Improving Access to Health Through Collaboration: Lessons Learned from The Colorado Trust's Partnerships for Health Initiative Evaluation

This report presents findings from the evaluation of four Partnerships in Health Initiative grantees that were addressing access to health in their communities through the formation of collaboratives. Outcomes achieved by the grantees as well as lessons learned for others embarking on collaborative processes are described

Risk Factors Associated with Opioid Misuse Among Military Personnel

Risk Factors Associated with Opioid Misuse Among Military Personnel Opioid overdoses are increasing among military personnel. Opioids are a class of drugs that include heroin, synthetic opioids, and pain relievers. Almost half of all Veterans returning from deployment in Afghanistan and Iraq have chronic pain; one in six veterans turn to opioids for pain relief. Veterans between the ages of eighteen and fifty-three are five times as likely to have a Substance Use Disorder and two times as likely to have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in contrast to the general public. Risk factors that have been shown to increase the probability of misusing opioids in the literature include prior history of substance abuse, alcohol use, mental illness, age, and male gender. However, these risk factors are not always consistent. Methods: Data were obtained from the Opioid Registry for the military. The opioid registry contains information about opioid data management and reporting platform developed through Carepoint Military Health System Population Health Portal. For this research, hospice, palliative, and cancer treatment patients as well as all nonmilitary personnel were removed from the data set. The final analytic sample was N=10,422. An opioid misuse variable was developed which represented patients using opioids for over 30 days. Multivariate logistic regression models were utilized to estimate associations between opioid misuse and patient-level risk factors (N=10,422). Results: Results from the logistic regression models showed that: Air Force service (compared to Army) and Active Duty status had lower risk of opioid misuse Depression, PTSD, and serious mental illness have are associated with increased risk of opioid misuse for both genders. These associations were further explored in gender-stratified models. Age slightly increases the risk of opioid misuse. Sleep apnea increases the risk of opioid misuse, particularly for males

Wireless Sensor Networks for Home Health Care

Abstract — Sophisticated electronics are within reach of average users. Cooperation between wireless sensor networks and existing consumer electronic infrastructures can assist in the areas of health care and patient monitoring. This will improve the quality of life of patients, provide early detection for certain ailments, and improve doctor-patient efficiency. The goal of our work is to focus on health-related applications of wireless sensor networks. In this paper we detail our experiences building several prototypes and discuss the driving force behind home health monitoring and how current (and future) technologies will enable automated home health monitoring. I