Cleveland Clinic Minority Men's Health Fair

Last night, several psychologists represented OPA and Mental Health at the 9^th Annual Cleveland Clinic Minority Men's Health Fair.  The fair serves over 2000 men and their families who come for screenings for everything from prostate cancer to depression.  There were over 50 booths and 20 free screenings offered.  Efforts such as this help to reduce healthcare disparities and  destigmatize psychology and healthcare for minorities. 
It was a pleasure to talk with over 75 of the participants.  Some shared their positive experiences with psychology and therapy, as well as positive coping strategies they use to manage stress such as spirituality, meditation, exercise, and humor.  Others were seeking to build coping strategies and seek treatment for financial stress, caregiver stress, and coping with medical problems.  We were able to provide materials from the APA Public Education Campaign about resilience, stress management, obesity, and heart disease.  We also provided information about referral sources such as the Cleveland Psychological Association's "Find a Psychologist" feature.  What an exciting event!

Profile of Older Americans: 2010

This annual summary of the latest statistics on the older population covers 15 topical areas including population, income and poverty, living arrangements, education, and health. A description of the highlights of this document can be found below.

The Profile has proven to be a very useful statistical summary in a user friendly format. It is a web based publication and will be posted shortly on the AoA web site.

Highlights - Profile of Older Americans: 2010

• The older population (65+) numbered 39.6 million in 2009, an increase of 4.3 million or 12.5% since 1999.
• The number of Americans aged 45-64-- who will reach 65 over the next two decades-- increased by 26% during this decade.
• Over one in every eight, or 12.9%, of the population is an older American.
• Persons reaching age 65 have an average life expectancy of an additional 18.6 years (19.9 years for females and 17.2 years for males).
• Older women outnumber older men at 22.7 million older women to 16.8 million older men.
• In 2009, 19.9% of persons 65+ were minorities--8.3% were African-Americans.** Persons of Hispanic origin (who may be of any race) represented 7.0% of the older population. About 3.4% were Asian or Pacific Islander,** and less than 1% were American Indian or Native Alaskan.** In addition, 0.6% of persons 65+ identified themselves as being of two or more races.
• Older men were much more likely to be married than older women--72% of men vs. 42% of women (Figure 2). 42% older women in 2009 were widows.
• About 30% (11.3 million) of noninstitutionalized older persons live alone (8.3 million women, 3.0 million men).
• Half of older women (49%) age 75+ live alone.
• About 475,000 grandparents aged 65 or more had the primary responsibility for their grandchildren who lived with them.
• The population 65 and over will increase from 35 million in 2000 to 40 million in 2010 (a 15% increase) and then to 55 million in 2020 (a 36% increase for that decade).
• The 85+ population is projected to increase from 4.2 million in 2000 to 5.7 million in 2010 (a 36% increase) and then to 6.6 million in 2020 (a 15% increase for that decade).
• Minority populations are projected to increase from 5.7 million in 2000 (16.3% of the elderly population) to 8.0 million in 2010 (20.1% of the elderly) and then to 12.9 million in 2020 (23.6% of the elderly).
• The median income of older persons in 2009 was $25,877 for males and $15,282 for females. Median money income (after adjusting for inflation) of all households headed by older people rose 5.8% (statistically significant) from 2008 to 2009. Households containing families headed by persons 65+ reported a median income in 2009 of $43,702.
• The major sources of income as reported by older persons in 2008 were Social Security (reported by 87% of older persons), income from assets (reported by 54%), private pensions (reported by 28%), government employee pensions (reported by 14%), and earnings (reported by 25%).
• Social Security constituted 90% or more of the income received by 34% of beneficiaries in 2008 (21% of married couples and 43% of non-married beneficiaries).
• Almost 3.4 million elderly persons (8.9%) were below the poverty level in 2009. This poverty rate is statistically different from the poverty rate in 2008 (9.7%).
• About 11% (3.7 million) of older Medicare enrollees received personal care from a paid or unpaid source in 1999.

OPA Legislative Day Health Fair

OPA is hosting a health fair at the Statehouse in Columbus on May 25th in conjunction with their annual Legislative Day. Our hope is to educate legislators and state workers about the value of psychology. We will have six tables, including health psychology, childhood obesity, SMI, stress management, issues affecting veterans and the military, and addressing minority healthcare disparities.

