollar spent.

Furthermore, in 10-20 years the savings could grow to more than $1.9 billion annually, which would be a return of $5.40 for every $1 invested.

Wow. Encouraging numbers. Granted, like most things, implementation is a whole different ball game, but it still provides a goal to shoot for. One thing is confusing though. What exactly is "Community-Based" disease prevention?

Community-based disease prevention programs are things that impact health outside of the doctor's office, such as planning communities to have sidewalks to encourage walking; keeping school athletic facilities open after normal school hours so that youth have a safe haven to engage in physical activity; making fresh fruits and vegetables easily available in communities where there are few or no supermarkets; and implementing local ordinances that prohibit smokers from lighting up in public areas, among many others.

I have no trouble seeing the positive effect such measures could have on both individual health care and on the collective financial bottom line. Of course, much like herding cats, it will be an adventure getting the majority of people to actually utilize or participate in these programs, options and efforts once they are in place.

As always the variable is human behavior, although with so much to gain if may well be possible. I guess we will have to wait and see.

SOURCE: "Report Finds Community-Based Disease Prevention Saves California Money and Improves Californians' Health" 10/23/08
photo courtesy of kcjc009, used under its Creative Commons license

Text For Health, A New Twist on Tech

Technology comes up frequently when you live in the Information Age. On this blog, it rears its head quite frequently as we keep tabs on electronic medical records and online health care tools. Today I will be talking about technology, but not of any kind discussed in my prior postings. You see, today I'm going to take a look at text messaging.

While doing some online research, I ran across an intriguing press release out of the Delaware area. It seems that some doctors are using text messages with excellent results.

People stay healthier when they show up in their doctors’ offices for necessary health check-ups, but it’s sometimes challenging to get them there. Today, one Medicaid program, Delaware Physicians Care, Inc. (DPCI), is using cell phone text messaging to remind members of appointments, let them know if they have missed an appointment and inform them when they should be scheduling tests or additional appointments.

This makes perfect sense to me now that I am aware of someone doing it. A few weeks ago, I was speaking with a friend from DePaul University in Chicago's computer department about online social networking, a pet area of study for both of us. He commented that the younger generation seems to have moved past email and have adopted text messages as their preferred communications mode. If that trend carries over, this could be a program with huge potential.

In the meantime, it has already had verifiable results according to the release:

In the 2006 pilot project with diabetes patients, DPCI found that after six months the percentage of patients receiving a necessary test rose from 52.3 percent to 70.5 percent in members receiving text messages. Furthermore, the results were much higher than the 45.4 percent rate for members of a control group of diabetes patients who did not receive text messages.

A nearly twenty percent increase is nothing to sneeze at. We are a culture that loves immediacy, and using text messages for health maintenance seems apropos. If nothing else, it is an attempt at thinking creatively as we seek solutions to the state of our health care system. Even if it proves not to be viable in the longterm, this still bodes well as a signal that people are actively seeking innovative solutions.

All I have to say is, "Go, Delaware!"

SOURCE: "Text Messaging—a New Way for Delaware Physicians Care to Help Its Members" 07/30/08
photo courtesy of Nesster, used under its Creative Commons license