Fewer parents are following the recommended vaccination schedule for their kids, and as a result, outbreaks of measles, mumps, and whooping cough are on the rise in America.
In order to protect people who are too young or too sick to receive vaccinations, 90 percent of a community must be vaccinated. But when these like-minded anti-vaccine parents cluster in certain areas of the country, it’s a recipe for disaster, and preventable outbreaks result.
In 2011, 15 states saw their vaccination rates slip below the 90 percent threshold, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And last year brought the worst measles outbreak in America since the 1990s — with hundreds of cases across the country, including 58 cases in a non-vaccinating community in New York, with each costing an average of $10,000 to treat.
What has caused parents’ refusal to vaccinate their kids? The authors of a recent Academy of American Sciences report say, “Over the past two decades, a combination of fraudulent scientific studies, irresponsible reporting, and well-meaning but misinformed citizen activists has led to a steady increase in the proportion of parents who have concerns about the recommended childhood vaccine schedule. While overall vaccine uptake rates in the United States remain high, these concerns have resulted in a significant expansion in the number of parents who are delaying, and in extreme cases even refusing, vaccines for their children.”
So what can public health officials do to educate parents on the importance of vaccinating their kids?
A study published this year in Pediatrics (the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics) suggests that trying to scare parents into vaccinating by using pictures of kids suffering from measles, stories about kids almost dying, or literature about the lack of evidence that the MMR vaccine causes autism are not effective. (These findings are contrary to other public health campaigns in which disturbing images have been successful.) In fact, the pictures of sick kids and dramatic stories actually increased misperceptions about the MMR vaccine.
The authors of the study conclude that more research should be done to find an effective way to convince parents that vaccines are safe and necessary, including relying on trusted people to deliver information about vaccines. “Given that parents rate their children’s doctor as their most trusted source of vaccine safety information,” they write, “future research should explore whether pediatricians would be an especially persuasive source.”
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Tag: Family
Cooking Up Change at an Illinois Prison
Teach a man to fish, and he’ll never go hungry, the old saying goes. And while it’s hard to fish while incarcerated, organizers of a new program at the Cook County Jail, hope the same general philosophy holds true for teaching a man to cook.
A 90-day pilot program, which requires three hours each day, aims to teach inmates employable kitchen skills, DNAinfo Chicago reports. The added bonus? Work ethic and food lessons that can be used throughout the participants’ lives.
This jailhouse prison kitchen remains a far cry from a chef’s prep station, however. Knives are tied down; there’s not a soufflé in sight. But inmates find the lessons revelatory. (For some of the men, the first class marked their first whiff ever of fresh basil!) Some say the basement cookery stands as their first practical job skill education. They’re not only learning nutrition facts (think: olive oil instead of a fast-food fry-up), but how to employ all of their senses as they see, touch, smell, and taste.
“In three months, I can’t do miracles,” chef and teacher Bruno Abate told DNAinfo Chicago. “My mission is to transfer to them the love of food.”
Lieutenant. D. Delitz, who oversees the program, chose 24 participants out of a pool of 70 applicants.
Cook County hosts a broad range of programs for inmates, including seminars on parenting for men who had few, if any, male role models in their lives, reports WTTW. Organizers of the so-called Alpha Parenting Course (which is getting quite a bit of attention), say they believe theirs is the first such prison-based parenting counseling sessions in the nation (a similar one was discovered on the other side of the world, in New Zealand).
“These guys are definitely street smart but something like being a father has never been passed down,” Ebenezer Amalraj, a volunteer, told WTTW. “We want them to take our lessons, pass it on and have an influence on their legacy. We want them to make a difference and break the cycle.”
No word on whether inmates overlap between cooking and parenting. But now there’s hope that as they emerge from their sentences, maybe they’ll be able to make a better life for themselves — and their families.
