HOME IS WHERE THE ASTHMA IS
We have long known about associations between Black race, higher rates of pediatric asthma, and worse asthma-related consequences. This asthma-race connection is not accounted for by education or income, or other known factors like smoking, but rather is explained in large part by housing. These authors found that poor housing quality, specifically cracks in walls/floors/windows, broken plumbing, or exposed wires, was strongly associated with asthma and emergency room visits for asthma. Home ownership, which likely translates to greater attention to home safety, mitigated racial differences.
CARING FOR THE CARERS
An increasing number of Americans spend time helping or taking care of a relative or friend who has chronic illness. Half of these “informal” caregivers are over age 50, two-thirds are women, and the burden of care often has effects on working-aged caregivers’ labor force participation. This study reports that the 17.1 million women who provide at least 20 hours of informal care per week are 1 to 3 percentage points more likely to retire relative to other women. While some retirees may return to the workforce, if the expectation is that these individuals will not retire but instead work longer at some capacity (to secure Social Security benefits) while providing this care, there should be an increase in the financial supports available to working caregivers.
|
|
ATTENTION: ALCOHOL DEATHS STILL RISING
In November 2017, the Trust for America’s Health and Well Being Trust released a report called "Pain in the Nation: The Drug, Alcohol and Suicide Crises and the Need for a National Resilience Strategy." The report covers three crises, but alcohol’s increasing role in the cause of death in the past couple of decades requires attention.
The report points out that liver diseases, alcohol poisoning, and other diseases account for 33,200 alcohol-related deaths in the last year. If car crashes—30% of which are alcohol-related—and other injuries are factored into the overall death rate due to alcohol, the drug becomes the fourth leading preventable cause of death in the United States at 88,000 deaths annually. Alcohol consumption is a known risk factor for suicide, homicide, injury, and other drug use which further exacerbates its overall burden.
As the graph above shows, alcohol-related deaths are at a 35-year high. They increased by 47% between 2000 and 2015. Women have experienced the most dramatic proportional increases in death rates (75%). White alcohol-related deaths have increased by 130% since 1999, compared to a 27% increase in the rate of Hispanic deaths and a 12% decrease in the rate of African-American deaths.
The report calls for a “National Resilience Plan,” suggesting policy-level remedies. The most effective alcohol-related policies include:
- Increasing excise (based on volume sold) and sales taxes (percent of retail price)
- Limiting the number of retailers in any given area and the days and hours when alcohol can be sold
- Holding the owner or server liable for injuries or deaths related to illegal sale of alcohol
- Raising the legal drinking age
—Madeline Bishop, PHP Fellow
Graph from "Pain in the Nation: The Drug, Alcohol and Suicide Crises and the Need for a National Resilience Strategy," Trust for America’s Health and Well Being Trust Issue Report.
|
|
|
|