A new analysis has found that two million cancer survivors did not get needed medical services in the previous year because of concerns about cost. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study raises the concern that the long-term health and well-being of cancer survivors could suffer because patients have financial worries about their care.

Kathryn Weaver, PhD, MPH, of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem led a team that examined the prevalence of forgoing care due to financial concerns. They sought todetermine whether cancer history and race or ethnicity were associated with individuals’ likelihood to go without care. The investigators analyzed information from the annual US National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), an in person, nationwide survey of approximately 30,000 to 40,000 households in the civilian, non-institutionalized population that is used to track trends in illness and disability in the United States. Data from 6,602 adult cancer survivors and 104,364 individuals with no history of cancer who were surveyed in the 2003 to 2006 NHIS were included in the study.

Disparities among cancer survivors were largely reflective of those in the general adult population. Among cancer survivors, the  prevalence of forgoing care in the past year due to cost was 7.8 percent for medical care, 9.9 percent for prescription medications, 11.3 percent for dental care, and 2.7 percent for mental health care. Cancer survivors under the age of 65 years were 55 percent more likely to delay or forgo all types of medical care than their same age peers without a history of cancer. “This is important because cancer survivors have many medical needs that persist for years after their diagnosis and treatment,” said Dr. Weaver. Hispanic and black cancer survivors were more likely to go without prescription medications and dental care than white survivors.

This analysis revealed that 18 percent of US cancer survivors, which would mean an estimated more than two million individuals, did not get one or more needed medical services because of financial concerns. “Future research needs to examine the impact of forgoing care on survivors’ quality of life and survival,” the authors concluded. Dr. Weaver noted that it will also be interesting to observe how recent health care reform efforts might impact access to care for cancer survivors.

Dental care can really take a bite out of your wallet. Even if you have insurance — and just over half of people do, says the National Association of Dental Plans — the typical co-insurance is only 50% on major procedures such as root canals, bridges, and crowns, which run $750 and up. Here’s how to manage those costs so that you don’t end up putting too much money where your mouth is: 1. Don’t rush for coverage. 2. Pay for prevention. 3. Investigate discounts. 4. Ask about stopgaps.

Baby teeth are vulnerable to tooth decay from their very first appearance, on average between the ages of six and 12 months. Pediatric dentists specialize in caring for these tiny teeth, imperative for proper speech development and nutrition. The specialized care offered by a pediatric dentist includes unique strategies for working with children that alleviate fear and anxiety through the use of positive reinforcement and behavior guidance. Pediatric dentists monitor babies’ growth and development and provide essential dentistry services including tooth cleaning, polishing and fluoride treatment.

For healthy smiles, dental care must be established in – and out – of the pediatric dentist’s chair. The AAPD recommends the following at-home methods for infant oral health care:

Clean infant mouths and gums regularly with a soft infant toothbrush or cloth and water.

Children older than six months need fluoride supplements if their drinking water does not contain enough fluoride. Fluoride supplementation in infants has been shown to reduce tooth decay by as much as 50 percent. Check with your pediatric dentist first.

Babies should be weaned from the bottle by 12-14 months of age and at will breast-feeding should be discouraged.

Baby teeth should be brushed at least twice a day with a toothbrush made for small children using a “smear” of fluoridated toothpaste.

Visit www.aapd.org for more information or to locate a pediatric dentist.

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry

Founded in 1947, the AAPD is a not-for-profit membership organization representing the specialty of pediatric dentistry. AAPD’s 7,600 members are predominately pediatric dentists and primary care providers who deliver comprehensive specialty treatments for infants, children, adolescents and individuals with special health care needs. As advocates for children’s oral health, the AAPD aims to promote the use of evidence-based policies and guidelines, foster research concerning pediatric oral health, and educate health care providers and the public to improve children’s oral health. For further information, please visit the AAPD Web site at http://www.aapd.org.

In a show of responsible corporate leadership, executives from CPX Interactive fund inaugurate Children International’s newest community center, which will help impoverished children in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/childreninternational/44544/

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100609/MM17262 )

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100609/MM17262 )

CPX Interactive executives, feeling compelled to make a difference to poor children, encouraged their colleagues to join them in funding the construction of the B.U.D.S. Community Center, where over 5,000 children will receive medical and dental care, educational support and nutrition education.

Children International’s President and CEO Jim Cook said, “We are grateful to CPX Interactive for their passion and dedication to helping children living in crushing poverty. Their support is an excellent example of being a responsible corporate citizen.”

