Today's class included a presentation from Dr. Martin on Health Disparities, particularly diabetes and diseases of the eye. Points discussed in relation to disparities included:
- Gender
- Sexual orientation
- Various diseases
- Age
- Socioeconomic status
- Education
Also discussed was the importance of making specific definitions for what a disparity is according to target audience (talking to patients vs. grant writing) and knowing how to communicate and understand the patient, for example, referring to diabetes has having "the sugars."
Points discussed about diabetes included:
- Types
- Incidence and prevalence
- Risk factors: what can be modified and what cannot
Factors able to be modified,
especially related to disparities, include environment
Ideas on helping patients modify environment included:
- Making urban areas safe for exercise areas
- Where one grocery shops and food choices available
We also discussed how to most effectively reach African American women through education and ideas included:
- Young: technology
- Middle-Seniors: church, grocery stores, creating opportunities to stay active
Please offer your thoughts and comments on today's topics and ideas resulting from the presentation. For example, what might be your thoughts or ideas about best reaching African American women, how might one change their environment or how to best communicate with and understand the patient?
I really enjoyed the discussion that we had today about diabetic retinopathy. Dr. Martin did a great job explaining how her work fits in with her passion, and the science she talked about was very interesting. It is really great that she is targeting health disparity via research that can greatly increase compliance and really help a significant number of people. She mentioned that vision is the sense that people fear losing most; I really cannot imagine losing my vision and vision is definitely the sense I would be worried about losing most as well!
ReplyDeleteIn terms of targeting at risk populations, I think we should really focus on schools and our eating habits as a nation. School cafeterias need to serve healthy lunches. I really think that in schools desserts, unhealthy snacks, and soda should be eliminated. Vending machines should sell milk, water, and whole fruits. It is a shame that obesity trends are increasing the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in students as young as 17 years old. Schools could also offer workshops for parents interested in cooking and buying healthy food for their children. Even sharing simple recipes through the parent-teacher association might work. I cannot imagine growing up in a household that ate predominantly fast food, tv dinners, and pre-made frozen food. My mom always cooked everything 100 percent from scratch. We never ate anything artificial, frozen, or pre-made. AND my mother worked full time. People think that healthier food is expensive, but cooking homemade food is actually cheaper than eating fast-food or other pre-made food. Of course we could never afford organic but when we first emigrated to the states our family of three lived off a paycheck that is considered below poverty level for one person, much less three. And we STILL maintained a healthy diet. There are few excuses for our rampant national eating problems. From the perspective of exercise, it would help for kids to have recess during elementary and middle school, and accessible sports programs after school for high school age students. Recess is a great way to take a break from learning all day to relax and refocus, and would help younger kids focus during class while promoting good health.
Today's discussion was GREAT! I really enjoyed learning about Dr. Martin's research and how she personally associates herself with the projects that she is working on. I feel that there is no better way to treat others than to think about how it may potentially affect you (like the golden rule!).
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to hear the different aspects of medicine and treatments, especially how patient compliance plays a role in these decisions. As a result, it made me think that decisions on treatements also plays a significant role in health disparities. With African Americans being more at risk for diabetes and the problems with health access as is, if an African American were to find out that he/she is diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy, then she/he also probably will not take a treatment that involves an injection to the eye. Thus, where does that leave the situation? Are African Americans then more at risk for losing their vision when associated with diabetes? It's interesting to learn how one thing can lead to another and how health disparities is thus not an issue that can be readily solved. It involves individuals on various levels, playing various roles, to be able to address these issues.
Yet, on the other hand, it was also promising to hear about the research that Dr. Martin is working on and it was very cool to see how biomedical science is combined with treating patients. As a result, as a future physician, I really enjoyed hearing the perspective of a biomedical researcher like Dr. Martin. It just shows the complexity of treating patients effectively, especially patients that are struggling with health disparities.
Dr. Martin’s discussion was wonderful. Her passion for her work was clearly evident and obviously a huge motivator for her remarkable research efforts. I was really interested in her research topics as well. We in the medical community constantly learn the effects diabetes is having on the health of so many Americans. Research in this field is likely to continue growing and become significant in the treatment of many of our patients. I also noticed that Dr. Martin emphasized the importance of translating her laboratory research efforts into effective clinical practices. Utilizing this information to enhance patient care is going to be an obligation on an individual and institutional level as we continue in our careers. I look forward to working with scientists like Dr. Martin who have such a strong interest in patients and bettering their lives.
ReplyDeleteDr. Martin's discussion of the eye and the different diseases and treatments as related to diabetes was both informative and interesting. We discussed many things that I was not aware of and a few things that I was able to clarify as a result of her efforts. The disparities as they relate to diabetic retinopathy are sillier to the disparities in other diseases. The initiatives to increase awareness that were discussed included technology and seeking out areas where the target population frequents. I thought these ideas were excellent and they would additionally be a great way to reach the general population as well as the specific population that is affected by the diseases at a greater rate. I think that is important to reach the disparate populations but not the the exclusion of other populations that are affected as well. In relation to the environment changes to help decrease the risk of type II diabetes an important environmental change could be implemented in grocery stores. Better advertisement of fresh fruits and vegetables and maybe ideas and cheap ways to prepare them could result in better eating habits and thus less obesity; a risk factor for type II diabetes.
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