An Exploratory Study on the Influence of Psychopathological Risk and Impulsivity on BMI and Perceived Quality of Life in Obese Patients

The present study aimed to assess the psychological profiles of adult male and female obese patients, as well as to verify the possible influence of their psychopathological risk and impulsivity on their body mass index (BMI) and perceived quality of life. A total of 64 obese subjects accessing a center for care of their obesity were assessed through anthropometric and psychometric measurements. All anthropometric measures in men were higher than in women, while in turn, women showed higher psychopathological symptoms. Furthermore, the symptoms of somatization and psychoticism were predictors for a higher BMI in men, but there was no effect of psychopathological symptoms on the perceived quality of life (QoL) of male subjects. Moreover, in women, somatization and attentional impulsivity were predictors for a higher BMI, whereas no correlation was found between their psychopathological risk and perceived QoL. The results of regression analysis underlined that somatization is a “core” psychopathological symptom in obese subjects regardless of their sex, which is a potential predictor for a higher BMI. The psychological difficulties of the subjects had no effect on their perceived QoL, suggesting that they find it difficult to reflect on the impact that obesity has on their life

Breaking the Barriers to Specialty Care: Practical Ideas to Improve Health Equity and Reduce Cost - Call to Action for a System-wide Focus on Equity

Tremendous health outcome inequities remain in the U.S. across race and ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and geography—particularly for those with serious conditions such as lung or skin cancer, HIV/AIDS, or cardiovascular disease.These inequities are driven by a complex set of factors—including distance to a specialist, insurance coverage, provider bias, and a patient's housing and healthy food access. These inequities not only harm patients, resulting in avoidable illness and death, they also drive unnecessary health systems costs.This 5-part series highlights the urgent need to address these issues, providing resources such as case studies, data, and recommendations to help the health care sector make meaningful strides toward achieving equity in specialty care.Top TakeawaysThere are vast inequalities in access to and outcomes from specialty health care in the U.S. These inequalities are worst for minority patients, low-income patients, patients with limited English language proficiency, and patients in rural areas.A number of solutions have emerged to improve health outcomes for minority and medically underserved patients. These solutions fall into three main categories: increasing specialty care availability, ensuring high-quality care, and helping patients engage in care.As these inequities are also significant drivers of health costs, payers, health care provider organizations, and policy makers have a strong incentive to invest in solutions that will both improve outcomes and reduce unnecessary costs. These actors play a critical role in ensuring that equity is embedded into core care delivery at scale.Part 5: "Call to Action for a System-wide Focus on Equity"These solutions create value not only for patients, but also for health care providers and public and private payers.  Each of these actors have a role to play in scaling and sustaining the health equity solutions.

Capacity for All

Although BSCF has not completed a full-scale evaluation of all of its capacity-building work, it does have preliminary data based on early efforts and grantee interviews. This feedback alone provides the Foundation with clear evidence and options for other funders to take on capacity building using similar tactics at the field level. Key takeaways include: organizational networks are forming Perhaps the greatest benefit to field-level capacity building is the networking that reinforces the connections created. Instead of competing for limited resources, grantees are now brought together by the same funder, and under the same roof, to share their experiences around a common cause. Key to creating this type of field-level impact is first creating the space for these foundational relationships to take place. leaders are stepping up Evaluation data from BSCF's leadership development programs show that participants feel better prepared to assume high-level roles after their training, and existing senior leaders recognize a growing cadre of qualified up-and-comers with the confidence and ability to enter field-level leadership roles, even at regional and statewide levels. operational savvy is growing Technical assistance outcomes, while perhaps relatively easy to measure at the organizational level, are harder to quantify at the field level. However, conversations within both fields have shifted to reflect greater capacity and understanding in finance, management, data, technology and collaboration. For example, mergers were once thought of only as negative last-ditch options for safety net providers and domestic violence organizations. Thanks to BSCF-funded technical assistance, this opinion has changed and we continue to see more and more successful mergers among BSCF grantees and across the entire field. field leaders are more connected Leaders throughout the domestic violence field (and to some extent the community health center field as well) say that they feel more connected to their peers and have more opportunities to discuss ideas and work in collaboration. In particular, participants in the Strong Field Project report more knowledge sharing and more common language and frameworks used when discussing issues important to the field and its future

