Health & Wellness
' ;
Healthbeat
N.C. nurses selected as fellows
RAUF.IGH - Brenda Cleary, R.N., Ph.D., executive director of
the N.C. Center for Nursing, and Mary Ann Fuchs, R.N., M.S.N.,
chief nursing officer at Duke University Hospital and Health System,
have been selected as Fellows in the 2002 national cohort of the
Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows Program.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in Princeton, N.J.,
is the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and
health care. The Executive Nurse Fellows Program is an advanced
leadership program for nurses in senior executive roles who aspire to
lead and shape the U.S. health-care system of the future. The fellow -
ships offer participating nurses the experiences, insights, competen
cies, and skills necessary to achieve, or advance in executive leader
ship positions in a health-care system undergoing unprecedented
change.
Participation in the three-year program will include preparing an
individual learning plan, attending a sequence of group seminars and
workshops, and exposing fellows to top-level executive leadership
through formal mentor experiences.
Cleary has been a nurse for 29 years and is a member of the N.C.
Nurses Association, the N.C. Institute of Medicine, and the board of
directors of the Alzheimer's Association, Eastern North Carolina
Chapter. She is a graduate of Indiana University and the University
of Texas at Austin, where she received distinguished alumna awards.
As director of the N.C. Center for Nursing, Cleary addresses issues
of nurse supply and demand and recruitment and retention as well as
nurse work-force planning
Fuchs has been a nurse for 20 years and is the chief nursing offi
cer of Duke University Hospital and Health System, serving Duke,
Durham Regional and Raleigh Community hospitals and Duke
Flealth Community Care. She previously served as the associate
operating officer for oncology services, director of oncology nursing
and nurse manager of the adult bone marrow transplant program at
Duke University Hospital. She is a graduate of the State University
of New York at Binghamton and Duke University.
N.C. Baptist ranked as one of America's
best by U.S. News & World report
N.C. Baptist Hospital is listed as one of America's Best Hospitals
in six categories by U.S. News & World Report in the issue of the
magazine that went on sale on July 15.
The magazine lists 50 hospitals in each of 17 categories.
N.C. Baptist Hospital - the teaching hospital of Wake Forest Uni
versity Baptist Medical Center - ranked 15th nationally in geriatrics
on the latest list; 23rd in ear, nose and throat; 24th in urology; 31 st in
heart and heart surgery; 42nd in cancer and 43rd in orthopedics.
Fhe rankings are produced by combining a number of factors,
including mortality ratio (actual deaths compared with expected
deaths in that specialty), whether the key technologies in that spe
cialty are available, the hospitalwide ratio of registered nurses to
beds, and the number of patients treated in that specialty .
In every instance. Baptist Hospital had all of the latest technolo
gies that the magazine counted in measuring technology services
The hospital ranked 14th in cancer patient volume among the top 50
hospitals treating cancer, 22nd in patient volume among the top 50
hospitals treating heart problems and 24th in volume among urology
serv ices In general, higher patient volumes in a particular specialty
result in better outcomes.
The overwhelming majority of the hospitals in the rankings are
teaching hospitals.
Alzheimer's Association increases efforts;
program office opens in the Triad
More than 22,000 families affected by Alzheimer's disease in
Forsyth, Guilford and surrounding counties now have a local source
of support. The Western Carolina Chapter of the Alzheimer's Asso
ciation, recognizing the area's increasing need for services, has
opened a Triad area office to provide care-giver training, education
al programs, respite, and additional support programs.
"We are so pleased to have a permanent physical presence in the
Triad," said Executive Director Henry H. Bostic Jr. "The new office
will allow us to reach local families on a much more personal level
and to work more closely with local agencies."
More than 4 million Americans are diagnosed with Alzheimer's
disease, a progressive neurological disease with no known cause,
effective treatment or cure. In 1999. Alzheimer's disease surpassed
breast cancer and motor vehicle deaths as the fourth leading cause of
death among adults.
Care-givers and family members face tremendous physical,
financial and emotional stresses in the struggle to provide care: one
in eight Alzheimer care-givers becomes ill or injured as a direct result
of care-giving, while one in three uses medication for problems relat
ed to care-giving. Unless a cure is found. 14 million Americans will
develop the disease by 2050.
The community is invited to an open house Aug. 16 from 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m. at the new office, at 545 N. Trade Street, Suite 3J. For more
information, contact the Triad area office at (336) 725-3085 (local) or
1-800-888-6671.
