The 5th “Vital Sign” & the Painkiller Epidemic (Part IV of V)
In Parts I, II, and III of this series we established the acute and growing effects that the opiate painkiller epidemic is having in America, and how it has been driven (in part) by aggressive pain management strategies that were implemented since Pain was identified as the 5th Vital Sign. Since then, public health and other sectors have been responding [...]
Updated Infection Control Prevention Guidelines
The Society for Hospital Epidemiology of America and the Infectious Diseases Society of America partnered with several healthcare organizations to publish evidence-based and best practice recommendations for preventing healthcare-associated infections in acute care hospitals. Referred to as the “SHEA Compendium”, these recommendations have served as a cornerstone of infection control and prevention since their publication and are a staple on [...]
Association v. Causation
One of the key objectives of public health is to assess the cause of disease or bad outcomes so we can design interventions. In order to do that, we need to be able to tell the difference between when something is actually “causing” an outcome and when the exposure or condition is simply “associated” or “correlated” with an outcome. Whether [...]
Life Coach Tips for College Freshmen
Going to college is fun and exciting. As is the case with all life transitions, getting some helpful hints in advance can smooth out the adjustment time and help create a better and healthier outcome. Make it a point to review the following “life coach tips” with your young adult (like I’ve been doing with my soon-to-be Freshman). Maintain a healthy [...]
The 5th “Vital Sign” & the Painkiller Epidemic (Part III of V)
In Part I and Part II of this series we’ve introduced the idea that contemporary pain management strategies have resulted in an epidemic of painkiller misuse and abuse that’s killing large numbers of people. In fact, misuse and abuse of opiate prescription painkillers takes out more people every year than car crashes. The run-up to the current epidemic appears to have [...]
Stories to Make You Smile
In 2012 the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council (the DDPC works out of the 4th floor of our 1740 building) partnered with the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center (SARRC) to develop new self-employment opportunities. The Home Baked and Confectionary Goods law was used as the foundation for the project due to potential ease of implementation and access to hungry [...]