The month of May is celebrated as Arthritis Action Month nationally. This month-long observance is an opportunity to take action to change the course of arthritis, whether it directly or indirectly impacts you and those you love. There are many ways that you can take action, including:
Engage in social media outlets to spread the word about the impact of arthritis #ArthritisAction #GoBlue4Arthritis
Participate in self-management and physical activity interventions (or encourage others to learn about them!)
As the month continues, take time to educate yourself and others on something new that you've learned about arthritis. Read new articles and materials that can help you understand a bit more about why self-management skills and physical activity is so important to helping improve the lives of individuals with arthritis.
And, most importantly, don't let the end of May be a stopping point for taking action against the course of arthritis!
The Missouri Arthritis and Osteoporosis Program has developed a plan of action for the sustainability of Self-management Education Programs (SEP). Known as the Roots Project, the goal is to provide a foundation for improving the health and well-being of individuals and families, especially those living with chronic conditions. There are 10 key areas of strategy and planning. They include: revenue, marketing, referral network, competition, service operation, evaluation, organizational support, community support, advocacy, and resource linkages. The toolkit is available for download, or you can take a look right here:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Arthritis Foundation asked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to assist in identifying "ways to reduce disability and improve the function and quality of life for people living with chronic illness". In a report released at the end of January 2012, the IOM did just that. Several recommendations include:
Minimizing duplication of existing public health efforts
Utilizing research to determine promising practices
Create state-based strategic plans focused on managing chronic conditions within communities
Utilize community-based efforts to reach populations with chronic illness
Expand surveillance efforts to improve data quality
Reassess policies and community-based efforts regularly to ensure they match current legislation
The concepts outlined throughout the report are vital to improving health and quality of life for many Americans living with chronic conditions. You can read the report in it's entirety here, or can read a brief summary here.
The National Councol on Aging has requested your assistance in advocacy regarding the following matter:
Congress is close to a deal on extending the payroll tax cut, unemployment insurance, and Medicare physician payment fix.
The problem is how to pay for it. Reports indicate that one proposal involves a $5 billion cut to the Prevention and Public Health Fund. As you know, the Fund is a key source of current and future federal funding for the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) and Falls Prevention programs.
Additional information as of Thursday, February 16:
ACT NOW to protect the Prevention and Public Health Fund!
Call your federal delegation and let them know the importance of the Prevention and Public Health Fund (the Fund). The Fund is in serious jeopardy of being raided as an offset for the payroll tax extension package being negotiated now on Capitol Hill.
The proposal would cut $5 billion from the Fund in order to help pay for the payroll tax extension, a temporary fix for the Medicare sustainable growth rate for doctors, and for extending unemployment insurance. Call your Senators and Representatives and let them know why maintaining funding for the Prevention and Public Health Fund benefits your health department and their constituents.
In particular, please call the Members of the House and Senate Leadership and the tax extender conferees, including:
Senators - * Jon Kyl (R-AZ) * Mike Crapo (R-ID) * John Barrasso (R-WY) * Ben Cardin (D-MD) * Max Baucus (D-MT) * Jack Reed (D-RI) * Bob Casey (D-PA) * Harry Reid (D-NV) * Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Members of the House of Representatives - * Dave Camp (R-MI) * Kevin Brady (R-TX) * Renee Ellmers (R-NC) * Nan Hayworth (R-NY) * Tom Price (R-GA) * Tom Reed (R-NY) * Fred Upton (R-MI) * Greg Walden (R-OR) * Sander Levin (D-MI) * Xavier Becerra (D-CA) * Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) * Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) * Henry Waxman (D-CA) * Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) * John Boehner (R-OH) *Eric Cantor (R-VA)
Talking Points
I am calling you to ask that Senator _____ or Representative _____ oppose the proposal to use the Prevention and Public Health Fund as a pay-for for the payroll tax extenders package.
The continued availability of this funding is vital to support state and community efforts to end chronic illness, save lives and save billions of dollars in long-term healthcare spending. Prevention is the key to lowering healthcare costs and creating a long-term path to a healthier and economically sound America, and the Fund is an investment in a healthier future for the next generation.
