Governing Magazine: Can Technology Help Prevent Drug Overdoses?
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) has begun using analytics – basically software algorithms – to sift through sets of data to spot patterns and to devise an early warning system about hotspots in the state where possible overdoses and deaths might occur. Using data in this fashion might enable health officials to contain an outbreak of opioid overdoses before the problem gets worse. — Tod Newcombe (January edition)
Medill News Service: Overtime Policy Leaves Home Care Patients and Workers Fretting
With the passage of a new Illinois Home Services Program overtime policy, Templeton and other home care workers who work overtime will be required to cap their work hours to 40 hours per week, unless their patients are approved for overtime starting March 1. According to the policy, home care patients might be eligible for overtime hours if they demonstrate an “exceptional care rate,” meet a determination of need score of 70 or higher, experience an “extraordinary circumstance” related to health or safety, or own “a court-ordered service plan that exceeds HSP costs.” — Shen Wu Tan (Jan. 20)
NPR: Lego, in a First, Will Unveil a Minifigure in a Wheelchair
This summer, Lego will release its first-ever minifigure that uses a wheelchair, the company says, confirming reports that emerged after one of the toys was seen at a toy fair. In recent years, the company has been urged to show more diversity in its offerings. — Bill Chappell (Jan. 28)
Wall Street Journal: The Brazilian Doctors Who Sounded the Alarm on Zika and Microcephaly
Experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and at U.S. university medical centers, along with the heads of Brazil’s leading medical research laboratories, now believe that evidence for a connection between Zika and microcephaly is strong. — Reed Johnson and Rogerio Jelmayer (Jan. 29)
OP-ED, The Huffington Post: Here’s What’s Wrong with the Mental Illness Conversation
Chelsea Stephens (Jan. 19)
OP-ED, The Hill: Inequality and Indifference
Mark A. Riccobono, president, National Federation of the Blind (Jan. 26)
BLOG, Demos: Disability is a Major Part of Poverty
Matt Bruenig (Jan. 27)
BLOG, The Huffington Post: Disability—A New Campaign Issue About Not-so-new Concerns
David Pettinicchio (Jan. 28)
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