Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies

Current COVID-19 Related Research and Initiatives
IHPS faculty are responding to policy challenges raised by the COVID-19
 pandemic with rapid-cycle research and technical assistance.
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Harold S. Luft Mentoring Award
We are delighted to announce that Mary Whooley, MD has been selected as this year's recipient of the Harold S. Luft Award for Mentoring in Health Services and Health Policy Research, awarded by the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies.
Harold S. Luft Mentoring Award
New IHPS Fellow
Sarah B. Garrett, PhD, is a new Fellow at the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies. As a Fellow, Sarah will focus on the implementation and effects of interventions intended to reduce maternal mortality in the U.S., particularly among communities disproportionately affected by it.
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Featured Story -

COVID-19 Risk in Schools: What You Should Know

Children in ClassroomCurrently, 36 counties are on California's watchlist of places where the coronavirus is trending too far in the wrong direction. Among other negative consequences of making the list, all public and private schools located in those counties are prohibited from holding in-person classes until their COVID-19 numbers have improved enough to meet established thresholds for 14 consecutive days. School districts subject to the restriction can request a waiver for elementary schools only.

KQED's Brian Watt spoke with Dr. Naomi Bardach, associate professor of pediatrics and health policy at UCSF, about the risk involved in bringing back classrooms for the upcoming school year, and the differences between how kids and adults both catch and spread the virus.

Read more: https://www.kqed.org/science/1967577/covid-19-risk-in-schools-what-you-should-know

Additional articles on schools reopening:
Why some California classrooms will reopen for child care, though barred from in-person instruction
Safe School Reopening Strategy
Pandemic Plan: UCSF Task Force Researches Safe Back-to-School Strategy
Debate Over Emotional, Educational Toll Of Distance Learning Heats Up With Back-To-School Weeks Away

Transnational corporations, obesity and planetary health

lancet journal abstract imageLaura Schmidt, Melissa Mialon,
Cristin Kearns, and Eric Crosbie

The Lancet (July, 2020)

The Lancet Commission on obesity calls for a reframed understanding of obesity, undernutrition, and climate change as a global syndemic of interconnected crises with common societal drivers. Within low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), research and advocacy on how transnational food and beverage corporations are impacting obesity and undernutrition is growing. These discussions should be expanded to include the industry's impacts on environment. Internal industry documents found in the University of California San Francisco's Food Industry Documents Library, in combination with publicly available ones, show that Coca-Cola is almost as concerned about its role in water scarcity as it is about obesity in LMICs, especially Colombia. Although keeping these two issues separate is in the company's interests, linking them is in the best interests of public health.

Read more: https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lanplh/PIIS2542-5196(20)30146-7.pdf

Extreme Vulnerability of Home Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Call to Action 

Jama journal abstract imageTheresa A. Allison, Anna Oh, Krista L. Harrison

Jama Internal Medicine (August, 2020)

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been identified in more than 14,000 US nursing homes and other long-term care settings. More than 316,000 residents and staff members have contracted COVID-19, and they account for 57,000 of more than 140,000 deaths in the US. Despite our recognition of the higher mortality rates among older adults and higher overall rates of disease among nursing home staff, we still know little about the risks and experiences of workers who provide help and care to older adults who live at home. Home health aides, personal care aides, and home attendants (hereafter referred to as home care workers) are members of a vulnerable population within health care delivery. Underpaid and overwhelmingly women of color, they shoulder the responsibility for hands-on assistance with bathing, toileting, dressing, and housekeeping for vulnerable older adults in the home. Home care workers are essential to the health of more than 7 million older adults who require care in the home.

Read more: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2769095

Listen to a podcast with the authors: https://edhub.ama-assn.org/jn-learning/