Kara (Prior) Hanaoka, MA’s Post

Intimate partner violence and domestic violence killings are a serious public health problem, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But police can help prevent such killings, experts say, by using a questionnaire more states are seeking to make mandatory or more widely used during domestic violence calls. On Dec. 7, 2022, family and friends released pink balloons in remembrance of Andreae Lloyd, whose boyfriend has been charged in her 2021 death. Intimate partner violence is a serious public health problem that disproportionately affects Black and Indigenous women, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. States are encouraging more use of lethality risk assessments by law enforcement. Stateline.org offers a great overview of the importance of lethality assessments: https://lnkd.in/eGec2UvS The Lethality Assessment Program-Maryland Model (LAP), created by the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence (MNADV), is an innovative, award-winning, nationally recognized practice to prevent intimate partner homicides and serious injuries. The LAP has also been identified as a “supported intervention” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Continuum of Evidence Effectiveness, and as a “leading promising practice” by the U.S. Department of Justice, The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). Read more about the LAP below: For help, call 800-799-7233, or text “START” to 88788 for the 24/7 National Domestic Violence Hotline.

It's still #HeartMonth and IPPR's report highlights how progress on CVD prevention has stalled since 2010. The think tank is calling on Government to supercharge CVD prevention to save 1000s of lives. https://bit.ly/3UQvM5J #prevention #CVD #supercharge #heartmonth

Breaking stigma and raising awareness is not less than a prevention for medical conditions like Sickle Cell. This Sickle Cell Awareness Day, spread the words and educate to make a difference. #sumum #breakingthestigma #SickleCellAwareness #Awareness #WorldSickleCellDay

September is Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) Awareness month in the USA. Did you know that 1 in 2,500 people live with CMT? It is a hereditary disease of the peripheral nerves that causes loss of sensation and function in areas of the body such as the hands, arms, legs, and feet. Our CMT&Me study has been running for over 4 years, with nearly 40% of our participants based in the USA. The study collects data directly from patients using a digital app, developed through close collaboration with scientific experts, advocacy groups in all six countries, and people living with CMT. You'll find over 20 publications on our website that use the data from our study to help us understand life for patients living with CMT. https://bit.ly/3sReg5s #patientcenteredstudies #CMTAM23 #CMTAwareness

The Prematurity Prevention Initiative developed a social media toolkit ‘Watch Me Blossom: It Takes 39 Weeks to Bloom.’ This toolkit includes sample posts you can use to raise awareness about prematurity prevention and Black infant and maternal health in New Jersey. To download, visit https://lnkd.in/e5E3pu9.   #WatchMeBlossom #PrematurityPreventionInitiative #NJPreterm #PPI #BlackInfantHealth #BlackMaternalHealth #HealthyMothers #HealthyBabies #HealthyFamilies #SocialMediaToolkit #PretermBirthAwareness #PrematurityAwarenessMonth

OAC Members in Tennessee: we need your help! Take #OACAction to urge Governor Lee and State Legislators to support expanding access to obesity care. To make it easy, we've already drafted the message for you. It's a simple but impactful way to make a difference for people with obesity in Tennessee. Take Action: https://lnkd.in/eExbsBET

The Prematurity Prevention Initiative developed a social media toolkit ‘Watch Me Blossom: It Takes 39 Weeks to Bloom.’ This toolkit includes sample posts you can use to raise awareness about prematurity prevention and Black infant and maternal health in New Jersey. To download, visit https://lnkd.in/e5E3pu9.   #WatchMeBlossom #PrematurityPreventionInitiative #NJPreterm #PPI #BlackInfantHealth #BlackMaternalHealth #HealthyMothers #HealthyBabies #HealthyFamilies #SocialMediaToolkit #PretermBirthAwareness #PrematurityAwarenessMonth  

Where is harm reduction? I note the following in this presentation “Overdose prevention: New strategies for harm reduction.” 1. The elephant in the room is the widespread retreat from drug decriminalization and the return to incarceral approaches. This has of course been spearheaded in Oregon. But the most interesting presenter (MIP) pointed out that this is a national phenomenon in progressive communities (for example in Philadelphia and San Francisco). 2. The response is to cite research showing that increases in drug deaths are not due to decrim but to other factors—i.e., these stupid communities are wrong. No strategies are presented for enlisting community support — other than to say that they should know better. 3. One fairly widely agreed upon point is that a holistic approach to community services is required — although at the same time presenters say that proven harm reduction medications are insufficiently available in deprived communities of color. 4. This last point is always uncomfortably balanced against the question of introducing people to treatment. Why did so few people avail themselves of treatment options in OR (Keith Humphreys among others uses this to justify coerced, legally enforced treatment). 5. Another always uncomfortable point is the cultural and economic basis of drug addiction and deaths. Sheilah present the four stages of the drug epidemic, which are seen as going from rural white to urban (and other) minority communities. 6. But I’m not sure if that was what she was asserting (forgive my incomprehension! — I’m old). MIP clearly announced however that minority communities have always been at greater risk. 7. We then get to the contradiction (as opposed to the elephant) always at the center of the room. The Harvard Public Health moderator (of the Global Program on Tobacco) announced the number one misconception is that drugs, addiction and drug deaths are limited to deprived communities — they’re ubiquitous he claims! (Sorry — doesn’t that directly contradict 6?) 8. MIP made the two most interesting points about misconceptions: (a) that addiction is universal but people in different communities often seek different forms of addictive relief — such as overeating, (b) that all drug use shouldn’t be thought to require treatment. (Although PWUDs regularly make this point, it is still uncomfortable stating it in public health forums.) MIP here laid out the idea for the normalization of drug use and placing addiction in a separate sphere of experience. Now THAT would be interesting and new — but it can never be explicitly acknowledged in a public health arena. I’ll leave off here with this musing — this panel represents new strategies for harm reduction? (Please, anyone, correct all of my errors and misunderstandings.)

5 Facts for the 5 days of National Falls Prevention Awareness Week : 1) Falls are preventable; 2) Everyone has the power to decrease their risk of falling; 3) Physical therapists can play an essential role in preventing falls; 4) APTA Geriatrics, An Academy of the American Physical Therapy Association has an amazing Balance and Fall Prevention credential course! 5) National Council on Aging has amazing resources related to fall prevention! #geriPT #fallprevention