An effective model for community development, the new center marks the sixth Children International center in Guayaquil that serves poor children and their families from marginal areas of the city. The center will provide benefits to poor families who often live on less than a dollar a day and reside in makeshift shacks with dirt floors on the outskirts of a major metropolitan area.

Children International has been working in Ecuador since 1988 and currently serves 55,000 children in cities of Guayaquil and Quito.

About Children International:

Established in 1936, Children International is a humanitarian organization with its headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. Children International’s programs benefit more than 335,000 children and their families in 11 countries around the world including Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Zambia, Honduras, India, the Philippines and the United States. For more information about Children International or to sponsor a child, visit www.children.org.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Dolores Quinn Kitchin

Public Relations

Children International

Direct: (816) 943-3730

Cell: (816) 718-0711

Email: dkitchin@children.org

https://twitter.com/ci_doloresk

SOURCE Children International

2010 JUN 12 – (VerticalNews.com) — According to recent research published in the journal Community Dental Health, “Inequalities in oral health in areas of socio-economic disadvantage are well recognised. As children spend a considerable proportion of their lives in education, schools can play a significant role in promoting children’s health and oral health.”

“However, to what extent schools are able to do this is unclear. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate opportunities and challenges to promoting oral health in primary schools. A purposive sample of 20 primary schools from socially and economically disadvantaged areas of Cardiff, UK were selected to participate in this qualitative study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with head teachers or their nominated deputies. General awareness of health and oral health was good, with all schools promoting the consumption of fruit, water and milk and discouraging products such as carbonated drinks and confectionaries. Health promotion schemes were implemented primarily to improve the health of the children, although schools felt they also offered the potential to improve classroom behaviour and attendance. However, oral health was viewed as a separate entity to general health and perceived to be inadequately promoted. Successful health promotion schemes were also influenced by the attitudes of headteachers. Most schools had no or limited links with local dental services and, or oral health educators, although such input, when it occurred, was welcomed and highly valued. Knowledge of how to handle dental emergencies was limited and only two schools operated toothbrushing schemes, although all expressed an interest in such programmes. This study identified a positive predisposition to promoting health in primary schools. The challenge for the dental team, however, is to promote and integrate oral health into mainstream health promotion activities in schools,” wrote P. Gill and colleagues, University of Glamorgan.

Jun. 7–A three-year effort by the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department to improve children’s dental health through public school programs failed to make any discernible headway, a new study says.

The School-Based Oral Health Program, used in 10 local school districts from 2006 to 2009, was designed to bring the number of kids with cavities closer to 42 percent — a health benchmark set by the federal government.

But despite the school program, the percentage of Pierce County youngsters with cavities remained high: 56 percent overall and 65 percent for low income children.

There was “no evidence” the program reduced cavities in the total population of children, the Health Department’s internal assessment of the program concluded.

In the program, Health Department staff members examined the teeth of nearly 75,000 second- and third-graders, said David Vance, a Health Department division director. Children without cavities were offered a fluoride varnish or a dental sealant, Vance said. Those with decay were referred to low-cost dental providers.

Several factors contributed to the disappointing results, examiners said. Among them:

–Administrative problems. Only 18 percent of children who qualified for dental treatment received it.

–Failed sealant. Only about half of sealed molars remained fully sealed a year later.

–Economic recession: Tough times might have canceled out improvements

–High mobility: Only 28 percent of students assessed the first year were present for assessment two years later.

The Health Department will continue to explore strategies to prevent cavities in Pierce County children, Vance said.

Officials want to expand the sealant program to more children, find better ways to obtain parental approval and figure out a better way to apply sealants so they stay on molars longer.

Next year, Vance said, local dentists and their staffs will visit the schools instead of Health Department employees.

“We’ve reached out to private providers,” he said. “Rather than having Health Department staff go into the schools, we’ll be the ones coordinating the care. We’ll act as a clearinghouse. We think that will be a much more effective role for us.”

A “Smile Survey,” conducted by the Health Department in 2005, concluded the severity of dental decay was worse in Pierce County than the rest of the state.

In that survey, 37 percent of second and third graders had a history of decay in seven or more teeth (“rampant decay”), compared with 21 percent in all of Washington.

Among low-income preschool children, 39 percent had a history of decay in their upper front teeth, compared with 18 percent in the whole state.

A 2010 Smile Survey has just been finished and the results will be released later this month.

