Families on AFDC are often the poorest of the poor. Benefits are not adequate to meet children's needs, though medical and dental help is available, according to this fourth report in a series of six based on a 1984 survey.
The changing landscape of tobacco including the introduction of new products such as smokeless tobaccos and electronic delivery devices has highlighted the need for continued surveillance of tobacco use.Minnesota has conducted an in-depth surveillance of adult tobacco use since 1999. For the fifth in the series, conducted in 2014, 9304 telephone interviews were completed.The 2014 prevalence of cigarette smoking (14.4%) continues a downward trend that remains lower than the national smoking prevalence (17.3%). Among all Minnesota adults, use prevalence of other tobacco products was as follows: e-cigarettes 5.9%, all smokeless tobaccos 3.6%, cigars 3.0%, water pipe 1.4%, and regular pipe 0.7%. Among individuals who have never smoked cigarettes, smokeless tobacco was the most common product used (2.0%), nearly twice the prevalence of e-cigarette use (1.2%). Former smokers were equally likely to use smokeless tobacco (4.9%) or e-cigarettes (4.8%). Among smokers, 27.3% reported current use of e-cigarettes.In the past 15 years, cigarette smoking prevalence in Minnesota has dropped by an average of 0.51 percentage points annually, and prevalence could drop to less than 5% by 2034.
Background In the past decade, the palliative care approach has been used in the care of frail older people living with debilitating chronic conditions, including dementia. Aim To describe health professionals' experiences of assessing the symptoms of people with dementia using a cancer-patient-oriented symptom-assessment tool from a palliative care context. Method This was a qualitative study that used semi-structured interviews (n=13) with clinical staff in three nursing homes prior to and following the implementation of the Minimal Documentation system for Palliative care (MIDOS) tool for assessing symptoms over a period of 6 weeks. Results Baseline interviews showed specific concerns about symptom assessment, such as uncertainty about underlying symptoms in residents who appeared to be in distress. After the implementation of the MIDOS tool, participants reported that daily use of the tool was perceived as helpful in evaluating symptoms other than pain and improved internal communication between staff regarding clinical decision making. Conclusion The MIDOS tool was perceived as a helpful and valuable complement to existing tools. Participants expressed some concerns regarding the subjective nature of perceiving symptoms and clinical decision making. The use of tools such as the MIDOS tool has the potential to enhance the quality of palliative care in dementia care.
Abstract In Minnesota, the 1980 legislature statutorily defined a class of juvenile offenders presumed on the basis of age, alleged offense, and record of prior felony offenses to be unfit for treatment in the juvenile court. In this article we evaluate the effect of Minnesota's revised waiver statute by comparing cases in which waiver proceedings were initiated and in which transfer occurred for two time periods, before and after adoption of the legislatively defined presumptive criteria. Our findings suggest that the objective criteria adopted by the Minnesota legislature are not, in themselves, an adequate means for selecting juveniles for transfer to adult court. The criteria identify many juveniles whose records on close examination do not appear to be very serious and fail to identify many juveniles whose records are characterized by violent, frequent, and persistent delinquent activity.
Objective: To examine cigarette smoking among young adults based on education status. Participants: Community-based sample of 2,694 young adults in the United States Methods: The authors compared 3 groups—those not in college with no college degree, 2-year college students/graduates, 4-year college students/graduates—on various smoking measures: ever smoked, smoked in past month, smoked in past week, consider self a smoker, began smoking before age 15, smoked over 100 cigarettes in lifetime, ever tried to quit, and plan to quit in next year. Results: The authors found that for nearly all the smoking measures, the 4-year college group was at lowest risk, the noncollege group was at highest risk, and the 2-year college group represented a midpoint. Differences between groups remain after adjusting for parents' education and other potential confounding factors. Conclusions: Smoking behaviors clearly differ between the 2-year, 4-year, and no college groups. Interventions should be tailored for each group.
It is reported in two cases of synostosis of the vertebral which is related in the Medical literature as "Dysontogenetic blockbuilding of the Corpus Vertebrae". This condition could be seen in a 13 year old boy in the area of Th 9 to Th 12 and in a 13 year old girl from Th 11 to L1. The clinical and radiological findings of these two cases will be described and discussed. An attribution of these cases to the "Dysontogenetic blockbuilding" groups was based on a disturbance of the vertebral forming. A causal therapy is not possible.
The evidence evaluating the association between school obestiy prevention policies and student weight is mixed. The lack of consistent findings may result, in part, from limited evaluation approaches. The goal of this article is to demonstrate the use of surveillance data to address methodological gaps and opportunities in the school policy evaluation literature using lessons from the School Obesity-Related Policy Evaluation (ScOPE) study. The ScOPE study uses a repeated, cross-sectional study design to evaluate the association between school food and activity policies in Minnesota and behavioral and weight status of youth attending those schools. Three surveillance tools are used to accomplish study goals: Minnesota School Health Profiles (2002-2012), Minnesota Student Survey (2001-2013), and National Center for Educational Statistics. The ScOPE study takes two broad steps. First, we assemble policy data across multiple years and monitor changes over time in school characteristics and the survey instrument(s), establish external validity, and describe trends and patterns in the distribution of policies. Second, we link policy data to student data on health behaviors and weight status, assess nonresponse bias, and identify cohorts of schools. To illustrate the potential for program evaluators, the process, challenges encountered, and solutions used in the ScOPE study are presented.
