Implementation of the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities: A Three-Year Retrospective

In April 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) launched the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities (NPA) to increase the effectiveness of efforts to eliminate health disparities by coordinating partners, leaders, and stakeholders committed to action. At its core, the NPA is an experiment in collaboration that relies heavily on those on the front line who are actively engaged in minority health work at multiple levels. It gives them the responsibility of identifying and helping to define core actions, new approaches, and new partnerships that ultimately will help to close the health gap in the United States. This paper provides a retrospective examination of the NPA’s creation and development of health equity coalitions at the federal and regional levels and its establishment of strategic national partnerships to move a health equity agenda forward. The article explores how the development of this infrastructure has, in turn, led to the implementation of actions and activities to address health disparities. The article concludes with a reflection on emerging opportunities for improvement and ways forward to continue the initiative’s evaluation and secure its sustainability

Is it feasible to link the European Union emissions trading system with the Californian cap-and-trade programme?

This paper examines the technical, legal and political feasibility of linking the European Union emissions trading system (EU ETS) with the Californian cap-and-trade programme (CAT). The technical feasibility of linking refers to the alignment of four key design features in the EU ETS and the CAT: (i) offset credits; (ii) price adjustment mechanisms (PAM); (iii) complementary climate and energy policies and (iv) monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV). Unless Europe and California can align their polar positions regarding land use, clearance and forestry (LULUCF) offsets and price floors, linking appears unlikely. There is also the question of how California’s Allowance Price Containment Reserve (APCR) and the EU’s proposed Market Stability Reserve (MSR) would function together in a linked scheme. Aligning the complementary climate and energy policies and MRV systems is less problematic, as harmonisation is not necessary. Regarding legal feasibility, it is unclear whether California, as a sub-national state, has the authority to negotiate and enter into a linked scheme with the EU. Politically, California may be reluctant to link with the EU, as this will lower both its allowance price and fiscal revenue. Furthermore, it could decrease the level of domestic investment and abatement. Assuaging California’s concerns rests heavily on the extent to which the proposed structural reforms to the EU ETS boost the allowance price. In the case of linking the EU ETS and the CAT, domestic policy objectives are more important than the cost-efficiency gains of linking. As such, establishing a partial link may be more feasible

About Novel Research and Innovation Competition (NRIC)

Welcome to the official website of the Novel Research and Innovation Competition 2016 (NRIC 2016). This year, the Student Representative Council of Universiti Sains Malaysia will again organize the competition that had successfully altered the course of young Malaysian researchers and also young researchers from the Asia region over the past years of its launching. Established in 2006, this prestigious competition has been instilling the importance of research and development into the students’ project besides giving them a once in a lifetime opportunity to put their talents and creativity into display to the eyes of the frontlines of the industry. As an APEX university, we go hand in hand with the element sustainability as the core of the projects presented by the participants. The categories presented in the competition are : Life Science Engineering & Technology Health & Medical Science Social Transformation & Creative Arts Information Technology & Communication Fundamental Scienc

Does Exposure and Receptivity to E-cigarette Advertisements Relate to E-cigarette and Conventional Cigarette Use Behaviors among Youth? Results from Wave 1 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study

Background: E-cigarettes (EC) are the most commonly used tobacco product among youth. Additionally, youth EC users are progressing to smoking conventional cigarettes (CC). Although known to target youth, there are no current restrictions in the US on EC marketing, including advertising. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between EC advertisements and youth EC and CC use behaviors. Methods: This study analyzed data from youth (12-17 years) aware of EC in Wave 1 (2013-2014) of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study (n=12,199). Weighted logistic regression models assessed whether exposure and receptivity to any of five randomized EC ads (two TV and three print) were associated with the outcomes of EC and CC behaviors of ever use, current (past 30 day) use, and susceptibility to future use. Additional analyses determined whether EC advertising exposure and EC and CC behaviors associations were moderated by EC advertising receptivity. All models were adjusted for sociodemographics, other combustible tobacco product use, and parent smoking. Results: EC advertisement exposure was significantly associated to ever and current EC use as well as susceptibility to EC and CC (p Conclusion: These findings demonstrate exposure to EC advertisements are particularly associated with EC use behaviors, but could play a role in future CC use as well. Youth who are receptive to EC advertisements appear particularly vulnerable. Further studies should focus on the role of receptivity to EC advertisements among youth in order to support regulatory policy targeting EC advertising

Art Therapy on the Cognitive Function of Elderly with Dementia

The aging process continues as time goes by and there will be an impairment of the organ. Decreased body functions that often appear one of them is a decrease in cognitive function. Most of the elderly experienced dementia by showing changes in behavior. This study was to identify the effect of  art therapy on cognitive function of the elderly with dementia with the design of this study was Quasy Experimental Pre-Post Control Goup Design. There were 82 respondents divided into control groups and intervention groups. Measurement of cognitive function of the elderly with dementia using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). The result of the research showed that there was a significant improvement of the cognitive function in elderly with dementia after art therapy for 4 (four) weeks. It can be concluded thatbrain exercise and art therapy exercise can be applied to increase cognitive function towards the elderly

Quality Indicators for Home and Community-based Services [Working Paper]

In 2001, the Maine Department of Human Services received a three year grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service to improve services for people with disabilities. This grant was part of the Real Choice Systems Change Initiative funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid. The grant funded work in four major areas: Person-centered services, Quality, Access, and Data Integration