Tonight at 8 pm, HBO will debut a four-part documentary series, The Weight of the Nation, an unflinching look at the severity of the obesity crisis in America, and its crippling effect on our nation’s health and economy.
HBO and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences have joined forces to bring together the nation’s foremost experts on weight and weight loss for a frank and educational look at obesity in America. The series explains how weight became such an issue in this country and provides answers for how we can get to a healthy weight by overcoming the forces that drive us to eat too much and move too little. Full story »
Feeling "a little" pinch is a small price to pay for good healthcare. But we can do more to reduce the discomfort. (UNICEF Sverige/Flickr)
I remember distinctly both of my boys’ 4-month-old well visits. Mostly because of the shots: all four of them.
Neither boy was particularly happy about being poked that much (though the shiny Band-Aids afterward did help a little).
My wife and I would have loved to help ease the pain of the shots, but we didn’t have any idea how. Frankly, I don’t know that, in the moment, it crossed our minds that there was something we could do, and it wasn’t something we thought to ask our pediatrician about. I mean, it was just a little bit of pain, right?
The problem, though, is that those little bits of pain add up. “Millions of injections are given to children around the world every year,” says Neil Schechter, MD, a pain specialist in Boston Children’s Hospital’s Anesthesia Department. Schechter recently published an article in Pediatrics where he commented that while we’ve come a long way in the last 50 years in understanding and addressing pain in children—especially after surgery or due to chronic illness—pain in the pediatric office hasn’t received the same level of attention.
“The pain from shots and other minor procedures in a pediatrician’s office doesn’t have the same poignancy as pain in an inpatient setting,” he says, “but it is still pain. And if we want to encourage patients’ and families’ cooperation and participation in routine healthcare, we want to keep pain to a minimum.” Full story »
By reviewing a computer based screening on patient alcohol use, doctors can help reduce underage drinking according to a new study
Can a doctor really persuade a teenager not to use alcohol or drugs with a two or three minute intervention? The answer is “yes,” according to a new study in the journal Pediatrics.
“In just a few minutes we can make a significant impact in reducing teenage alcohol use,” says Harris. “By streamlining the alcohol screening process for clinicians and patients alike we can make the process easier and more efficient for everyone, which will yield more positive results.”
Teens in Harris’s study completed a five-minute computer-based survey, known as the CRAFFT, which asks six simple questions about alcohol and drug use. After the screening users are assigned a “score” and risk level based on their answers. They’re then directed to 10 illustrated pages of stories and science-based evidence about the serious health effects of alcohol and drug use. Full story »
National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week is May 6 though 12. In honor of the occasion David R. DeMaso, MD, psychiatrist-in-chief at Boston Children’s Hospital, addresses the work of the Children’s Mental Health Campaign in Massachusetts.
What is the state of children’s mental health in the Commonwealth?
The good news is that we’ve come a long way. Massachusetts is a national leader in children’s mental health. Since 2006, when Boston Children’s and Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC) released a joint report on children’s mental health, children are now more likely to receive timely care, delivered in the right setting, than six years ago. However, the system continues to be fragmented, which creates barriers to care. We still need to take important steps to expand access to effective, high quality and well-coordinated care for all children with mental health needs.
What is the Children’s Mental Health Campaign? What have been the most significant achievements of the Campaign to date?
Launched by Boston Children’s and the MSPCC, the Campaign also includes the following founding partners –Health Care for All, Health Law Advocates and the Parent Advocacy League. Since 2006 it has grown into a diverse coalition of more than 140 organizations with expertise in mental health, healthcare, law, child welfare, family advocacy and policy—all working together to advocate for systemic change of the children’s health care system.
Through the Campaign’s efforts, the landscape for children’s mental health in the Commonwealth has changed significantly. Three landmark laws have been enacted: the Children’s Mental Health Omnibus law of 2008, the Mental Health Parity reform law of 2008 and the Autism law of 2010.
