Cultural Competence

NEW YORK — A dramatic jump in the rates of misuse of prescription stimulants over the past four years is linked to lax attitudes on the part of parents, according to a new study, though misuse and abuse of prescription opioids has remained flat.

One of the ways retailers help consumers realize their full healthcare value is through the kind of outcome management Safeway pharmacists adopted earlier this year to help people quit smoking. Safeway pharmacists have received specialized training — developed by the University of California San Francisco School of Pharmacy — that covers optimal smoking-cessation counseling techniques.

AUSTIN, Texas — A veterinary group in Texas is urging pet owners to protect their cats and dogs from heartworms.

The Texas Veterinary Medical Association is marking Heartworm Awareness Month in April, warning about the ease by which mosquitoes can transmit the illness to pets.

NEW YORK — “It’s time to unlock the gates to the primary care club” and allow nurse practitioners to practice to the full extent of their education and training. That was a key message of a physician-authored article that recently ran in Slate magazine.
 

NEW YORK — La Roche-Posay has announced the launch of its “Dermatologist from the Heart” program in the United States, which aims to support initiatives designed to enhance the quality of life for patients.

LOS ANGELES — During the American Pharmacists Association's 2013 Annual Meeting and Exposition here, the Cardinal Health Foundation and APhA on Tuesday awarded the second annual APhA GenerationRx Award of Excellence to Anthony Tommasello, who was chosen in recognition of his work in the area of substance abuse education. Throughout his career, Tommasello has conducted research and provided education to a wide range of patient populations at risk for substance abuse.

These are the days of the empowered patient — the patient who asks questions; who wants to know about how to prevent the diseases that ailed their parents or how to live more successfully with the conditions they have; and who seeks and finds health information from doctors, nurses, magazines and most especially from the teeming trove of online health sites.

For well over a century, the Statue of Liberty has invited the world to “Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Now, thanks to stunning advances in the sequencing of the human genome and patient-specific genetic research, America’s healthcare system is extending another invitation to this nation’s complex polyglot population: give us the rich diversity of your DNA.