Turn it to the left

Listen to this audio report by NPR reporter Richard Knox about the impact the MP3 player craze is having on hearing. The story includes tips on how to help preserve your hearing without giving up earbuds. NPR (Click “Listen” to hear the audio report.)

Volunteers needed by the American Cancer Society for long term care study

The American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study 3 (CPS-3) aims to enroll a geographically and ethnically diverse group of half a million adults across the United States. The organization is preparing for its next generation of research to help further advance understanding of the lifestyle, environmental and genetic factors that cause or prevent cancer. This is the latest in a series of important, large-scale studies the ACS has undertaken since the 1950s that have contributed significantly to understanding how tobacco, obesity, diet, physical activity, hormone use, air pollution, and other factors affect the risk of cancer and other diseases. Enrollment in CPS-3 will take place at 64 of the 4,800 Relay For Life® events taking place across the U.S. in 2007. It will continue at select Relay events through 2011 (a pilot program enrolled participants at a handful of Relay events in 2006). Relay For Life is a fun-filled overnight event designed to celebrate survivorship and raise money for the American Cancer Society’s research and programs. American Cancer Society

Teddy Awards

If you are in the workers’ compensation or disability management industries and feel your company is setting best practices, you may be interested in checking to see if your organization qualifies for the 2007 Teddy Awards. The Theodore Roosevelt Workers’ Compensation and Disability Management Awards honor a company and a government or nonprofit organization for their efforts to reduce the number and cost of injuries to workers. The awards are named to honor the president who in 1908 introduced and promoted the first piece of important workers’ compensation legislation in the United States. It has been awarded by Risk & Insurance magazine for 12 years and is presented at the annual National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference & Expo, scheduled this year in November at McCormick Place in Chicago. The awards will be presented at a special luncheon on Tuesday, November 6, 2007. All entries must be received by Risk & Insurance by June 29, 2007. Risk & Insurance

NIH studies bariatric surgery in adolescents

As we know, obesity is a major health problem in the US and continues to grow, especially among children and adolescents. A new study by NIH will evaluate the benefits and risks of bariatric surgery in adolescents and hopefully provide new guidelines that case managers and other healthcare professionals can use to better manage this unique population. NIH Press Release

Editor’s Note: The April/May issue of Case in Point magazine includes two stories on eating disorders, “Case Managing Morbidly Obese Adolescents” and “What’s Eating Our Teens? Youth, Image and Eating Disorders.” If you haven’t yet received your copy, you can read a PDF of the magazine on-line at www.caseinpointmagazine.com.

CDC Web site has a new look

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently unveiled a new look for its Web site. The changes are designed to make it easier for people to find health information and resources quickly. The redesigned site has an improved layout, a more powerful search engine, and other features to help healthcare professionals and consumers locate needed health and science information more easily. Here are some of the new features:

• Health and safety information is now grouped into broad, easy-to-browse topic areas. For example, clicking on “Life Stages and Populations” takes visitors to a page with sections on pregnancy, women’s health, men’s health, minority health and more.
• Better access to data and statistics, recent news, tools and resources, and new publications.
• A new Google-based search engine offers more relevant search results.
• An interactive features area at the top of the new home page highlights a number of current issues, events and health topics with relevant photographs or videos. This feature enables CDC to better display health recommendations, guidelines and upcoming events.
• A “Top 20 at CDC.gov” menu on the homepage allows visitors to quickly view a list of the most popular health topics and access each directly.

Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC, stated in a press release, “The new CDC.gov home page is our first big step toward a truly interactive Web gateway for people seeking personalized information about health issues. We want all our customers — not just health professionals and scientists, but also parents, students, businesses and other stakeholders — to get the information they need from CDC where they want it, when they want it and how they want it.” CDC Website

Example of best practice in disaster recovery

Nurse practitioner Scharmaine Lawson from New Orleans was able to help save some lives after Hurricane Katrina simply by remembering to bring her Palm Pilot when she evacuated from the storm. The device held the medical records for all of the nurse practitioner’s 100 homebound elderly patients, and she was able to help doctors around the nation retrieve records for those patients who were scattered after the hurricane. Yahoo!/HealthDay News