Medication Use Patterns among Urban Youth Participating in School-Based Asthma Education

Although pharmaceutical management is an integral part of asthma control, few community-based analyses have focused on this aspect of disease management. The primary goal of this analysis was to assess whether participation in the school-based Kickin’ Asthma program improved appropriate asthma medication use among middle school students. A secondary goal was to determine whether improvements in medication use were associated with subsequent improvements in asthma-related symptoms among participating students. Students completed an in-class case-identification questionnaire to determine asthma status. Eligible students were invited to enroll in a school-based asthma curriculum delivered over four sessions by an asthma health educator. Students completed a pre-survey and a 3-month follow-up post-survey that compared symptom frequency and medication use. From 2004 to 2007, 579 participating students completed pre- and post-surveys. Program participation resulted in improvements in appropriate use across all three medication use categories: 20.0% of students initiated appropriate reliever use when “feeling symptoms” (p < 0.001), 41.6% of students reporting inappropriate medication use “before exercise” initiated reliever use (p < 0.001), and 26.5% of students reporting inappropriate medication use when “feeling fine” initiated controller use (p < 0.02). More than half (61.6%) of participants reported fewer symptoms at post-survey. Symptom reduction was not positively associated with improvements in medication use in unadjusted and adjusted analysis, controlling for sex, asthma symptom classification, class attendance, season, and length of follow-up. Participation in a school-based asthma education program significantly improved reliever medication use for symptom relief and prior-to-exercise and controller medication use for maintenance. However, given that symptom reduction was not positively associated with improvement in medication use, pharmaceutical education must be just one part of a comprehensive asthma management agenda that addresses the multifactorial nature of asthma-related morbidity

Employment Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Ohio

Approximately 212,000 LGBT workers in Ohio are vulnerable to employment discrimination absent state or federal legal protections.  At least 13 localities in Ohio prohibit employment discrimination against LGBT people, yet 81 percent of the workforce remains unprotected by local ordinances.  A statewide non-discrimination law would result in 100 additional complaints being filed with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission each year.  The cost of enforcing the additional complaints would be negligible.  At most, it would cost the state approximately $214,500 annually; only 2.8 percent of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission’s annual budget

Employment Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Ohio

Approximately 212,000 LGBT workers in Ohio are vulnerable to employment discrimination absent state or federal legal protections.  At least 13 localities in Ohio prohibit employment discrimination against LGBT people, yet 81 percent of the workforce remains unprotected by local ordinances.  A statewide non-discrimination law would result in 100 additional complaints being filed with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission each year.  The cost of enforcing the additional complaints would be negligible.  At most, it would cost the state approximately $214,500 annually; only 2.8 percent of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission’s annual budget

Employment Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in South Carolina

Approximately 66,000 LGBT workers in South Carolina are vulnerable to employment discrimination absent state legal protections. Four localities in South Carolina prohibit public sector employment discrimination against LGBT people.  Only 18% of the state’s labor force works in those localities, and only a small proportion of those workers are employed by their local governments. Currently none of South Carolina’s LGBT-inclusive local ordinances prohibit discrimination in private employment. Findings from the South Carolina report are consistent with national data. A 2013 Pew Research Center survey found that 21 percent of LGBT respondents had been treated unfairly by an employer in hiring, pay, or promotions. In 2010, 78 percent of respondents to the largest national survey of transgender people to date reported having experienced harassment or mistreatment at work, and 47 percent reported having been discriminated against in hiring, promotion, or job retention because of their gender identity

Meeting the Legal Needs of People Living with HIV - Effort, Impact, and Emerging Trends

An estimated 1.2 million people in the Unites States are living with HIV. Legal services providers can often address the impact of destabilizing forces that may crate barriers to accessing and maintaining regular health care for people living with HIV (“PLWH”).  In this study, we sought to understand more broadly the efforts of legal service organizations dedicated to serving the PLWH, the impact of their work, and emerging trends observed by such organization. In 2013, the Williams Institute sought access to archival client services data from legal services providers dedicated to serving PLWH in the ten Metropolitan Statistical Areas with the largest number of HIV positive residents.  Fourteen agencies were surveyed