The latest brief from the Pennsylvania State Data Center explores trends in race and ethnicity from the 2020 Census P.L. 94-171 Redistricting Data, with comparisons to 2010. The data show that the Commonwealth is more racially and ethnically diverse than last decade, with a considerable increase in the population that is multiracial, or “Two or More Races.”  The Bureau notes that these changes are due in part to improvements and changes in how race and ethnicity are measured.

For more information on racial and ethnic trends in Pennsylvania, click here to read the full brief and click here for interactive map.

 

The Flex Monitoring Team has released a new policy brief:  https://www.flexmonitoring.org/publication/outcome-measures-state-flex-program-financial-and-operational-improvement-interventions

The brief reviews outcome measures for State Flex Program (SFP) interventions conducted under Program Area 2: Financial and Operational Improvement (FOI), a mandatory area of SFP activity. The FMT explored the types of FOI projects proposed by a subset of 14 SFPs during Fiscal Year 2015-2018 and the challenges they faced in monitoring the impact of their interventions on Critical Access Hospital (CAH) financial and operational performance.

This product describes key categories of interventions implemented by these 14 SFPs and their proposed output and high-level outcomes measures. It further outlines the theory of change for each category, and provides examples of short- and intermediate-term outcome measures to provide a bridge between project activities and long-term, high-level outcomes. The brief concludes with suggestions for SFPs to improve their ability to document the outcome of SFP FOI initiatives and evaluate overall program impact. A companion brief provides an inventory of all SFP FOI initiatives and a more detailed analysis of the interventions undertaken by a subset of 14 SFPs.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has released new data from their State of Childhood Obesity report that finds policies today are failing our children. The latest report dives into the latest childhood obesity rates and trends, discusses how food insecurity, structural racism, and COVID-19 have contributed to rising rates of obesity, and shares evidence-based recommendations and policy solutions for protecting children’s health.

Another resource, Reducing Childhood Obesity Now May Help in the Next Pandemic, suggests that obesity leads to a greater risk of becoming severely ill from diseases such as COVID-19 and asks how we can address health disparities that contribute to obesity to protect our children from future public health crises.

The Joint State Government Committee, a research arm of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, has released the report “Medical School Impact on the Primary Care Physician Shortage in Pennsylvania.” The report, which resulted from a House resolution in 2020, studies efforts within medical schools to promote student choice in primary care, to include primary care experience in the curriculum and to accurately monitor and report graduate retention in primary care. The report includes extensive information about students, ongoing programs and new initiatives gathered during meetings with the Commonwealth’s nine medical schools. A page is devoted to the Pennsylvania Primary Care Career Center. The report concludes with findings and recommendations for the General Assembly’s consideration including:

• Improve data collection of Pennsylvania’s primary care workforce to create more accurate predictions.
• Overcome cultural and financial barriers preventing medical schools from promoting primary care.
• Increase funding to the Pennsylvania Primary Care Loan Repayment Program.
• Invest in the Primary Care Career Center and other programs targeting physician recruitment.
• Expand Pennsylvania’s primary care pipeline programs.

As of 2019, nearly 1.5 million kids in Pennsylvania and New Jersey lacked adequate and continuous health insurance. A third of children in the United States had unreliable or insufficient health insurance in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic — a problem to which the public health emergency has drawn even more attention. Researchers attributed the increase in underinsured children to rising out-of-pocket costs associated with private health plans.

Read more.

Profound racial and ethnic disparities in health and well-being have long been the norm in the United States. Black and American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) people live fewer years, on average than white people. They are also more likely to die from treatable conditions, die during or after pregnancy and suffer pregnancy-related severe complications, and more likely to lose children in infancy. Black and AIAN people are also at higher risk for many chronic health conditions, from diabetes to hypertension. The COVID-19 pandemic has only worsened, with average life expectancies for Black, Latinx/Hispanic, and, in all likelihood, AIAN people falling more sharply compared to white people.

Read the full report report:  Achieving Racial and Ethnic Equity in U.S. Health Care: A Scorecard of State Performance