Population Health News Roundup: December

Reducing car accidents, getting bananas into bodegas, immigration law harming in the bomb, sugary drink tax growing cold, Denver taxing itself, and much more. Read our monthly curation of the top population health news stories.

Interdisciplinary Spotlight

Getting bananas into bodegas: Corner stores improved their healthy food offerings with help from the University of Missouri Extension, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, retailers, hospitals, and schools. Educational information and in-store improvements (paint, food display updates, making produce look attractive) helped stores dedicated 20% more shelf space to healthier food selections.  (CDC, no date)

Doctor endorses the interdisciplinary approach: This doctor says a liberal arts degree helped him be a better doctor. He credits learning about how culture shapes policy and health outcomes. (TheSOURCE, Washington University St. Louis, December 5, 2018)

Place

Opting outside (or not): Parks help health…when they’re designed so specific populations will use them  (The Conversation, November 20, 2018)

Stopping school drop-offs drops accident rate: Prohibiting cars in school zones is decreasing accident rates and improving walking rates. (StreetsBlogUSA, November 27, 2018)

Can an app zap accidents?: New app aims to prevent bike-car collisions (Seattle Times, November 23, 2018)

Engagement rules: Community engagement is key to population health improvement in this RWJF Culture of Health award-winning program in Allen County, Kansas. (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps webinar and video, November 20, 2018)

Guns as contagions: Gun violence in King County is concentrated south of Seattle and is a public health threat, not just a criminal one. (Seattle Times, December 10, 2018)

The rural-urban penalty switch:  Urban areas used to have higher mortality rates, but there’s been a 75% increase in the rural “mortality penalty” in the last 12 years alone. (AJPH, November 29, 2018) 

Disparities

More religion = lower blood pressure in Black women: Though Black women are more likely to experience hypertension, spirituality and religion seem to help mitigate it (Boston University, from the Black Women’s Health Study, November 28, 2018)

High risk tobacco in low-income communities: Tobacco products considered to be higher risk, such as cigarillos, are more widely sold in Black and low-income communities (Medical XPress/Columbia Mailman, December 4, 2018)

Devolution limits mobility for Medicaid recipients: Differences in state administration of Medicaid programs create disparities from state to state, with some states providing better mobility and independence (New Mobility, August 2018)

Disparities in heart treatment: Black patients are less likely to receive atrial fibrillation medicines that could prevent stroke (New York Times, November 29, 2018) 

No rest from disparities: Sleep deprivation can make inequality worse (Arizona State University Press, December 4, 2018)

Global Health

Home is where the violence is: For women around the world, the most dangerous place maybe in their own home, according to a UN report (Time magazine, November 26, 2018)

Scaling up smartphone use for HIV in Africa: Nurses treating patients could benefit from improved mHealth  (University of Washington News, November 11, 2018)

Programs & Policy

Denver says yes to taxing itself: Denver voters chose a .25% sales tax to fund treatment centers, therapy for addiction and mental health (CityLab, November 25, 2018)

Simulated sin tax: Alcohol tax increases could reduce consumption, alcohol-related violence, and inequalities, according to this agent-based modeling tax simulation (Addiction, October 12, 2018)

Devolution and pollution: The Trump administration sends policy power to the states, reduces the federal government’s role in environmental protection (Public Health Post, November 26, 2018)

Immigration law harms in the womb: An Arizona law designed to make life difficult for immigrants is linked to lower birth weights (American Journal of Epidemiology, October 24, 2018)

The Pepsi tax stopped cold: Washington State voters approve ban on future local sugary drink taxes. The initiative was heavily backed by the beverage industry. Seattle’s tax remains, but cannot be increased.  (Seattle Times, November 8, 2018)

Housing help in Hawaii: Medicaid recipients can receive housing assistance (Hawaii News Now, November 30, 2018)