What to do about the flu?

Since I’m stuck at home with H1N1 this week, I thought I’d do a little public service and offer you all some flu-related resources: Flu.gov. First stop is FLU.gov. This is the federal government’s central clearinghouse for flu information. You can find out where to get flu shots, how to prevent and treat the flu, and what [...]

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Tulsa Health Department Releases County Health Improvement Plan

The Tulsa Health Department has released its first draft of the Community Health Improvement Plan for public review and comment. The document, which culminates the Department’s Pathways to Health community planning initiative, identifies six strategic objectives to improve the health of Tulsa County citizens: Decrease the prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity Improve affordability and [...]

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The Positive Deviant Solution to Our Health Care System

Just over a year ago, CAP hosted seminars in a new method of social change called “positive deviance.” The basic idea of positive deviance is that, within any given community possessing any given problem, some members through their own actions will fare better than others given equal resources. Observing what makes these “deviants” positive can [...]

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Health Department Identifies Tulsa Neighborhood Needs

The Tulsa Health Department’s Pathways to Health program is a community planning process for improving the health and quality of life in neighborhoods across Tulsa. Part of the process was an extensive survey, which they have used to identify priorities and strengths in every Tulsa zip c0de. You can view the priorities for your area by [...]

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The Power of Germ-x

Researching the consequences of elementary school absenteeism (or, if you’re an optimist, the benefits of attendance). Came across a study that found that the availability of an  “alcohol gel hand sanitizer” (i.e. Germ-x) in elementary classrooms reduced child absences school wide by 20% and teacher absences by 10%. Specifically, teachers and students used the product [...]

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Insurance Out of Reach for Newly Unemployed

Families USA has a report (PDF) out detailing the inadequacy of COBRA. As you may know, COBRA allows displaced workers who lose their health insurance to purchase their previous employers’  policy for a certain period of time. In Oklahoma, the average worker who loses her job will pay 31.1% of her unemployment insurance on COBRA [...]

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Dept. of Unhealthy Correlations

Children of smokers are more likely to be hungry. Not good.

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True or False

I know this is a bit late (and others have already covered the topic, saving me from doing any primary research), but during last week’s debate I heard Bob Schieffer, the moderator, say something that surprised me: The U.S. spends more per capita than any other country on education. Yet, by every international measurement, in [...]

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Medical Homes Webcast

The Urban Institute is hosting a webcast that should be especially interesting to our friends at OU-Tulsa, called “Combating Medical Homelessness: What is the role for academic medicine?” This is obviously an issue we’re dealing with as an agency – what’s the best way to provide meaningful medical homes to every one of our children? [...]

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Health Care Ramifications of 1804

I’m supposed to be posting on my research role with the Tulsa Initiative, which I will shortly. But in the meantime, and because I’m having my annual birthday birthday-week checkup today, I thought I’d post on healthcare… Great article in The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio), of all places, about the impacts of Oklahoma’s famous House Bill [...]

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