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Volume 4, No. 8, August 2006
From Your Colleagues
Carolyn Aoymana, HQE
New Women’s Health Work Group Forming: Looking for interested volunteers
I want people for whom women’s health is their true calling – people who are passionate about some part of women’s health care - to join me in forming an IHS Workgroup on Women’s Health. There are people out there who are local experts on mobilizing women to come in for their PAP smears, or their mammograms. There are others who care about access to high quality behavioral health services for women. Maternal/Child Health advocates who are especially interested in the “M” in MCH would be invaluable. How about chronic disease, or other health issues?
I am interested in forming a Women’s Health Workgroup with people who would be willing to serve in an advisory capacity to me. I value the advice of IHS staff that are passionately interested in expanding services that will improve access, quality and health outcomes of AI/AN women. One of the first things I want to work on is an IHS Women’s Health Strategic Plan. Please email me if you would be interested in serving in this advisory capacity. I need your perspective, experience, and ideas. Carolyn.Aoyama@ihs.gov
AHRQ’s “Women’s Health 2006: Translating Research into Practice”
Lecture presentations from “Women’s Health 2006: Translating Research into Practice” are supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ). Their support in this dissemination effort is gratefully acknowledged. http://www.womenshealth.vcu.edu/wh2006lectures/
Jean Howe, Chinle
QuickStats: Percentage of Adults with Self-Assessed Symptoms of Serious Psychological Distress,* by Sex and Race --- United States, 2000--2004 †
* Six psychological distress questions were included in the adult component of the National Health Interview Survey. These questions asked: "During the past 30 days, how often did you feel 1) so sad that nothing could cheer you up, 2) nervous, 3) restless or fidgety, 4) hopeless, 5) that everything was an effort, or 6) worthless?" Response codes (0--4) for the six items for each person were summed to yield a point value on a 0--24 point scale. A value of 13 or more was used to define serious psychological distress.
† Estimates are age adjusted to the 2000 projected U.S. standard population aged >18 years using four age groups: 18--24 years, 25--44 years, 45--64 years, and >65 years. Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population.
§ 95% confidence interval.
¶ Persons who indicated a single racial group.
During 2000--2004, American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) adults were most likely to have self-assessed symptoms of serious psychological distress, and Asian adults were least likely. Overall, the percentage was highest for AI/AN women, who were at least twice as likely as white women and black women and nearly four times as likely as Asian women to have self-assessed symptoms of serious psychological distress. AI/AN men were more than three times as likely as Asian men to have symptoms.
SOURCES:
National Health Interview Surveys, 2000--2004. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis.htm
Barnes PM, Adams PF, Powell-Griner E. Health characteristics of the American Indian and Alaska Native adult population: United States 1999--2003. Advance data from vital and health statistics; no. 356. Hyattsville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2005. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad356.pdf
Kessler RC, Barker PR, Colpe LJ, et al. Screening for serious mental illness in the general population. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2003;60:184--9
Judy Thierry, HQE
Providers should conduct psychosocial screening of all women in pregnancy
or prenatal care, according to a new Committee Opinion, Psychosocial Risk Factors: Perinatal Screening and Intervention. The document, published in the August issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology, was developed by the ACOG Committee on Health Care for Underserved Women. The document advises that “because problems may arise during the pregnancy that were not present at the initial visit, it is best to perform psychosocial screening at least once each trimester to increase the likelihood of identifying important issues and reducing poor birth outcomes. The document includes a well-regarded screening tool developed by the Healthy Start Program of the Florida Department of Health. Questions from the tool are included in ACOG’s Obstetric Medical History Form. From the ACOG newsletter, ACOG Today
http://www.acog.org/publications/acog_newsletters/acogToday0806.pdf
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OB/GYN
Dr. Neil Murphy is the Obstetrics and Gynecology Chief Clinical Consultant (OB/GYN C.C.C.). Dr. Murphy is very interested in establishing a dialogue and/or networking with anyone involved in women's health or maternal child health, especially as it applies to Native or indigenous peoples around the world. Please don't hesitate to contact him by e-mail or phone at 907-729-3154.
