Blog
This year’s theme for 2024 World AIDS Day is “Collective Action: Sustain and Accelerate HIV Progress.” To honor World AIDS Day (12/1), we explore global and domestic HIV issues and persistent disparities impacting communities across the United States.
To commemorate National Native American Heritage Month in November, this policy blog explores the health care barriers incarcerated Indigenous populations face in U.S. prison facilities and potential solutions to improve health care access.
Thin Rati Oo, a summer 2024 Weitzman Policy Intern, discusses the unique health care access concerns experienced by older immigrants in the U.S., as well as potential solutions.
To recognize Domestic Violence Awareness Month and National Primary Care Week, this month’s policy blog discusses intimate partner violence (IPV), the role of primary care providers and health centers in IPV treatment and prevention, and important next steps.
September commemorates National Hispanic Heritage Month and National Suicide Prevention Month. For the September Weitzman blog, we bring awareness to the growing suicide rate and disparities in treatment access among Hispanic populations, and highlight policies that could improve overall mental health outcomes for Hispanic populations.
Following South Asian Heritage Month, 2024 Weitzman health policy intern Puji Masireddy led this AcademyHealth piece describing the disproportionate heart disease burden carried by those with South Asian ancestry, including policy and lifestyle recommendations.
Last year, the Policy team blogged on the importance of education and climate change, discussing the promise of climate curricula and the barriers to climate change education in the U.S. In 2024, education remains key to addressing climate change, and more educators and students are interested in learning more about climate change and its impact on our lives and learning. While classroom education remains paramount to mitigating the effects of climate change, other avenues are emerging. Enter video games. In this blog we bring attention to innovative, fun, free online games that teach youth about climate change and would make a great addition to schools, after school programs, and clubs, starting with Rising Tides.
As she wraps up her role as official AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting (ARM) blogger, Jessica McCann recaps a few of her favorite policy-oriented ARM sessions, focusing on research, programs or policies that improve health outcomes for vulnerable populations.
Indigenous Mental Health: Barriers, Programs, and Policies
July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. To commemorate this important topic, we focus this month’s Policy blog on the mental health issues unique to Indigenous populations in the United States (U.S.). Centuries of colonialism, genocide, racism and marginalization have led to mental health disparities despite generations of Indigenous practices facilitating positive mental health. We examine these mental health issues, promising programs, and a return to Indigenous values and their integration within our modern healthcare system.
The Charm City: Baltimore’s Communities Work to Improve Health and Well-Being
For a special blog for AcademyHealth, our colleague Jessica McCann discusses her hometown Baltimore’s challenges and resiliencies as she returns for the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting. Check out The Charm City: Baltimore’s Communities Work to Improve Health and Well-Being
Oral Health and LGBTIQ+ Populations: End the Stigma, Improve Care
In health care settings, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ+) populations often face discrimination, leading to reduced use of health-related services. Despite oral care being crucial to overall health, the oral health status of LGBTIQ+ communities is not often discussed or at the forefront of policy conversations. This June, in honor of Pride Month and National Oral Health Month, we raise awareness about the unique oral health challenges experienced by the LGBTIQ+ community, describe innovative programs, including those within Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and provide recommendations on how health care providers can offer inclusive and equitable oral care.
The Effect of Gun Violence on Community Mental Health
Exposure to gun violence can lead to a lifetime of poor mental health. To acknowledge National Mental Health Awareness Month, we revisit the intersection of gun violence and mental health, discuss the current policy landscape, and recognize the creative community-led initiatives breaking the cycle.
April is recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as National Minority Health Month, an observance that builds awareness about health disparities that persist among racial and ethnic minorities including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). In this month’s blog the Weitzman Policy Team highlights four current issues that are impacting minority health and health policy.
Community violence is strongly associated with adverse health outcomes, and recent studies highlight (1) the association between gun violence exposure and increased suicidality among Black Americans; (2) the association between police killings and insufficient sleep among Black Americans, and (3) the increased risk of dying by homicide for Black vs. white women. In this blog, we examine these studies, explore relevant issues, and examine policy solutions for future improvements.