“That should give us a much better idea of where we are with the oral health of kids in Pierce County,” Vance said.

Rob Carson: 253-597-8693 rob.carson@thenewstribune.com

These two clinics routinely absorb the cost of urgent and emergency care for the dentally underserved,” said Gary D. Radine, Delta Dental president and CEO. “We’re pleased that this grant will go directly toward paying for this care. The grant is consistent with our mission to expand access to care for as many people as possible.” About Delta Dental of Pennsylvania Delta Dental of Pennsylvania (www.deltadentalins.com) is part of a holding company system whose affiliated companies, along with Delta Dental of New York, provide dental benefits to nearly 25 million people in 15 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. They are all part of the Delta Dental Plans Association (DDPA), based in Oak Brook, Ill. DDPA consists of 39 Delta Dental member companies licensed in all 50 states. The association collectively covers nearly 54 million of the 176 million people nationwide with private dental insurance, making it by far the largest national system of dental plans. About the Altoona Regional Partnership and the James W. Barner Community Dental Clinics The Altoona Regional Partnership for a Healthy Community (www.altoonaregional.org) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation for the Altoona area, which is demarcated as an underserved rural area.

2010 JUN 6 – ( NewsRx.com) — Two community dental clinics that provide much-needed services to low-income people who lack access to care will receive a $10,000 grant from Delta Dental of Pennsylvania (see also Managed Care).

The grant will directly reimburse clinic dentists for their services to patients who have unmet dental needs and who are unable to pay on their own for those services.

The first grant installment of $5,000 was presented Thursday to the James W. Barner Community Dental Clinics of the Partnership for a Healthy Community, which provides oral health care services for those with limited access to care due to medical conditions, disability or limited financial resources. The two clinics collectively serve about 7,500 patients a year, including more than 4,000 children.

The Partnership was created by and operates as an affiliate of Altoona Regional Health System. The children’s clinic is located in and operated in partnership with the Greater Altoona Career and Technology Center.

Although about half of the clinics’ patients are beneficiaries under dental Medicaid or Medicaid Managed Care, many lack any financial resources to help pay for care. The clinic provides these patients approximately $100,000 per year in services such as dental screenings, restorations and emergency care.

“Our clinics are a great story of good people coming together to help neighbors in need,” said Jerry Murray, president and CEO of Altoona Regional Health System. “We have been blessed by the hard work of devoted and community-minded individuals who turned a dream into reality.

“Generous partners such as Delta Dental help us keep the dream alive. And we thank Dr. Donald Betar, clinical director, who was instrumental in securing this grant.”

The clinics serve an eight-county area (Blair, Centre, Huntingdon, Fulton, Bedford, Cambria, Clearfield, and Clinton). They are the area’s largest provider of oral health care services to patients with limited resources.

“These two clinics routinely absorb the cost of urgent and emergency care for the dentally underserved,” said Gary D. Radine, Delta Dental president and CEO. “We’re pleased that this grant will go directly toward paying for this care. The grant is consistent with our mission to expand access to care for as many people as possible.” About Delta Dental of Pennsylvania Delta Dental of Pennsylvania (www.deltadentalins.com) is part of a holding company system whose affiliated companies, along with Delta Dental of New York, provide dental benefits to nearly 25 million people in 15 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. They are all part of the Delta Dental Plans Association (DDPA), based in Oak Brook, Ill. DDPA consists of 39 Delta Dental member companies licensed in all 50 states. The association collectively covers nearly 54 million of the 176 million people nationwide with private dental insurance, making it by far the largest national system of dental plans. About the Altoona Regional Partnership and the James W. Barner Community Dental Clinics The Altoona Regional Partnership for a Healthy Community (www.altoonaregional.org) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation for the Altoona area, which is demarcated as an underserved rural area. In 1999, the Partnership and the Greater Altoona Career and Technology Center opened the dental clinics – one for pediatrics and one for adults. Directed by Dr. Donald Betar, the clinics offer free dental screenings, restorations and emergency care for dental Medicaid and Medicaid Managed Care beneficiaries as well as uninsured children and adults and Medical Assistance recipients in Blair, Centre, Huntingdon, Fulton, Bedford, Cambria, Clearfield, and Clinton counties. The clinics serve 7,500 patients a year, including more than 4,000 children.

Keywords: Dentistry, Health Policy, Managed Care, Medicaid, Delta Dental of Pennsylvania.