The Alzheimer's Association is the premier source of informa
tion, education and support for the millions of individuals and fami
lies affected by Alzheimer's disease.
Founded in 1980, the nonprofit association is the largest private
supporter of Alzheimer's research and was recently recognized by
Worth Magazine as one of America's top 100 charities.
The Western Carolina Chapter serves 49 N.C. counties from
offices in Asheville, Charlone. Hickory and Winston-Salem.
N.Y.'s black, Hispanic children
mentally hurting from 9/11
(Special to the NNPA) ?Approaching the one-year anniversary
of Sept. 11 incidents, researchers have found that children of New
York City, most of whom are black and Hispanic, are having mental
health problems.
A report from the New York City Board of Education reveals that
more than 90 percent of students in grades 4-12 show at least rate
symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). which the
National Center for PTSD defines as "'one of the enduring traumatic
experiences." About 10 percent have full-blown PTSD. Students
attending schools close to ground zero are experiencing the most
trouble, including separation anxiety and depression.
Untreated youths will develop potentially lifelong troubles,
experts told a recent hearing of the Senate Health, Education. Labor
and Pensions Committee, hosted by Hillary Rodham Clinton (D
N.Y.) and Jon Corzine (D-N.J.). y|^B|
Experts recommend that students in the city's 1.100 public
schools participate in programs that allow them to express their emo
tions in comfortable settings, including recreational activities and arts
and music programs.
Commission working toward wellness <
Beverly
Perdue
Guest
Columnist
In 1998, the General
Assembly was faced with a
decision that would impact not
only themselves, but ensuing
generations of North Carolini
ans: what to do with the state's
proceeds from the national
tobacco settlement?
The Legislature allocated 50
percent of the funds to the Gold
en L.E.A.F. Foundation for eco
nomic development in tobacco
dependent communities; 25 per
cent to the Tobacco Trust to
directly assist tobacco farmers;
and 25 percent to the Health and
Wellness Trust Fund Commis
sion.
Purposely left broad in
scope, the Health Trust was
established "to develop a com
prehensive plan to finance pro
r
grams and initiatives to improve
the health and wellness of the
people of North Carolina."
To carry out this mandate,
18 commissioners, representing
a wide spectrum of health-care
expertise throughout the state,
were appointed to the Health
Trust. Since its inaugural meet
ing in May 2001, the Health
Trust has made remarkable
progress. By August, we had
clearly decided to focus funding
on 1) a prescription drug plan
for the elderly; 2) teen smoking
cessation and prevention; and 3)
research, education and preven
tion.
Last December, the Health
Trust passed an innovative pre
scription drug plan for seniors.
While the federal government
continues to debate over a plan, ,
many Tar Heel seniors are
forced to choose between pre
scription drugs and other neces
sities. The disease-specific plan
will cover cardiovascular dis
ease, diabetes mellitus and
chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD). The
diseases were chosen
based on what ails
North Carolina's eld
erly the most. Seniors
make up the fastest
growing segment of
our population and
prescription drug
costs continue to sky
rocket. Although they
rely on prescription
drugs more than any
other age group,
approximately 47
percent of North Car
olina' s seniors do not
have prescription
drug coverage.
The Health Trust
next turned its focus
' to a teen smoking
cessation and preven
tion program, and in
May passed the
largest expenditure of
state funds ever alio
cated to combat teen
smoking in North Carolina. The
rate of teen smoking for middle
school and high school students
in North Carolina is greater than
^ ( Commission on C4
File Photo
Smoking among teens has been one of
the problems the commission has tack
led.
Agency
has new
director
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
After 23 years, the March of
Dimes has a new leader. The
Greater Triad Division of the
March of Dimes is pleased to
announce that Tim D. Harper
has been hired as the executive
director.
Harper, originally from
Deep Run, N.C., is a graduate of
High Point College and resides
in Greensboro. He brings an
extensive background in volun
teer man
agement
and lead
ership,
and non
profit
fund
raising,
resulting
from 21
years of
profes
sional
. service
with the Boy Scouts of America
in North Carolina and Texas.
In comparing his* past non
profit work to his new position
at the March of Dimes. Harper
said." In scouting I found that
the volunteers were some of the
finest people you would ever
want to meet, real model citi
zens. The same is true with the
March of Dimes; the staff and
the volunteers are really super
people, the kind of people you
like having around. That leally
makes your job and coming to
work a lot easier."
