National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health
Search past issues of
the MCH Alert and other MCH Library resources at http://www.mchlibrary.info/databases/search.lasso
September 3, 2004
1. Maternal and Child Health Bureau to Sponsor Series of
Webcasts for MCH Community
2. National Institutes of Health Finalizes Obesity
Research Agenda
3. New Child Health Survey to Provide National and State
Data
4. Analysis Examines the Impact of Changing Urban
Geography and Service Provision
5. Authors Compare Access to and Use of Preventive Health
Services by Hispanic Women
************************************************************
1.MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH BUREAU TO SPONSOR SERIES OF WEBCASTS FOR
MCH COMMUNITY
The Maternal and Child Health Bureau will sponsor a series of Webcasts
as part of an ongoing effort to bring information on topics of interest
and importance to the maternal and child health (MCH) community. The
series will feature multiple presenters from federal, state, and local
agencies and will focus on experiences and recommendations for
improving MCH through state and local partnerships. The Webcasts will
combine video/audio broadcasting with PowerPoint slides, and
participants will be able to ask the presenters questions. The current
series includes the following Webcasts:
Wednesday, September 8, 2004
2:00-3:30 p.m. EST
MCHB/DRTE Navigating the New MCH Training Web Site with a Preview of the
MCHB All-Grantee Meeting Webcast
Thursday, September 9, 2004
2:00-3:00 p.m. EST
MCH/CSHCN Director Webcast
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
2:00-3:30 p.m. EST
MCHB Research Networks: PECARNS, PROS, and CARN
Participating in the Webcasts requires preregistration. Agendas and
registration information are available at http://www.mchcom.com. Archived
versions of the Webcasts will be made available 1 week following the
live events. Archived Webcasts, as well as online MCH conferences and
online MCH training resources, are available at http://www.mchcom.com.
************************************************************
2. NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH FINALIZES OBESITY RESEARCH AGENDA
The Strategic Plan for Obesity Research is a multi-dimensional research
agenda to enhance both the development of new research in areas of
greatest scientific opportunity and the coordination of obesity
research across the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH
Obesity Research Task Force, created in spring 2003, developed the plan
with input from scientists, organizations advocating for patients and
health professionals, and members of the public. The plan calls for
interdisciplinary research teams to bridge the study of behavioral and
environmental causes of obesity with the study of genetic and
biological causes. The plan addresses the link between obesity and
disease, special populations at high risk for obesity, translating
basic science into clinical research and community intervention
studies, and disseminating results to the public and health
professionals. The report is available at http://obesityresearch.nih.gov/About/strategic-plan.htm.
************************************************************
3. NEW CHILD HEALTH SURVEY TO PROVIDE NATIONAL AND STATE DATA
"The National Survey of Children's Health is designed to fill important
gaps in our knowledge of children's health and well-being," state the
authors of an article published in the September 2004 issue of the
Maternal and Child Health Journal. In January 2003, the Maternal and
Child Health Bureau (MCHB) in partnership with the National Center for
Health Statistics (NCHS) launched a new telephone survey -- the
National Survey of Child Health (NSCH) -- to provide state and national
data on children's health and well-being, as well as information on
their families and neighborhoods. The plan and design of this survey
are the focus of this article.
Purpose
The primary purpose of the NSCH is to provide representative state and
national data on children that can be used to characterize their health
status, their families and communities, the types of services they need
and use, and the challenges they face in navigating the health care
system. The NSCH will provide baseline estimates for federal and state
Title V Maternal and Child Health performance measures, MCHB companion
objectives for Healthy People 2010, and data for each state's 5-year
Title V needs assessment.
Design and Procedures
The NSCH is conducted using the State and Local Area Integrated
Telephone Survey mechanism and is administered to a representative
random sample of households with children in each of the 50 states and
the District of Columbia. A parent or guardian answers questions about
the child related to (1) demographics and program participation (TANF,
Medicaid/SCHIP, WIC, food stamps, school-based breakfast and lunch
programs, Head Start, and Early Head Start), (2) physical and mental
health status, (3) health insurance coverage, (4) access to and
utilization of services, and (5) medical home.
Expected Uses
MCHB intends to use the survey for program planning and evaluation
purposes at the federal and state levels, including monitoring Title V
performance measures related to children. The data will be used by
states in their needs assessment activities and to measure progress
toward meeting Healthy People 2010 objectives.
The authors conclude that "[The NSCH] will provide an important source
of new state-level information."
van Dyck P, Kogan MD, Heppel D. 2004. The National Survey of Children's
Health: A new data resource. Maternal and Child Health Journal
8(3):183-188.
Readers: This is the second state and national survey jointly completed
by MCHB and NCHS. It is designed to complement the 2001 National Survey
of Children with Special Health Care Needs by providing data on the
health of the general child population. Data collection began in
January 2003 and continued through April 2004. Summary reports and
electronic data files will be available to the public by early 2005.
************************************************************
4. ANALYSIS EXAMINES THE IMPACT OF CHANGING URBAN GEOGRAPHY AND SERVICE
PROVISION
"It is very possible that the safety net may not be well equipped to
meet the challenge of serving increasingly geographically dispersed
needs," states the author of an August 2004 report published by the
Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program. Spatial proximity
to service providers is an important consideration for adequate access
to governmental and non-governmental service providers, and this may be
particularly true for families with low incomes. The report examines
neighborhood variation in access to social services in three
metropolitan areas.