Providing Assistance to “the Forgotten Heroes of America” is Top Priority for This Veteran
Even if you’ve had lots of bad luck come your way, there’s probably someone out there that can top it. Captain Jaspen Boothe of the Army National Guard is one of those people.
While this single mother served in Iraq in August 2005, she lost everything back home in New Orleans to Hurricane Katrina. And the hits didn’t stop there.
The very next month, she was diagnosed with “aggressive head, neck, and throat cancer,” according to her website. As a result, she could no longer be deployed overseas and needed a job to support her young son and to pay for her medical care. She inquired about around about assistance, but was told that there aren’t any organizations dedicated to specifically helping female veterans.
While undergoing radiation treatments for her cancer, Boothe managed to keep a position in the Army Reserves. Once she felt better, she joined the Army National Guard, in which she now serves, based out of Washington, D.C.
Now that she had climbed back on her feet, Boothe wanted to do something to help other female veterans caught in difficult circumstances. So in 2010, she founded the nonprofit Final Salute, Inc., with the goal of housing homeless female veterans. “When Americans think of veterans, they’re only thinking about the men. Women veterans are the forgotten heroes of America. A lot of them have fallen on hard times,” Boothe told Denise Hendricks of HLN Morning Express.
To date, Final Salute, Inc. has helped 200 veteran women and their children, and now runs three transitional homes for them in Alexandria, Virginia; Martinsburg, West Virginia; and Columbus, Ohio. Through its S.A.F.E. program (Savings Assessment and Financial Education), the organization assists women vets achieve financial stability and offers emergency assistance, and through its H.O.M.E. initiative (Housing Outreach Mentorship Encouragement), it offers housing assistance and help with food, diapers, and other essentials.
“We are not a pity party environment. We give you all the tools that you need, but your success in this program is up to you.” Boothe’s tireless efforts, she said, are “the right thing to do as an American and the right thing to do as a soldier.”
MORE: Fighting for the Women Who Fought for Their Country
When Immigrant Families Struggle With Reunions, This Educator Can Help
Many of us can’t imagine what it would feel like to spend part of our childhoods away from our parents, and then move to a new country to live with our parents—perhaps without knowing them well.
But it was situation seen often by Robin Hamby, who works as a family partnership specialist for the Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia. Hamby noticed there was a special set of problems facing immigrant families in this situation—kids who might have missed their former caregiver and home country struggled to adapt to their new surroundings, sometimes becoming defiant with their parents as a result. Meanwhile, parents sometimes didn’t know their kids as well as they would have liked.
To help alleviate this disconnect, Hamby and others created a “Reunification of Immigrant Families” program with resources for parents, teachers, and schools. The program offers lots of resources for teachers, such as summaries of research related to these types of families and seminars about how to help such kids in their classes. At the heart of Hamby’s efforts is the Parent Project, a series of classes in English and Spanish for parents whose kids are having difficulty adjusting to America.
A video interview (English starts at 2:53) with Miguel and Jessica, parents who’ve participated in the program, makes it clear how valuable these lessons are. “One of the things that I love about this program is the way it changed [my ability] to understand my kids,” Miguel said. “To listen to the words he was trying to express, to understand their feelings and to change the way I was listening to my kids.” His wife Jessica has been equally impressed with the program. “It’s been so much easier to set our expectations for our children, and learn their expectations for us,” she says. “They know the consequences now. They know that we love them. I think that we thought that they knew, but the program really teaches us to be more expressive and more affectionate with them, and to give them…active supervision so that they know that we are in control.”
Hamby’s work isn’t just getting praise from those involved with the program, though. She was recently honored by a Virginia nonprofit called SCAN (Stop Child Abuse Now) for the work she does to prevent child abuse and neglect. When accepting her honor, Hamby told the audience that, “Welcoming is not just a mat by the door, but an attitude that inspires feelings of safety and connection,” according to the Fairfax Times. Many immigrant families would probably agree with that—and they have Hamby to thank, among others, for smooth transitions as they reunite.