Breaking the Barriers to Specialty Care: Practical Ideas to Improve Health Equity and Reduce Cost - Striving for Equity in Specialty Care Full Report

Tremendous health outcome inequities remain in the U.S. across race and ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and geography—particularly for those with serious conditions such as lung or skin cancer, HIV/AIDS, or cardiovascular disease.These inequities are driven by a complex set of factors—including distance to a specialist, insurance coverage, provider bias, and a patient's housing and healthy food access. These inequities not only harm patients, resulting in avoidable illness and death, they also drive unnecessary health systems costs.This 5-part series highlights the urgent need to address these issues, providing resources such as case studies, data, and recommendations to help the health care sector make meaningful strides toward achieving equity in specialty care.Top TakeawaysThere are vast inequalities in access to and outcomes from specialty health care in the U.S. These inequalities are worst for minority patients, low-income patients, patients with limited English language proficiency, and patients in rural areas.A number of solutions have emerged to improve health outcomes for minority and medically underserved patients. These solutions fall into three main categories: increasing specialty care availability, ensuring high-quality care, and helping patients engage in care.As these inequities are also significant drivers of health costs, payers, health care provider organizations, and policy makers have a strong incentive to invest in solutions that will both improve outcomes and reduce unnecessary costs. These actors play a critical role in ensuring that equity is embedded into core care delivery at scale.

Dutch experiences in new partnerships between science and practice in health promotion:Toward a fourth-generation university

For a long time already, attempts have been made to bridge the gap between research and practice. In this respect, society demands that universities should have a bigger social impact. University and society/societal organizations should work together (co-create) during the entire research process, from the articulation of the research question until the implementation of the results. There is controversy about the question whether it is possible for universities to work together with practice and at the same time to retain the academic quality standards. First, this article deals with the question what characteristics are important for universities in order to be able to work together with practice. In this respect, the Dutch scientist Steinbuch came up with a tantalizing idea arguing that universities may take a next step and develop into ‘fourth generation universities’. Second, it is described how a process of co-creation between university and the health promotion practice has been developed, bottom up, at Tranzo, Scientific Center for Care and Wellbeing, Tilburg University, the Netherlands. The ideas developed by Steinbuch and the results of the bottom up processes in Tilburg are combined. Consequences of the Tilburg experiences for the characteristics of a fourth-generation university are discussed as well as consequences for the role of universities in society

On Care and Citizenship: Performing Healing (in) the Museum

As a result of the most pressing concerns of our global present, care, essential to life and survival, is at the center of political struggles and ethical concerns in the 21st-century. With access to health care infrastructures highly unevenly distributed, and caring labor vastly exploited, care injustice is on the rise. The Waiting Room by artist Simone Leigh addresses these concerns. Dedicated to commemorating care worker Esmin Elizabeth Green, who, after 24 hours of waiting, died in the waiting room of a Brooklyn hospital in 2008, this project transformed the New Museum into a center for care, and political mobilization. Foregrounding the experience of Black female subjectivities, alternative healing, and radical resistance, Leigh’s art-as-social practice gave rise to Black Women Artists for Black Lives Matter, who used the museum for self-care and political organizing. This essay follows the nexus of care and citizenship through the political dimensions of infrastructural access to health care and culture. Remembering that the modern museum, implicated in the politics and economies of colonial capitalism, created rituals of citizenship based on an exclusionary gendered and racialized notion of the citizen, this essay asks if The Waiting Room enacts a ritual of care as ritual of citizenship

Fostering Innovation in Philanthropy

Innovation is a buzzword with growing resonance in the philanthropic community. But how are foundations going about adopting innovative practices? In this guide, you'll learn the definition of "innovation"; 8 approaches to philanthropic innovation; key practices of innovative funders; recommendations to become innovative and support innovation; and more