A new study finds that reducing obesity rates by five percent would save nearly $30 billion in five years. The Prevention Fund is an essential part in bringing states and communities together on innovative projects that will help us reverse the obesity epidemic and bring health costs down.
A healthy nation is critical to a healthy national budget. However, for too long, our healthcare system focused solely on the costly treatment of conditions as they occur-such as trauma, diabetes, arthritis, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease-rather than making strategic investments to prevent such conditions.
The public health system in the United States is underfunded and often stretched thin. Additionally, state budget cuts have further eroded public health system capacity. In the last two years alone, these budget cuts have led to the loss of almost 50,000 jobs at state and local health agencies.
State-specific stories: Please discuss how a cuts to or the elimination of the Fund would affect specific programs in your state.
Background
The Prevention and Public Health Fund was created to support a wide variety of new or enhanced activities that would promote good health and wellness among the American people. With the passage of the Affordable Care Act, $15 billion was set aside for the Fund over a ten year period, with an initial annual amount of $500 million in federal fiscal year (FFY) 2010 that would grow over time to an annual amount of $2 billion. In FFY 2011, the Fund provided $750 million to support various Public Health Service Act programs, and in FFY 2012, that figure grew to $1 billion.
Should the Fund be rescinded or repealed, the future of public health programs would be in jeopardy. With already shrinking state and federal budgets, elimination of the Fund would further complicate and endanger funding for critical public health initiatives.
Contacting a Congressional Office
1. The U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 can connect you with your Senator/Representative. It is best to call the Washington Office, not the local district or state office. To look up your Senators/Representatives, go online to www.senate.gov and www.house.gov and search by State, or use your ASTHO Congressional Directory.
2. Ask to speak with the staff person who handles tax or health care issues for the office.
3. When you reach the staffer, very briefly identify your professional affiliation and work related to public health and the Prevention and Public Health Fund using the talking points provided and state-specific information to bring home the message that this investment benefits their constituents.
Tomorrow, Friday, February 3, 2012 is Wear Red Day. Wearing red tomorrow can help raise awareness of heart disease, specifically women's heart disease. It also can inspire conversation with friends, family and coworkers about the importance of knowing the warning signs as well as what to do if they come across someone who is showing signs of a heart attack or stroke.
Check back in tomorrow, on Wear Red Day, for information and education about this important health topic.
Health based researchers are constantly looking for the next big thing; the "wonder drug" that will help relieve pain and improve your health. Well, it looks like many researchers have hit on the same concept, which may turn out to be the biggest "wonder drug" for individuals with chronic conditions. Exercise. Good, old-fashioned movement may be the "drug" needed to jump start pain relief and improvement of health. Even better, "taking" exercise before chronic conditions, such as diabetes, obesity, anxiety, heart disease, and depression, appear can help reduce your health risk. For arthritis specifically, physical activity can help relieve pain in stiff joints.
This is not a new concept though. Physical activity has been promoted by health organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Arthritis Foundation for years. And, for the past year, the Arthritis Foundation has been promoting that "Moving is the best medicine" through their media campaign with the Ad Council. Click on the video below or here:
To learn more of the Arthritis Foundation's recommendations for how to reduce pain associated with arthritis, check out the website www.fightarthritispain.org. To read more about the lifetime's worth of benefits from exercise, take a look at this article from the Charlotte Observer. And, to take another step toward improving your health, sign up for a physical activity or self-management class here in Missouri; you can view our list of classes and contact information on our website, www.moarthritis.org.
Do you or does someone you know have one of the more than 100 forms of arthritis? Consider self-enrollment into the Arthritis Internet Registry (AIR), a tool developed by the Arthritis Foundation in partnership with the National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases and Quest Diagnostics. This databank can assist researchers with understanding arthritic conditions as well as to develop potential treatments for arthritic conditions. It also is hoped to eventually be used as a community development tool to connect individuals who have various forms of arthritis on a personal level.
Here in the United States, rivalries are all around us. From brand rivalries (Coke vs Pepsi) to political rivalries (Democratic vs Republican) to advertised rivalries (Mac vs PC) to college and professional sports rivalries (Cardinals vs Cubs), even to some time ago when your high school student body would rally together to excel in all competitions against an opposing high school, it is fairly easy to think of ways we strive to prove that one entity is better than the other. For as competitive and rivalry driven as we are, it seems we could make nearly anything a friendly competition. Here's an opportunity for us here in Missouri to improve our rankings, all while making our lives healthier in the process!
