Articles

A recent issue of Journal of General Internal Medicine includes an article with important findings for anyone who needs to know what medications their patients are taking: 40% of patients couldn’t remember what blood-pressure medication they were taking. Among people with lower health literacy, as many as 60% of patients weren’t sure what they were taking.

The full article is available online but requires a subscription. A recent article on Reuters Health News summarizes the findings and some of their implications.

Two recent articles highlighted some resources that may provide helpful support for patients going through difficult illness experiences. The first was a post on an knowledge management blog I follow that recommended a new blog called In Sickness and In Health, “a place for couples going though an illness experience – to find resources and advice, hear stories, and discover support. Whether the illness is chronic or acute, the result of disease or accident, couples can learn strategies for coping with the changes illness brings into our relationships and our worlds.” Blog host Barbara Kivowitz brings her personal experiences as a psychotherapist and as a patient with chronic pain syndrome to her writing.

The second was an article in today’s McAllen Monitor that describes the McAllen chapter of Us Too, a support group and resource for men with prostate cancer and their families. The article indicates the McAllen chapter meets monthly and now has about 50 members, including founder Bob Wright of the South Texas Health System and McAllen mayor Richard Cortez, both prostate cancer survivors.

A recent article in Medical Anthropology Quarterly examines the cultural beliefs and attitudes related to medically unsupervised use of antibiotics, a major public health concern in US-Mexico border communities.

This Oct. 4 article from the San Antonio Express-News reports on the exceptionally high rate of hepatitis B in Bexar County in comparison to Texas and national rates. Figures for this article were obtained from new reports of hepatitis B cases in 2005.

An article in the October issue of Preventing Chronic Disease describes the evolution of the University of Arizona’s community engagement around issues related to border health: “Over 5 years, the coalitions made the transition, in varying degrees, from a programmatic focus to a policy planning and advocacy focus. The coalitions raised community awareness, built community capacity, encouraged a process of ‘change in change agents,’ and advocated for community environmental and policy shifts to improve health behaviors.”