Oregon Public Health Division/Multnomah County Health Department
Marizen Ramirez, PhD, MPH •
University of Minnesota
This webinar examines the anti-bullying laws in two states: Oregon and Iowa. These states’ laws are the focus of two Public Health Law Research studies investigating the extent to which school districts have adopted anti-bullying policies in response to these laws, and the impact these policies may have on reducing bullying in schools.
Congenital heart defects cause nearly one-quarter of deaths due to birth defects in infants. Nearly 5,000 babies are born each year with seven specific Critical Congenital Heart Defects or Critical Congenital Heart Disease (CCHD). There is a low-cost, non-invasive screening procedure, called pulse oximetry, that is effective in detecting CCHD. By making this screening mandatory, CCHD could be detected early and follow-ups could be done to improve health.
In this Critical Opportunity, Tamar Klaiman, PhD, MPH, suggests that providers should be required to offer pertussis vaccination prior to new parents leaving the hospital/birth center with a newborn.
The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice
Soraya Ghebleh suggests that by making non-medical exemptions for childhood vaccines more difficult to obtain, rates of childhood diseases like pertussis would be less of a threat.
Research Foundation of State University of New York on behalf of University at Buffalo
The study examined whether the source (federal/state/local) or type (restricted/flexible) of funding impacts quality outcome measures linked to mental health of children in foster care. The researchers find that flexible funding is linked to reduced median days in care and days awaiting adoption.
This study concludes that shared-use agreements that include legal clauses to address school concerns about factors such as vandalism, staffing and funding represent a promising strategy for increasing physical activity opportunities in under-resourced neighborhoods where the prevalence of obesity is high.
This paper describes the current state of laws across the United States aimed at combatting concussions, commonly referred to as “traumatic brain injuries” or TBIs, among young athletes. Since 2009, 47 states and Washington, DC, have passed legislation designed to reduce the long-term consequences of TBIs in youth sports.
The study examined how non-medical exemption laws for vaccines required for school or daycare entry impact the incidence rates for the five diseases targeted by the vaccines, and finds that increased levels of vaccinations could reduce whooping cough cases, but did not have a statistically significant impact on the average incidence for measles, mumps, Hib and Hepatitis B.
This study finds that children in counties with unified family courts experienced shorter foster care spells and higher rates of reunification with parents or primary caregivers. Shorter foster care spells translated into improved school performance measured by end-of-grade reading and math test scores. Adult drug treatment courts were associated with lower probability of reunification with parents/primary caregivers.
This new report finds more than 70 Oregon school districts changed their anti-bullying policies last year to better protect students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, but nearly one in three school districts still does not comply with state law.
