The Hayward Promise Neighborhood is an initiative billed as attempt to break the cycle of poverty for residents of Hayward’s Jackson Triangle while improving the educational outcomes of its children. Organizers hosted a recent festival on a warm, sunny Saturday to launch support services and get the community involved.

In December 2011, the U.S. Department of Education awarded a 5-year, $25 million grant to establish the Hayward Promise Neighborhood. It was one of only five Promise Neighborhood grants awarded, and the only one on the west coast.

To read this article in its entirety, and see photos from the day’s event, go here to HealthyCal.org.

“We’re going to be able to do something that no one else in the country has done, which is really reverse this obesity epidemic and protect our children,” said Councilman Jeff Ritterman, the Richmond city council member who is championing the tax, “We need everybody’s help to do that,” he said.

The bill, known as Measure N, would place a penny-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, such as soft drinks or sweetened fruit juices, beverages that experts say greatly contribute to a variety of health problems, especially in children. Measure N is accompanied by another, Measure O, an advisory measure would funnel funds raised from the tax directly into anti-obesity programs.

Read this story in its entirety here at HealthyCal.org.

The Department of Veterans Affairs says it’s going to try something new to speed up dealing with medical claims. But Mary Flynn reports that critics of the VA’s slow handling of cases want to see proof that the new approach will work.

Click here to see the transcript on KQED.org.

(Unfortunately, KQED no longer includes audio clips on its site).

The Affordable Care Act allows for about 32 million newly insured Americans by 2019, and three to four million eligible by 2014, and health care systems have been looking for ways to accommodate the increased number of patients.

In one major shift, many private and public sector leaders are embracing the concept of the patient-centered medical home, an approach that allows primary care practices to take responsibility for providing, coordinating and integrating care across the health care continuum. These medical homes place greater emphasis on primary care physicians.

Read this article in its entirety on HealthyCal.org

Gov. Jerry Brown announced on Monday that he’s directed state agencies to revise that requirement. His announcement cited studies showing high levels of flame retardants in toddlers bodies compared to their parents and in women’s breast tissue compared women who live in other countries or states where the chemicals are not required in furniture.

These man-made chemicals, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, are used to reduce the flammability in commercial products such as furniture, electronics or electrical wiring. When found in high occurrences, PBDEs are associated with a variety of health ramifications that can have a disproportionate effect on the population: a recent study determined that non-white toddlers, particularly those whose parents have a lower level of education, are more likely to have higher levels of the PBDEs.

Read this article in its entirety on HealthyCal.org

Within these medical homes, primary care physicians are expected to play an increasingly important role. And with a looming shortage of primary care physicians, lawmakers and medical experts are scrambling to come up with ways to increase the number of primary care doctors.

Some health industry observers say it will be impossible to train and pay for the number of primary care doctors that would be needed if California, and the nation, were to extend the current way of doing business to the millions of new patients who will gain insurance coverage under the federal Affordable Care Act. But even if dramatic changes in medical practice reduce the need for more doctors, those changes won’t make the problem disappear. More doctors will still be needed.

Read this article in its entirety on HealthyCal.org

Click here to read the transcript and hear the audio on KQED.org.

Additional photos of the event can be found here on Facebook.

The Urban Strategies Council conducted three studies analyzing data from the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). The reports examined three areas – rates of suspension, chronic absenteeism, and dropout risk – that determine the success of its students, and further analyzed the data, breaking it down by race and gender.

The results were clear.

“African American males fare worse than any other gender and ethnic population,” said Urban Strategies Council CEO Junious Williams.

Read this article in its entirety on HealthyCal.org

One important change that’s taking place: community clinic are moving towards becoming ‘medical homes,’ or centers of care. That means qualifying low-income patients have access to primary care, pharmacy services, or specialty care (by referral). And especially exciting to health specialists is the new availability of mental health and substance abuse services, which are being included at clinics for the first time.

“For years, we separated out those conditions as if they were somehow different from a heart condition or an ulcer or if you have diabetes,” said Leslie Tremaine, the Mental Health Director for Santa Cruz County. “But in fact, what we know is that mind and body are completely connected; “health” needs to incorporate all of those needs.”

Read this article in its entirety at HealthyCal.org.