We are looking for 12 psychologist volunteers. The time commitment is 8-1 PM or 4 PM if you choose to stay and meet with your individual state representatives. We will provide an orientation by phone conference and lots of materials to help you talk about the wonderful things psychology can do for the public. Please consider donating your time for this important event! Contact me at ashtonk@ccf.org if you are interested.

Map of Well-Being

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index® is the first-ever daily assessment of U.S. residents' health and well-being. By interviewing at least 1,000 U.S. adults every day, the Well-Being Index provides real-time measurement and insights needed to improve health, increase productivity, and lower healthcare costs. The NY Times recently published an article entitled "The Happiest Man in America" and an accompanying map of the nation's well-being according to 20 indexes and sorted by Congressional District. Ohio appears to overall have lower rates of well-being than other states. For more information about Health and Well-Being from the American Psychological Association, please visit this link.

August 9-15th is National Health Center Week

Did You Know? August 9-15^th is National Health Center Week. This week is dedicated to recognizing the service and contributions of Community, Migrant, Homeless and Public Housing Health Centers in providing access to affordable, high quality, cost-effective health care to medically vulnerable and underserved people in the U.S.

This year's commemoration is especially important as the National Association of Community Health Center sets its sights on the goals of our ACCESS for All America plan to serve 30 million people by 2015. Community, Migrant, and Homeless Health Centers are partnerships of people, governments, and communities working to meet health needs. They constitute a vital safety net in the nation’s health delivery system that is meeting escalating health needs, reducing health disparities, and bringing doctors and health services into medically underserved areas. Today, this growing nationwide network of over 1,200 health centers serves more than 18 million people at 7,000 urban and rural communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

For more information, please visit the National Health Center Week website at http://www.healthcenterweek.org/. For the list of Ohio observances, please visit this direct link.

Sources of Multilingual Health Information

RHIN
The Refugee Health Information Network (RHIN) is a national collaborative partnership managed by refugee health professionals whose objective is to provide quality multilingual, health information resources for those providing care to resettled refugees and asylees.

EthnoMed
University of Washington started with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation. It provides free access to patient education materials and information about numerous language and cultural groups.

Health Information Translations
This site, formed by three of the largest health care organizations in the state of Ohio, offers patient information in 17 languages, on topics such as disaster preparedness, surgeries, pregnancy, and various other subject areas.

National Network of Libraries of Medicine
This website includes links to an array of in-language materials and other resources.

Healthy Roads Media
This portal houses materials in 18 different languages in many formats, including print materials, audio, multimedia, web video, and mobile video (iPod).

24 Languages Project
This effort from the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library has audio recordings and brochures in English as well as -- you guessed it -- 24 other languages.

Language Services Resource Guide For Healthcare Providers
See page 74 for a list of sources for multilingual health information.

Medline Plus: Health Information in Multiple Languages

SPIRAL
Selected Patient Information Resources in Asian Languages

Hmong Health Website

The Diversity Health Institute Clearinghouse
The Diversity Health Institute Clearinghouse is a central access point for information on multicultural health in Australia and contains links to a range of translated health information. The Clearinghouse is funded by the NSW government but sources content from across Australia and internationally if the information is relevant to the Australian community.

National Public Health Week April 6-12

Did You Know? April 6-12th is National Public Health Week. The theme for the week is Building the Foundation for a Healthy America. The American Public Health Association's website has information for individuals, families, and communities to improve our health and recommit to a healthier future.

Did You Know? National Heath Care Decisions Day

To encourage Americans of all ages to prepare advance directives and share their decisions regarding end-of-life care with loved ones, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives recently passed a resolution recognizing April 16 as "National Health Care Decisions Day." The National Health Care Decisions Day initiative, headed by representatives of leading medical, nursing, legal and bioethics organizations, is spearheading the event -- enlisting other groups, health care providers, attorneys, chaplains and individuals in an effort to provide accurate, easy-to-follow information the public can use to complete written advance directives.

"The National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) Initiative is a collaborative effort of national, state and community organizations committed to ensuring that all adults with decision-making capacity in the United States have the information and opportunity to communicate and document their healthcare decisions."