Earlier this month, the U.S. Census Bureau released information on Americans’ income, poverty, and health insurance coverage for 2010. Nationally, median household income declined and the poverty rate increased. While the number of Americans without health insurance increased, the overall percentage was not statistically different from the previous year. The Colorado Health Institute (CHI) released a report on state-level findings, noting that Colorado was the only state that recorded a statistically significant decline in the number of uninsured individuals between 2007-08 and 2009-10. Read CHI’s report.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Free Clinic Establishes Home Base
St Benedict Health and Healing Ministry has established a home base for its offices and free clinic operations, which serve East Boulder County. Although they have been in Boulder County for six years, this is the first time they have had a central location. They intend to increase the number of free clinics they provide to serve the medically underserved individuals in the area. Read more in a recent Boulder Daily Camera article.
Proposed Changes to CHP+
The Medical Services Board is proposing new cost sharing requirements for the Children’s Basic Health Plan (CHP+). As outlined in the proposed rules released on Monday, the annual enrollment fee for families with incomes between 200 and 250% of the federal poverty level would be $75/ year for one child and $105/ year for two or more children. The proposed rules would also increase co-payments based on family income. The initial approval date and public comment hearing on these proposals is October 14. Please click here for more information about the meeting and contact Alicia Haywood if you have any questions or feedback.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Get Fit: A Rocky Mountain Youth Program to Reduce Childhood Obesity
This article is an excerpt from an article in Health Policy Solutions, written by Katie Kerwin McCrimmon.
Group appointments represent one of the newest trends in health care. They help medical practitioners save time and create support communities for patients. Dr. Kim White and nutritionist Beth Ondrako found that they could give the same information to multiple people at once. And, if some “no shows” forget to come, the providers haven’t wasted their time. On this day, the turnout is great and the conference room is packed. Organizers have encouraged family members to attend since getting fit is a family affair. The group meeting also helps take away the stigma of coping with weight issues.
Welcome to cutting-edge care in the escalating war on child obesity.
“It lets the kids be in an atmosphere where they understand that there are a lot of kids who struggle with the exact same thing,” Ondrako said. “You touch more people’s lives in a group,” said White. “They get to interact with each other. It’s more fun. We want them to follow through. These kids are not thinking, ‘Oh, I have to be worried about diabetes someday.’ We try to find what inspires them. Why is this better for me? Maybe it’s so I can run faster.”
Dr. Cheryl Saipe, a pediatrician at Rocky Mountain Youth Clinics, created the Get Fit Clinic in 2006 because she and other providers were seeing so many children who were overweight and obese. Ondrako later came up with the idea of giving kids a written prescription to get fit. Now, during well-child visits, providers can give any family the prescription and invite them to join the Get Fit Clinic.
Nearly 650 children have participated in Get Fit since 2007 and another 147 have enrolled so far this year. Interest has been so high recently that Ondrako, the nutritionist, has doubled the time she spends each month at clinics in Denver, Thornton and Aurora. Organizers hope to expand funding next year to reach children at their mobile and school based clinics.
Altogether, the nonprofit provides care for more than 35,000 children during 55,000 visits a year. There are traditional pediatric clinics like this one in Denver along with non-traditional sites throughout the Denver area.
Most of the patients – 85 percent – come from low-income families whose children qualify for public health programs like Medicaid and CHP+. White estimates that more than half of all the kids she sees are obese. Among children ages 10 to 15, the numbers are even more staggering. “My guess is that over 85 percent are obese. It’s an epidemic,” White said. “Patients and parents are finally beginning to realize it’s a problem. In the past, we’d hear, ‘He’s fine. He’ll outgrow it.’” Yet, even when parents are willing to tackle obesity, they need help. And medical providers can’t do much to reverse the complex problem in short annual well-child visits.
Without intensive follow-up care, children and families stick with the same old patterns and come back year after year with ever-increasing weights that forecast lifelong health problems from diabetes to heart disease.
Childhood obesity in Colorado is increasing at the second fastest rate in the country. And the epidemic is especially pronounced among children of color and low-income kids.
In order to succeed, the Get Fit program very deliberately does not focus on weight loss. Rather, it’s much more about making incremental changes that promote a healthy lifestyle. “They’re not going to change because we tell them to do it. No one can do it for the child. You want them empowered with knowledge to change their lives,” White said. Lasting results are measured in small steps. Providers at Rocky Mountain tell children that every person’s body looks different and that’s fine. They encourage family members to focus on maintaining their current weight. Then, over time, as children grow taller, they will almost certainly grow leaner. And, healthy habits can last a lifetime.
To read the complete article, click here.