The United Health Foundation recently released the 22nd annual edition of America's Health Rankings: A Call to Action for Individual's and Their Communities. Beginning in 1990, this report has detailed a state-by-state analysis of the overall health of our country using health outcomes (actions that have already occurred) and health determinants (actions that can impact the future). This year, Missouri ranked 40th. Last year we ranked 39th, and the determinant (future) vs outcome (past) predictors show us on a course to have our health ranking continue to decline over time.
So what does this all mean? It means that perhaps it's time for a friendly rivalry! A few individuals, for example you and me, cannot make enough positive health changes personally to change our overall state rating drastically. However, a few individuals who are willing to encourage and support health changes in their community AND to rally others in the community to do the same, can begin to make big changes in small ways.
One way that individuals can improve their health, is by engaging in self-management programs and increasing physical activity. Rates of adults with diabetes and those who are obese have both increased over the past five years. Attending a self-management program, such as the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program offered here in Missouri can help empower individuals to take control of conditions that affect their health, including diabetes, obesity, arthritis, and cardiovascular (heart) disease. These courses can also help reduce the number of hospital and emergency room visits. As you may remember from another recent post, engaging in at least 150 minutes of moderate Physical Activity a week can also help adults stay healthy. A recent YouTube video from a physician, helps visually demonstrate why and how thirty minutes of physical activity a day can be helpful (which would be more than 150 minutes a week!):
To be competitive and to improve upon our ranking for next year, we need a lot of people to take their health seriously. Here are a few suggestions for ways that you can make small changes in your own community.
Ask a friend to be a walking partner.
Encourage a loved one to take a self-management workshop.
Advocate for healthy changes in your community (installation of sidewalks, bike lanes, and smoke-free public places are a good start).
Start up a community exercise program or long-term goal setting event (like a Walk-A-Thon or "Biggest Loser" type program).
Take preventative measures to improve your health (including cancer screenings, yearly doctor visits, and regular dentist visits).
Ask local grocery stores and convenience stores to stock fresh fruits and vegetables.
Talk with your friends and family, especially children and teenagers, about why both your health and theirs is important to you.
You can view a full fact sheet on Missouri's 2011 America's Health Rankings here. To see the full report, or to learn more about the United Health Foundation and/or America's Health Rankings, head on over to www.americashealthrankings.org.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released their latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). It features a report from Jennifer M. Hootman, PhD, Arthritis Program, that looks at "State-Specific Prevalence of No Leisure-Time Physical Activity Among Adults With and Without Doctor-Diagnosed Arthritis - United States, 2009". The report can be found here in its entirety. To look at the entire MMWR from December 9, 2011, click here for a PDF.
We've been hearing for years that eventually the "Baby Boomer" population will catch up and we will have a large percentage of our overall U.S. population 65 years of age or older. Some of these predictions are based on the large numbers of the population born around the same time - "Baby Boomers"; others are based on proposals that our continuing medical advances in health care are helping individuals live longer. And, according to a 2010 Census Report Brief, we're starting to see the first signs of this coming true. In 2010, not only was the population 65 and older at it's highest number yet, but it also increased at a faster rate than that of the entire population between 2000 and 2010.
Arthritis resources are available throughout Missouri. Whether you're a patient, family member or volunteer, this site will help you understand and locate those resources.
Contact Us
Watch this for suggestions about which pages to visit on this website.
Dr. Wendell Bronson talks about why the MAOP is a good fit for many of his patients.
CEMRAC Leader, Amber Phelps, talks about the many ways participants can benefit from classes.
Class participant, Suzanne Pfeffer, explains why she's stayed with the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program for a decade.
Orvie Prewitt went from participant to leader to program coordinator.
Margaret Lindsey discusses the many benefits of participating in physical activity and self-management classes.
Doris Fountain reveals the newest arthritis program, The Arthritis Toolkit.
Learn How CDSMP Works - If you are interested in learning more about a CDSMP workshop in Missouri, please contact your local Regional Arthritis Center or email us at moarthritis@gmail.com!