Thankful for his own
healthy children. Harper is
excited to work for the March of
Dimes, helping ensure all babies
have a healthy start in life.
Sir Agency on C4
Harper
DEET products fend off
mosquitoes, study says
UNC NEWS SERVICES
CHAPEL HILL - In a new
comparative study of insect
repellents containing the chem
ical commonly known as DEET
and plant-based repellents,
products with DEET showed by
far the greatest effectiveness in
preventing mosquito bites,
medical researchers say.
The study, appearing in the
July 4 New England Journal of
Medicine, found all products
tested that did not contain
DEET to be significantly less
effective. Authors are Drs.
Mark S. Fradin, a Chapel Hill.
N.C., dermatologist and adjunct
faculty member at the Universi
ty of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill; and John F. Day, professor
of medical entomology at the
University of Florida.
"We took 16 representative
DEET and non-DEET products
that were readily available to
consumers as insect repellents
and tested them carefully,
repeatedly and in a way that
eliminated as many variables as
we could," said Fradin, clinical
associate professor of dermatol
ogy at the UNC School of Med
icine. "We controlled how
many mosquitoes we had, their
ages, how well-fed they were,
what the temperature and
humidity were, the levels of
light and darkness, and so on."
After volunteers applied
various repellents to their skin
according to package instruc
tions, they placed their forearms
in mosquito cages until they
suffered their first bite, he said.
Researchers recorded and ana
lyzed the times that elapsed
between arm insertion and the
first failure of each repellent.
"We selected the time of
first bite as a very stringent cri
terion for failure because the
primary concern here is not nui
sance bites but the possibility
that diseases caused by mosqui
toes could potentially be trans
mitted by a single bite," Fradin
said.
Results varied widely, he
said. DEET-based products
fared best, depending on their
concentrations. Wristbands
impregnated with the chemical,
however, offered no protection
from mosquito bites.
OFF! Deep Woods, with
23.8 percent DEFT, provided
complete protection for an aver
age of five hours, while Sawyer
Controlled Release, with 20
percent DEBT, lasted an aver
age of four hours, the physician
said.
OFF! Skintastic. with a 6.05
percent DEET concentration.
.S'cr DEET on C4
File Photo
Mosquitoes are a big problem in the summertime but an
independent study says some products control them.
Blacks deal with diabetes more than whites
BY PAUL COLLINS
THE CHRONICLE
According to the National
Diabetes Information Clearing
house (NDIC). a service of the
National Institute of Diabetes and
Digestive and Kidney Diseases
(NIDDK). African Americans are
twice as likely, on average, to have
diabetes as white Americans of
similar age. About 2.8 million,
about 13 percent, of African
Americans have diabetes. African
Americans have higher incidence
of and greater disability complica
tions such as amputations, visual
impairment and kidney failure.
African Americans are more like
ly to die from diabetes as whites.
Diabetes mellitus - a group of
diseases characterized by high
levels of blood glucose - results
from defects in insulin secretion,
insulin action or both. Ninety to
55 percent of African Americans
with diabetes have type 2 dia
betes. which usually develops in
adults and is caused by the body's
resistance to the action of insulin
and to impaired insulin secretion.
Type 2 diabetes can be treated
with diet, exercise, pills and
injected insulin. About 5 to 10 per
cent of African Americans have
type I diabetes, which usually
develops before age 20 and is
treated with insulin.
The NDIC said that, according
to a survey conducted from 1088
to 1903. the percentage of African
Americans with diabetes ranged
from less than I percent for people
younger than 20 to as high as 32
percent for women 65-74 years
old. and that overall, among
African Americans 20 years old or
older, the rate was 11.8 percent for
women and 8.5 percent for men.
The survey showed that 18.2 per
cent of African Americans 40 to
74 years old had diabetes, com
pared w ith 11.2 percent for whites.
According to NDIC. risk fac
tors for diabetes include:
? Genetics: Diabetes tends to
run in families and some
researchers believe African Amer
icans inherited a "thrifty gene"
from their African ancestor* that
developed for survival to use fix*!
Si Diabetes " C4
File photo
The Piedmont Triad Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation will have four walks in September and October -
including one on Sept. 21 at 8 a.m. at Davis Field at Wake
Forest University - to raise money for diabetes research. For
information, call 768? 1027.