Using publicly available guides, directories, and resources, the author
compiled a list of service providers that assisted families with low
incomes during 2000 and 2001 in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington,
DC. The cities were chosen because of their differing sizes, densities,
ethnic/racial compositions, and economic conditions, yet they all had
comparable poverty rates (i.e., about 22% of central city residents
lived below the federal poverty line). Providers were included in the
Multi-City Social Service Provider Database (MSSPD) if they offered
services in at least one of five program areas: substance abuse and
mental health; food assistance; job training; education; and non-food
emergency assistance. The author calculated the number of service
providers for each program area within a 1.5 mile radius of each
residential census tract. The MSSPD was then combined with tract-level
demographic and economic data from the 1990 and 2000 censuses. The
author examined how proximity to service providers varied by tract
racial composition, poverty rates, and patterns of public assistance
receipt.
The author found that
* On average, poor populations in central cities were geographically
closer to social service providers than poor populations in suburban
areas.
* While spatial access to social services providers was greatest in
central city areas, potential demand for services was also much greater
in central city areas than in suburban areas.
* The location of social service providers was not always well matched
with the changing demographics of cities.
* High-poverty central city tracts with large percentages of Hispanics
were geographically closest to service providers.
The author concludes that policymakers and service providers need to
focus more attention on "how spatial trends in employment, population,
and support services converge to shape demand and needs of low-income
populations in our metropolitan areas."
Allard SW. 2004. Access to social services: The changing urban
geography of poverty and service provision. Washington, DC: Brookings
Institution. Available at http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20040816_allard.htm
or http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20040816_allard.pdf.
************************************************************
5. AUTHORS COMPARE ACCESS TO AND USE OF PREVENTIVE HEALTH SERVICES BY
HISPANIC WOMEN
"The analyses presented here suggest that . . . underutilization [of
preventive services by Hispanic women] persisted in 2001," state the
authors of an article published in the July/August 2004 issue of the
Journal of Women's Health. During the 1990s, a 58% increase in the
Hispanic/Latino population, fueled by the century's largest immigration
wave and the highest fertility rate of any U.S. group, resulted in
Hispanics becoming the largest U.S. minority group. However, little
data exists on Hispanics' experience with health care and preventive
health services, particularly in the fastest-growing new destinations.
The article compares access to and use of women's preventive health
services by race and ethnicity in Atlanta, Georgia (the largest
Hispanic new destination) and Miami, Florida (the largest established
Hispanic community in the Southeast).
Data for the analysis were drawn from the population-based 2000
National Health Interview Survey (NHIS; N=927) and from questionnaires
completed by Hispanic attendees as they registered for health
screenings during health fiestas held in 2001 in Atlanta and Miami
(N=361). Proportions of respondents who had ever used several
preventive services were compared by various characteristics.
From the NHIS sample, the authors found that
* Non-Hispanic white and black women were more likely than Hispanic
women to report annual household income over $20,000, a routine source
of preventive care, or ever having had Pap cervical cancer screening or
used oral contraception.
* Hispanic women over age 50 were more likely to than non-Hispanic
black women but less likely than non-Hispanic white women in this age
group to report ever having had a mammogram.
* Compared to Hispanics in Miami, Hispanics in Atlanta were more likely
to be male and to speak only Spanish and less likely to have a usual
source of preventive care, to have at least 12 years of education, or
to report annual household income over $20,000.
From the health fiesta questionnaire surveys, the authors found that
* Only 1.8% of Atlanta women, compared with 65.3% of Miami women, had
health insurance.
* Insured women were more likely than uninsured women to report ever
having had Pap cervical cancer screening and a mammogram but less
likely to report ever having received family planning services.
"Underutilization appeared to be strongly associated with possible
indicators of low access to preventive services such as low income and
uninsured status," the authors conclude. They add that "culturally
appropriate health fiestas may provide an acceptable alternative for
underserved Hispanic women to access preventive health services.
Moreover, they provide opportunities to participate in the health
system and in research, giving Hispanic women a voice in the planning
of how their health needs are met, particularly in the more
underserved, marginalized new destination communities."
Asamoa K, Rodriguez M, Gines V, et al. 2004. Use of preventive health
services by Hispanic/Latino women in two urban communities: Atlanta,
Georgia and Miami, Florida, 2000 and 2001. Journal of Women's Health
13(6):654-661.
************************************************************
To subscribe to MCH Alert, send an e-mail message to
MCHAlert-request@list.ncemch.org
with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
You do not need to enter any text in the body of the message.
To unsubscribe from MCH Alert, send an e-mail message to
MCHAlert-request@list.ncemch.org
with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
You do not need to enter any text in the body of the message.
************************************************************
MCH Alert © 2004 by
National Center for Education in Maternal and
Child Health and Georgetown University. MCH Alert is produced by
MCH Library Services at the National Center for Education in Maternal
and Child Health under its cooperative agreement (6U02 MC 00001) with
the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services
Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The
Maternal and Child Health Bureau reserves a royalty-free, nonexclusive,
and irrevocable right to use the work for federal purposes and to
authorize others to use the work for federal purposes.
Permission is given to
forward MCH Alert to individual
colleagues. For all other uses, requests for permission to
duplicate and use all or part of the information contained in this
publication should be sent to MCH Alert Editor, National Center for
Education in Maternal and Child Health, at mchalert@ncemch.org.
The editors welcome your
submissions, suggestions, and questions.
Please contact us at the address below.
EDITORS: Jolene
Bertness, Tracy Lopez
COPYEDITOR: Ruth
Barzel
National Center for
Education in Maternal and Child Health
Georgetown University
Mailing address: Box
571272, Washington, DC 20057-1272
Street address: 2115
Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Suite 601, Washington,
DC 20007-2292
Phone: (202) 784-9770
Fax: (202) 784-9777
E-mail: mchalert@ncemch.org
Web site: http://www.mchlibrary.info/alert/default.html
************************************************************