"Medical Home" Program, Toxic Halloween Face Paint Named "Best, Worst Prevention Ideas of the Week"

Medicare’s decision to help ramp up “medical home” demonstration programs was named Partnership for Prevention’s “Best Prevention Idea of the Week,” while reports of toxic Halloween face paint was named “Worst Prevention Idea of the Week.”

The Best/Worst Idea awards are a regular feature of Prevention Matters , the blog of Partnership for Prevention. Each week, Partnership for Prevention's staff will choose the designees based on nominations of items in the previous week's news submitted by members, staff and the public at large. To submit a nomination or for more information, contact Damon Thompson at dthompson@prevent.org.

BEST

Medicare backs state medical home projects

http://www.modernmedicine.com/modernmedicine/Modern+Medicine+Now/Medicare-backs-state-medical-home-projects/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/635862?contextCategoryId=40137

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will join state multi-payer patient-centered medical home demonstration programs next year as a contributing payer. The demonstrations will build on a model tested in Vermont for three years. Under the Vermont model, private insurers work with Medicaid to set uniform standards for medical homes, which emphasize prevention, health information technology, care coordination and shared decision making among patients and their providers.

WORST

Toxins Make Halloween Face Paints Scary
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/10/27/toxins-make-halloween-face-paints-scary.html

Halloween face paint could contain a nasty trick for children. A test of 10 face paint products widely available via the Internet or in craft or Halloween stores showed that all 10 face paint products tested contained lead, and six out of 10 had known skin allergens, including nickel, cobalt or chromium, at levels above recommendations of industry studies. The findings were outlined in a report issued by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics entitled: Pretty Scary: Could Halloween Face Paint Cause Lifelong Health Problems? Earlier this year, a face paint from China was recalled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration when some children had rashes and itching; the FDA later found microbial contamination in the product.