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March 27, 2002
MEDIA CONTACT: John Lazarou
PHONE: 410-502-8902
E-MAIL: jlazaro1@jhmi.edu
URBAN HEALTH NEWS TIPS
Listed below are story ideas from The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. To pursue any of these stories, contact John M. Lazarou, 410-502-8902 or jlazaro1@jhmi.edu
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT MENTORED BY ONE OF HOPKINS' BEST
At first glance, they seem an unlikely pair. One is a local high school student.
The other is a top-level Johns Hopkins Hospital executive responsible for overall
operations of a 1,000 bed hospital. But since Dunbar High School Senior Deborah
Hill's sophomore year, she has been paired with Judy Reitz, Ph.D., Hopkins Hospital
chief operating officer and executive vice president. Over the last four years,
Hill and Reitz have forged unusual ties under the Career Development program
at Hopkins. As Hill's mentor, Reitz has helped Hill find a career in health
care. After her scheduled graduation in May, Hill plans to attend Essex Community
College to pursue her interest in nursing.
The B.O.N.D to B.O.N.D (Building Our Neighborhood Dreams Beyond Our Neighbors' Doors) program has teamed scores of high school students with Johns Hopkins Medicine employees.
NOT JUST BUSY WORK
Paul Laurence Dunbar High School is one of just two Baltimore City high schools
(the other is Southern) to offer a three-year program in biotech instruction,
equipping graduates to move either directly into the workforce as laboratory
assistants or go on to two- or four-year colleges. As part of their training,
students take a rigorous course in life science and lab management that pulls
together their previous math and science classes. In their final high-school
semester, they spend 20 hours a week doing a graded, off-campus internship.
Though Dunbar's seven-year-old biotech program is too young to have spawned any physicians, several graduates are studying biology, chemistry and electrical engineering, and hope to get their M.D. or Ph.D. degrees. The Dunbar-Hopkins Health Partnership responds to the anticipated career and employment needs of future Dunbar graduates, as well as the health of the surrounding East Baltimore community, and the growing demand for more minority health professionals.
BLACKS GET LOWER QUALITY ASTHMA CARE
The care of asthmatic African Americans falls short of many recommendations
contained in national guidelines, compared to that of whites, according to a
recent study by Johns Hopkins researchers. The finding, say researchers, may
explain in part why African Americans are more likely to have more severe asthma
symptoms. The researchers also found that asthmatic women of both races are
less likely to comply with daily medication use and to see an asthma specialist.
"The discrepancy in care is striking because it cannot easily be explained by socioeconomic factors or access to care," says lead author Jerry Krishnan, M.D., an instructor in the Hopkins School of Medicine's Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. "We need to further investigate whether these differences in asthma care were due to doctor, patient or health care system-related barriers." The study was undertaken because while researchers have known that misuse of medications contributes to poor asthma health in the United States, less is known about the relationships of race and gender to asthma care, particularly non-medication aspects of care recommended by national guidelines.
IN GOD, WE HEAL?
Is there a place for spiritual matters in the real work of medicine? A growing
national movement contends that spirituality and physical healing can go hand
in hand. It's not always easy for physicians to accept spirituality as complementing
science in helping patients improve, but the tide is turning. Dan Ford, an associate
professor of medicine, has co-developed a course on spirituality. He can discuss
the faith and medicine movement, the extent to which patients filter their treatment
and illness behaviors through spirituality, and how the course helps doctors
recognize and respect something that many patients hold dear.
CHURCH AND CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH
Church-based nutrition and exercise programs can move African-American women
to adopt healthier habits, according to a study led by Johns Hopkins researchers.
Programs set up by Hopkins scientists in partnership with 16 Baltimore churches
encouraged more than 500 participants to lose weight and choose healthier foods
over a year-long period. Women who participated in on-site exercise and dietary
activities did much better than those assigned to self-help groups. "Urban
African-American women age 40 and up bear a marked excess risk of obesity and
death from heart disease," says Diane M. Becker, Sc.D., M.P.H., an author
of the study and director of Hopkins' Center for Health Promotion. "This
study demonstrates that church-based interventions can greatly improve their
cardiovascular health."