Group appointments represent one of the newest trends in health care. They help medical practitioners save time and create support communities for patients. Dr. Kim White and nutritionist Beth Ondrako found that they could give the same information to multiple people at once. And, if some “no shows” forget to come, the providers haven’t wasted their time. On this day, the turnout is great and the conference room is packed. Organizers have encouraged family members to attend since getting fit is a family affair. The group meeting also helps take away the stigma of coping with weight issues.
Welcome to cutting-edge care in the escalating war on child obesity.
“It lets the kids be in an atmosphere where they understand that there are a lot of kids who struggle with the exact same thing,” Ondrako said. “You touch more people’s lives in a group,” said White. “They get to interact with each other. It’s more fun. We want them to follow through. These kids are not thinking, ‘Oh, I have to be worried about diabetes someday.’ We try to find what inspires them. Why is this better for me? Maybe it’s so I can run faster.”
Dr. Cheryl Saipe, a pediatrician at Rocky Mountain Youth Clinics, created the Get Fit Clinic in 2006 because she and other providers were seeing so many children who were overweight and obese. Ondrako later came up with the idea of giving kids a written prescription to get fit. Now, during well-child visits, providers can give any family the prescription and invite them to join the Get Fit Clinic.
Nearly 650 children have participated in Get Fit since 2007 and another 147 have enrolled so far this year. Interest has been so high recently that Ondrako, the nutritionist, has doubled the time she spends each month at clinics in Denver, Thornton and Aurora. Organizers hope to expand funding next year to reach children at their mobile and school based clinics.
Altogether, the nonprofit provides care for more than 35,000 children during 55,000 visits a year. There are traditional pediatric clinics like this one in Denver along with non-traditional sites throughout the Denver area.
Most of the patients – 85 percent – come from low-income families whose children qualify for public health programs like Medicaid and CHP+. White estimates that more than half of all the kids she sees are obese. Among children ages 10 to 15, the numbers are even more staggering. “My guess is that over 85 percent are obese. It’s an epidemic,” White said. “Patients and parents are finally beginning to realize it’s a problem. In the past, we’d hear, ‘He’s fine. He’ll outgrow it.’” Yet, even when parents are willing to tackle obesity, they need help. And medical providers can’t do much to reverse the complex problem in short annual well-child visits.
Without intensive follow-up care, children and families stick with the same old patterns and come back year after year with ever-increasing weights that forecast lifelong health problems from diabetes to heart disease.
Childhood obesity in Colorado is increasing at the second fastest rate in the country. And the epidemic is especially pronounced among children of color and low-income kids.
In order to succeed, the Get Fit program very deliberately does not focus on weight loss. Rather, it’s much more about making incremental changes that promote a healthy lifestyle. “They’re not going to change because we tell them to do it. No one can do it for the child. You want them empowered with knowledge to change their lives,” White said. Lasting results are measured in small steps. Providers at Rocky Mountain tell children that every person’s body looks different and that’s fine. They encourage family members to focus on maintaining their current weight. Then, over time, as children grow taller, they will almost certainly grow leaner. And, healthy habits can last a lifetime.
To read the complete article, click here.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Hunger Free Colorado Summit
October 5, 2011; 7:30am-4:45pm; Doubletree Hilton Denver Tech Center
Registration is now open for the Hunger Free Colorado Summit 2011. Click here to view the agenda and register. This one-day event will unite nonprofit organizations, faith community leaders, government representatives, and foundation and corporate leadership for a full day of cross-sector learning.
Registration is now open for the Hunger Free Colorado Summit 2011. Click here to view the agenda and register. This one-day event will unite nonprofit organizations, faith community leaders, government representatives, and foundation and corporate leadership for a full day of cross-sector learning.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Grant Opportunity
The Breast and Women’s Reproductive Cancers Fund Advisory Board has announced a grant opportunity resulting from the 2010 Colorado income tax checkoff program. Grants are capped at $5,000 and the work must be completed by June 30, 2012. Proposals are due on September 30, 2011 by 10:00 pm. For more information and the application, go to: http://coloradocancercheckoff.org/grants
Colorado HealthStory completes pilot phase!
Colorado HealthStory staff began gathering audio recordings this summer in three focus communities: Rocky Ford, Summit County and Aurora. After collecting and editing a body of stories in each community, HealthStory gathered community members together for a local forum and listening session. During the forums, storytellers, providers, elected officials, advocates and other members of the community were able to listen to collected stories and speak about local shared health issues. Health profiles for the region were presented at each forum which highlighted recorded stories and local health data. This fall, HealthStory staff will hit the road again to record stories in three additional communities.
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