Journal of general internal medicine
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Self-rated health is a subjective yet valuable indicator of overall health status, influenced by various factors including physical, psychological, and socio-economic elements. Self-rated health could be telling and used by primary care physicians to evaluate overall present and predictive health. ⋯ The study underscores the significance of healthy lifestyle choices and social support in maintaining favorable self-rated health, particularly during challenging times like the COVID-19 pandemic. Primary care physicians should focus on promoting these factors, integrating these actions in their routine consultations, and advising patients to undertake in socially engaging activities to improve overall health perceptions and outcomes.
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Non-Hispanic Black or African American (hereafter Black) veterans lose less weight than other users of the Veterans Health Administration's (VHA) weight management program (MOVE!), despite higher enrollment. ⋯ Photovoice resulted in concrete targets that could reduce health disparities. Institutions should consider Photovoice and similar approaches to build trust with and incorporate input from marginalized communities. This approach requires sustained commitment from leaders to engage stakeholders and implement solutions.
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The rise in prevalence of high deductible health plans (HDHPs) in the United States may raise concerns for high-need, high-utilization populations such as those with comorbid chronic conditions. In this study, we examine changes in total and out-of-pocket (OOP) spending attributable to HDHPs for enrollees with comorbid substance use disorder (SUD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). ⋯ This study suggests that while HDHPs do not change overall levels of annual spending among enrollees with comorbid CVD and SUD, they may increase the financial burden of healthcare services by raising OOP costs, which could negatively impact this high-need and high-utilization population.