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Their Daughter Died When She Didn’t Buckle Up. Now They’re Working to Save Other Children From the Same Danger
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Commission, more than 33,000 people were killed in car crashes in 2009. Of those fatalities, more than half were not wearing their seatbelt. Last year, Alexa Johnson, a 19-year-old Colorado resident, was one such victim.
Johnson died when she lost control of her pickup truck in rural Weld County, Colorado and was ejected through the driver’s side window. She wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.
Colorado highway officials note that many drivers on rural roads fail to wear safety restraints. In fact, 59 percent of the unbuckled fatalities in Colorado last year occurred on rural roadways. Alexa’s father, Tad Johnson, told Monte Whaley of the Denver Post, “The first thing I felt was anger and then I wanted to blame someone. And then I had an ‘aha’ moment and I said, ‘Alexa, what are we going to do about this?'”
Tad and his wife Jona launched a social media campaign to raise awareness about the problem of young adults in rural areas driving without seatbelts. He looked at the photos on Alexa’s Facebook page and said, “We saw that in all those photos, hardly ever was Alexa and her friends using seat belts. It’s something that we just had to deal with.”
The Johnsons took to Facebook with their message about buckling up for safety, and then began to sew inch-wide Velcro ribbons that wrap around seat belts to remind drivers to use them. The ribbons are called Alexa’s Hugs, and since last year, the Johnsons have produced thousands of them, which now come in a variety of designs.
Alexa’s Hugs have already saved at least one life. Alexa’s friend, Kole Kilcrease told Whaley he was driving near the same stretch of highway where Alexa died when he hit ice and lost control, rolling his pickup two-and-a-half times. Both Kilcrease and his passenger survived because they were buckled in. Kilcrease said, “I never really buckled up because it just seemed like an inconvenience. You have a busy day, and you have other things on your mind. I don’t think that anymore.”
MORE: A 16-Year-Old Died in A Car Accident. What Happened Next Changed Hundreds of Teenagers’ Lives.
Can Peer Pressure Stop Violence Against Women?
Who can offer support to the 25 percent of American women who experience violence or abuse during their lifetime? Perhaps the best advocates to fight against this mistreatment are the majority of men who never think of hurting a woman.
That’s the idea behind Te Invito, a new program of the National Latin@ Network that reaches out to Latino men in Spanish and English to encourage them to speak out and work for an end to violence against women. Their website offers an Engaging Men and Boys toolkit that includes resources on programs throughout the country that have been proven to work. The campaign kicked off with a video they hope will reach Latino men to introduce them to the program.
One such program is Coaching Boys Into Men, which teaches techniques to athletic coaches that engage their team members in discussions about domestic violence. The goal? Preventing teenagers from ever abusing a partner. A study by Elizabeth Miller of the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC suggested this program increased teenagers’ recognition of abusive behavior, reduced their likelihood of abusing a girlfriend, and often led them to intervene in stopping such abusive behavior in others.
“As with every other culture, there have always been Latino men who oppose violence against women,” Juan Carlos Areán, Director of the National Latin@ Network told Pierre R. Berastaín for the Huffington Post. “Te Invito is an opportunity for those men to lift their voices and make it clear that this [violence] is unacceptable behavior.”
Men and boys who have engaged in domestic violence prevention are invited to share their ideas with Te Invito so they can increase their list of resources throughout the country. The idea is if more men become aware of how many men are opposed to abuse of women, it won’t be culturally acceptable to engage in this violence. Which sounds like a pretty terrific idea to us.
MORE: We Can Save Some of America’s Most Vulnerable Women From Violence
A Dying Dad Creates a Special Moment With His Tween Daughter
Before you read any further, you might want to grab a box of tissues.
Walking down the aisle at your wedding with your dad is a precious moment. And it’s one that 11-year-old Josie Zetz won’t be able to have — but she will always have a special memory of her dad Jim by her side.
Diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer, the 62-year-old California dad will likely fall victim to the disease before he’s able to watch his young daughter grow up and get married. But as the Huffington Post reports, after local photographer Lindsey Villatoro heard about the family’s heartbreaking story, she was inspired to organize an incredible surprise for Josie’s birthday: An opportunity for Jim to walk his daughter down the aisle knowing he wouldn’t be there on her big day.
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Villatoro set up a fundraising page on her website and the community responded with everything needed to pull off the special day. Josie received a fancy dress from LA Fashion Week and dad Jim got a dapper suit. The event, held in the family’s backyard of their Murrieta, Calif., home, was set up with caterers, flowers and food — all complimentary. The father was even able to give his daughter a promise ring that he placed on her index finger after a pastor pronounced them “Daddy and Daughter.”
“Josie you will forever have a video of you and your dad walking you down the aisle to play at your wedding in years to come as if he was physically there,” Villatoro wrote in her video slideshow of the ceremony.
These Startups Offer Sleek Technological Innovations for the Elderly
Whether we’re talking about Snapchat, Twitter, or Uber, most start-ups focus on technologies for young folks. But Katy Fike, a 35-year-old former investment banker who holds a Ph.D. in gerontology (aka, the study of aging), thought an important opportunity to offer innovative services for the elderly was being missed.
So she, along with Stephen Johnston, who once worked in the mobile phone industry, she started Aging2.0, a start-up incubator that supports businesses working on solutions to the challenges facing the elderly. Fike told Cat Wise of the PBS NewsHour, “The past products for seniors have been what we call big, beige and boring.” The inventors and start-ups working with Aging2.0 aim to change that.
Lively is one such company, offering technology that lets family members unobtrusively check on elderly relatives who live independently. Users place sensors throughout the house that indicate when the elderly person is engaging in his or her regular routine — walking the dog, going to exercise class, and taking medications, for example. If the user misses one of the regular portions of his or her routine, the Lively website will indicate this so a remote family member can check in to see if everything is okay.
Other new technology products targeted toward the elderly include BrainAid, a web-based application that offers memory exercises, and Sabi, a company designing walking canes, pill boxes and pill splitters to be more attractive and user-friendly. Through Lift Hero, elderly people can arrange for rides from off-duty EMTs and medical professional drivers so they know they’ll arrive at their destination safely.
Aging2.0 is based in San Francisco at The Institute on Aging, a nonprofit senior center, so entrepreneurs can learn from the people they’re designing for, and get advice from seniors such as 81-year-old June Fisher, a product design lecturer at Stanford and Aging 2.0’s Chief Elder Executive. “We see real potential to bring in the technology folks, bring in the investors, bring in the designers, because I think the more smart brains we have thinking about and looking for new solutions, the better we will all be,” Fike said. Now that’s putting our elders’ wisdom to good use.
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This Photographer Is on a Mission to Make People Rethink What Makes a Woman Successful
Denver photographer Suzanne Heintz, a self-described “spinster,” hauls mannequins all over the world to pose in self-portraits that she hopes will have people rethinking how they view single women.
Heintz was tired of people asking whether she was going to ever get married and have kids, according to Jenna Garrett of Feature Shoot. In her ongoing project “Life Once Removed,” Heintz depicts herself with an ecstatic smile enjoying a cup of coffee in a café with her second-hand mannequin husband, standing with him and a mannequin daughter in front of the Eiffel Tower, delirious with joy, serving them Christmas dinner, and hauling them on a toboggan up a mountain.
Heintz told Garrett, “For women, the path to fulfillment is not through one thing, it’s all things—education, career, home, family, accomplishment, enlightenment. If any one of those things is left out, it’s often perceived that there’s something wrong with your life. We are somehow never enough just as we are. We are constantly set up by our expectations to feel as though we are missing something.”
“I’m simply trying to get people to open up their minds and quit clinging to antiquated notions of what a successful life looks like,” she said. And her photos just might do that, while giving everyone a laugh.
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