The 2x2 project

"Given that the downstream health effects of hate crimes and discrimination are so dramatic, public health and medical systems should join these efforts. Public health systems have deep experience with meticulously capturing, monitoring, and using data over time to identify and track risk factors, map incidence, and study outcomes and potential solutions. Doctors and psychologists can supplement these efforts by playing a role in detecting and reporting events their patients ...experience, and by providing necessary support, counseling, and access to further care. This is not meant to replace other mechanisms of addressing hate crimes, such as the criminal justice system, but rather it is meant to be adjunctive and, in a time of neglect, a stopgap measure. But an additional benefit is that incorporating a public health approach allows for shifting the discourse of such incidents from blame, which can be politicized and even magnify the initial insult, to prevention."

Relevant to gun violence as a public health issue: "The film industry as a whole has become increasingly gun-friendly, according to the Internet Movie Firearms Database; their crowd-sourced data suggests that the median number of weapon models featured in films has increased by 11% from 1995 to 2015. Researchers also found that gun violence in PG-13 films has more than tripled since 1985; in recent years, it has even exceeded the violence of R-rated films."

Some wonderful news! "Dr. Julia Glade Bender, an associate professor of pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center, said that the reductions in death rates were the result of lessons learned in clinical trials that had led to small changes in practice. Many hope for cancer breakthroughs, or cancer moonshots, she said. But it’s a series of well-conceived trials where we’ve studied minor changes in standards of care which add up over decades to substantial gains in survival."

"The Obama administration, in its latest effort to update workplace policies it says have lagged far behind the realities of Americans’ lives, will require federal government contractors to provide paid sick leave to their workers. The rule, which was issued on Thursday and which the Labor Department estimates will directly affect more than 1.1 million people once fully in effect, enables workers to accrue up to seven days of paid sick leave a year. This is really part of a broader conversation across America about what a 21st-century social compact should look like, Thomas E. Perez, the labor secretary, said in an interview."

From the New England Journal of Medicine: "The editors invited the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, to answer the following question for Journal readers: What specific changes in policy do you support to improve access to care, improve quality of care, and control health care costs for our nation? Secretary Clinton responded. Mr. Trump did not respond." Clinton's specific policies include: "We must work to expand Medicaid cove...rage in the 19 states that have left 3 million Americans without health insurance because their states refused to expand Medicaid and enroll people eligible for coverage. We need to improve and strengthen the ACA through enhanced tax credits to make coverage affordable, implementation of strong measures to bring down the cost of prescription drugs, increased competition between insurers, and an aggressive campaign to increase outreach and enrollment. And finally, we need to ensure the availability of a public option choice in every state, and let Americans over 55 buy in to Medicare. Taken together, these policies will increase competition, choice, affordability and the number of Americans with insurance." See more