Each February, nationwide awareness about teen dating violence is commemorated through Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month (TDVAM). With this in mind, this month’s blog highlights the importance of increasing healthy relationship education and interventions in countering the growing influence of online misogyny and the role schools and school-based health centers (SBHCs) can play in promoting healthy relationships among adolescents.
Although January is the start of a new year, expenses during the holiday season, coupled with lower temperatures and increased utility bills, place additional stress on families. January is also Poverty Awareness Month, a month-long initiative to raise awareness and call attention to the growth of poverty in America. For this blog, the policy team wants to highlight how poverty impacts at-risk communities and make policy recommendations that can help alleviate financial stress to them.
World AIDS Day is recognized each year on December 1st as a way to remember the millions of lives lost to the disease and continue to raise awareness. This year’s theme emphasis of remembering and committing resonates differently when we consider the proposed funding cuts to domestic HIV funding. In this blog, we highlight important reasons as to why we advocate for advancing health equity and ending disparities experienced by people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in the United States (U.S.).
The Policy team was invited by AcademyHealth to write a blog in honor of National Homeless Youth Awareness month. This blog explores youth homelessness and mental health, funding to address youth homelessness and next steps to further address this issue.
The Policy team is delighted to have a guest feature for this month’s blog. Our colleague, Lynsey Grzejszczak, MHA, discusses the shortage of ADHD medication and how it has affected her day-to-day life as well as coping strategies and policy solutions to address this issue.
This month, the Weitzman Institute policy team provides a follow-up to last year’s policy brief: Addressing Food Insecurity in School-Based Settings: Keeping Youth Fed as Costs Rise. In this blog, we highlight states that have passed universal free school meal policies, its benefits, and challenges/lessons learned while implementing universal free school meals in schools.
This summer, the Weitzman Institute was pleased to welcome our inaugural cohort of Health Policy Summer Interns. As part of their internship, our interns had the opportunity to write a blog highlighting a health policy topic that aligned with their interests and is relevant to the challenges underserved communities face in our healthcare system. Read our 2023 Summer Intern Blog Series each Tuesday throughout August.
In observance of National Minority Mental Health Awareness month, the Weitzman Institute policy team highlights the intersection of climate change, specifically extreme heat, and its adverse effect on minority mental health.
With the growing number of LGBTQ youth in the U.S, it is vital that school-based health centers (SBHCs) are equipped to appropriately care for them and support positive short and long-term health, educational, and social outcomes. This blog discusses the unique needs of LGBTQ youth and why SBHC staff and providers should create inclusive and positive environments to provide high-quality and culturally appropriate care to all who enter their doors.
For Mental Health Awareness Month, we highlight the need for mental health support after a mass shooting. With mass shootings becoming more frequent and knowing their traumatic impact on families and communities, immediate and sustainable, long-term mental health support must be ensured for families and communities.
Experts agree that climate change is the defining issue of our generation, with education holding the key to addressing it. For Earth Day, we would like to highlight the importance of incorporating climate change education into school curriculums.
Sixty years ago, the Women’s Health Movement (WHM) began, leading to significant policy and cultural changes in healthcare, biomedicine, and research. This Women’s History Month, we want to highlight the key milestones of the WHM and discuss how it was key to moving us closer to gender equality in the health and biomedical research fields.
This Black History Month, we are highlighting the midwives of the Deep South who were instrumental in Black maternal health and recognizing their role in today’s current efforts for birth equity.
Numerous studies have established a connection between cancer populations and the increased likelihood to experience mental health disorders and symptoms. This blog post discusses why primary healthcare settings, including FQHCs, should implement and screen cancer and cancer remission patients to identify those who are experiencing negative mental health impacts from their cancer experience.
The United States’ departure from Afghanistan in August 2021 resulted in over 76,000 Afghan nationals coming into the country, including to Connecticut. Federally Qualified Health Centers like the Community Health Center, Inc. (CHCI) have a longstanding history of working with underserved populations, and thus, are uniquely positioned to address the health and social needs of refugees. This blog post describes CHCI’s implementation of a Saturday health clinic that launched in November 2021 for refugees in New Britain, Connecticut.
In observance of National Minority Mental Health Awareness month, the Weitzman Institute policy team highlights the intersection of climate change, specifically extreme heat, and its adverse effect on minority mental health.