By Rebecca Jones of www.EducationNewsColorado.org Its not like the Sanford School is overrun with drugs and alcohol. Its more like its overrun with nothing to do. The school, in the community of Sanford in rural Conejos County in southeastern Colorado, is many miles from the amenities of larger places and, other than sports, extracurricular activities for its 350 students are limited. Resources for its teachers are limited as well. Its exactly the kind of place where Elaine Belansky, a University of Colorado Denver assistant professor in community and behavior health, could find fertile ground for testing a project designed to…
Category: Archived - Part 7
By Gosia Kung People want to walk when neighborhoods are vibrant, when there is something to see and when sidewalks are full of other people and colorful spaces. WalkDenver brought the first Better Block demonstration to Colorado in June. A brief video now showcases the transformation. (Click here to see it.) The project provides great lessons for how the built environment can promote better health. The Better Block Jefferson Park focused on a potentially forgotten commercial district in northwest Denver near Federal Boulevard and West 25th Avenue. Building on the history of the area as an original streetcar suburb, the…
By Kelly Dunkin In recent years, a growing body of evidence strongly suggests that healthy places are conducive to healthier people. For example, a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine showed that those who reside in neighborhoods where theres access to sidewalks and trails are twice as likely to get adequate physical activity. On the flip side of that coin, an analysis from the National Survey of Childrens Health found the odds of a child being obese or overweight are 20 to 60 percent higher in neighborhoods with no access to sidewalks, parks and recreation centers. Like…
By Michael Elliott Teen marijuana use isincreasingnationwide. Yet according to federal government data collected by theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Colorado is seeing adecreaseinmarijuanauseamongteens. Considering that Colorado is now home to state-licensed medical cannabis businesses, this news may be surprising to opponents who previously claimed with certainty that the regulation of these new businesses would lead to increases in teen marijuana use. The data show that these opponents were wrong, and states may have more control over teen drug use if they strictly regulate the cultivation and sale of medical cannabis. According to the federal government, from 2009…
By James O. Hill Every day we get inundated with information about what to eat, but unfortunately, that information is often confusing and conflicting. Eat a diet high in carbohydrate and low in fat. No wait. Eat a diet low in carbohydrate and high in fat. I dont blame the public for being confused. What is the best diet? You may be surprised to know that the best diet for you depends on whether you are an athlete or a couch potato. Being physically active keeps your metabolism working optimally and affects the way your body uses food for fuel….
By Linda Gorman The selection of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romneys running mate holds out hope that people in public life are finally beginning to appreciate the fact that market-oriented health care reforms offer the best potential for finally giving elderly Americans the ability to get better medical care at a lower cost. They do this by giving people an incentive to use health care more wisely. Individuals and their physicians know more about the health care that they need and what adds value to it than any number of officials in Washington, D.C., and various state capitols workingon value-based…
By Ashley Mayo With all of the politics surrounding the passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act, its easy to lose sight of the ways the law is fundamentally improving health care in Colorado and across America. In our state alone, 291,000 children with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied coverage, 50,000 young adults have gained insurance by staying on their parents plans, and over 200,000 residents will receive rebate checks from insurers who failed to meet the 80/20 rule. On Aug. 1, Obamacare brings yet another historic reform: insurance companies must cover preventive services for women without…
By Polly Anderson Critics of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act call it too radical, too expensive and a threat to high quality medicine. But in truth, federal health reform emphasizes a return to the caring, personalized, evidence-based medicine that is well established at Colorados community health centers. While some are still debating the merits of expanding Colorados Medicaid program to a larger percentage of the poor, Colorado community health centers are not waiting to move forward. A growing pool of evidence tells us that our model is the future, and were preparing for a groundswell in patients, be…