These laws have improved access to care, spurned early identification of children with mental health needs, highlighted the importance of increasing schools’ capacity to address the mental health needs of students, expanded insurance coverage for children in need of mental healthcare services and reduced by more than 60 percent the number of kids “stuck” in inappropriate care settings. Full story »
Dr. Claire McCarthy is a primary care physician and the Medical Communications Editor at Boston Children’s Hospital. Along with her blogs here on Thriving, you can find her at the Huffington Post and Boston.com. Follow her on Twitter @drClaire.
My latest (by no means the first, and certainly not the last) embarrassing parenthood moment happened two weeks ago.
It was the evening of the district-wide art show. This is a semi-big deal in our town; the art teachers pick their favorite projects from the school year, from all the grades, and put them on display for everyone to see. There is an opening reception when all the families and friends come to look at all the wonderful art, eat hors d’oeuvres, and do all the appropriate oohing and aahing. Full story »
Boston Children's nurses demonstrate care techniques to an audience of thousands. Photo courtesy of Toni Imprescia, RN, CCRN
In a hospital in Guatemala—3,400 miles from Boston Children’s Hospital—a group of Boston Children’s nurses is teaching a class on how to use surgical safety checklists to improve safe perioperative practice.
Another group of nurses and physicians is sitting in on the same class, 10,000 miles away in Viet Nam. From Bangladesh to El Salvador, clinicians don’t need to leave their hospitals to benefit from the expertise of Boston Children’s staff—they just need a computer and an Internet connection.
The idea to have Boston Children’s nurses produce and broadcast educational webinars to hospitals in resource-limited countries started with Patricia Hickey, PhD, MBA, RN, FAAN, vice president of Cardiovascular/Critical Care Services, and Kathy Jenkins, MD, MPH, senior vice president and chief safety and quality officer. When the two attended the Global Forum on Humanitarian Medicine in Geneva in 2008, they discussed how the hospital could make a difference in the global health landscape. Although they encountered representatives from many countries who were interested in learning from Boston Children’s, the cost of traveling to each interested hospital was always going to be prohibitive—but the cost of broadcasting online to all of them at once was minimal. Full story »
Michael Rich, MD, MPH, is Children’s Hospital Boston’s media expert and director of Children’s Center on Media and Child Health. Take a look at his blog archive or follow him on Twitter @CMCH_Boston
Q: My son is 15 and displays symptoms of video game addiction, including lying and sneaking to try to gain access. He has Asperger’s and ADHD, and regardless of what medication regimen we try, the gaming obsession remains. I recently asked the psychiatrist to hospitalize him and treat him as they would other addicts, but they just changed his meds. Anyway, even if he were treated, he needs the computer for school. Do you have any advice for me?
-Dealing with Addiction, Orlando, FL
A: Dear Dealing with Addiction,
Unfortunately, more and more families share your story. Whether through sleep deprivation, anxiety, or social isolation, teens struggling with problematic video game or internet use are suffering, and their families are disrupted. And research shows that young people with ADHD may actually be more susceptible to problematic video game or internet use. Full story »
William Meehan, MD, director of Boston Children's Hospital's Sports Concussion Clinic
Yesterday’s suicide of former NFL star Junior Seau has once again raised troubling questions about the short- and long-term impact of concussions on the brain. While it’s not clear that Seau was diagnosed with concussions during his 20-plus year career, his method of suicide—shooting himself in the chest—echoes that of former Chicago Bear Dave Duerson, who killed himself in 2011 and left a note saying that he wanted his brain to be studied for the effects of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). According to Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, CTE is “a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes (and others) with a history of repetitive brain trauma.”
Notice that it doesn’t say, “a history of concussion”. What’s troubling about CTE is that it’s not just happening to former NFL linemen who make their living crashing into each other every week. William Meehan, MD, director Boston Children’s Hospital’s Sports Concussion Clinic, says he’s seeing serious concussions in kids who play sports not typically associated with them. Full story »
Do you have a Children's Hospital Boston story you'd like heard? By sharing your Children's story you can be a great source of inspiration and encouragement to families who are going through similar situations. And it’s a great way to find support by connecting with others. Share your story today »
