Child Health Information Project
Children's Defense Fund
August 18, 2000
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In this issue:

* ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION LAUNCHES BACK-TO-SCHOOL CHIP ENROLLMENT INITIATIVE

* STUDY FINDS THAT MANY CHILDREN ARE NOT PROPERLY SECURED IN MOTOR VEHICLES

* HRSA LAUNCHES NEW WEB SITE ON COMMUNITY HEALTH STATUS INDICATORS

* NEW PUBLICATION TARGETS SPANISH-SPEAKING POPULATION
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ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION LAUNCHES BACK-TO-SCHOOL CHIP ENROLLMENT INITIATIVE

Washington, D.C., August 9 - The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has announced that it will spend as much as $26 million to inform parents with uninsured children who qualify for low-cost or free health care coverage that their children may be eligible. The Foundation released a study showing six out of ten parents whose children may qualify for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) or Medicaid do not believe that these programs apply to them. Yet 82 percent of these parents said if they knew their children qualified for coverage, they would apply. The Foundation launched the three-year public education campaign with the start of a nationwide back-to-school health care coverage enrollment drive.

While stigma is often cited as the reason why more parents have not enrolled their children, the study finds that three out of four parents whose kids qualify feel positively about Medicaid and SCHIP.

The public education campaign includes:

• on-going research to develop an in-depth market research profile of uninsured families and the enrollment barriers they face; 
• nationally-coordinated enrollment drives during back-to-school and cold and flu seasons; and 
• an advertising campaign to reach families who may be unaware that their children are eligible and corporate and organizational partnerships to reach employees, customers, and members.

For more information on the initiative, visit the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's web site at: www.rwjf.org 

Source: RWJF Press Release, www.rwjf.org , August 9, 2000.
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STUDY FINDS THAT MANY CHILDREN ARE NOT PROPERLY SECURED IN MOTOR VEHICLES

A recent study has found that many parents are not using child car seats and booster seats properly, leading to increased injury. The study, conducted by physicians at the Children's Hospital in Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania, found that more than one-third of children ages 2 to 5 were improperly put in seat belts instead of child safety or booster seats, which resulted in a 3.5-fold increased risk of significant injury and a more than four-fold increased risk of significant head injury.

The research supports recommendations from child advocates that children should remain in child safety seats until they are at least 4 years old and weigh 40 pounds, at which point they should be placed in belt-positioning booster seats until they are an appropriate height and weight for regular vehicle seat belts.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death and acquired disability for children older than age one.

For further guidelines on children and car safety, please visit the American Academy of Pediatrics' Web site: www.aap.org/family/mncrseat.htm. 

Sources:
1) Winston et al., "The Danger of Premature Graduation to Seat Belts for Young Children," Pediatrics 105(6): 1179-1183, June 2000.

2) Cheng Q., "Safety Lapses Found for Children in Cars," New York Times, August 8, 2000.
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HRSA LAUNCHES NEW WEB SITE ON COMMUNITY HEALTH STATUS INDICATORS

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), in collaboration with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), the National Association of County and City Health Officials, and the Public Health Foundation, recently launched a new Web site project entitled "The Community Health Status Indicators Project (CHSI)." CHSI provides data on health status indicators in all 3,082 counties in the United States. The site allows users to gauge their county's health compared to that of peer counties and see how their county stands in meeting specific goals such as those set by the Healthy People 2010 intitiative.

In particular, the CHSI presents data on:

· Population characteristics
· Four summary measures of health
· Leading causes of death
· Measures of birth and death
· Vulnerable populations
· Environmental health
· Preventive services usage
· Risk factors for premature death
· Access to care

The data primarily comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Center for Health Statistics, the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the Environmental Protection Agency, HRSA's Area Resource File, HRSA's Bureau of Primary Health Care, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

To access the site, go to: www.communityhealth.hrsa.gov.

Source: HRSA Press Release, www.hrsa.gov, August 7, 2000.
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NEW PUBLICATION TARGETS SPANISH-SPEAKING POPULATION

New York, August 15 - The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released a new publication - "Le han diagnosticado: Que es lo que sigue?" - geared toward helping Spanish-speaking patients obtain reliable health information.

"Immigration from Spanish-speaking countries has increased dramatically over the last few decades and the numbers are expected to remain high," according to Dr. John M. Eisenberg, AHRQ Director. "Most physicians don't know...enough [Spanish] to [help] these patients comprehend the nature of their illness...or understand the treatment options and the benefits and risks of each option."

Dr. Eisenberg added that organizations such as health insurance companies would benefit by making the guides available to their members. The guide also explains the different types of health care studies and what research can reveal about treatments; how to find support groups and how to work with one's physician to develop a treatment plan.

The AHRQ guide, developed in cooperation with the Kanter Family Foundation, is free of charge and is available in Spanish as well as English.

The guide is available at www.ahrq.gov . Click on "What's New" or call 1-800-358-9295 to request a copy of "Le Han Diagnosticado: Que es lo que Sigue?." (In English, the publication is called: "Now You Have a Diagnosis: What's Next?")

Sources:

1) AHRQ Press Release, www.ahrq.gov , August 9, 2000.
2) Reuters Health Press Release, www.reutershealth.com,
August 15,2000
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