MO BackSnacks program, Gun Lobby Attack on Health Reform Named "Best, Worst Prevention Ideas of the Week"

A Missouri program whose healthy snacks for low-income students has improved their academic performance has been named Partnership for Prevention’s “Best Prevention Idea of the Week,” while a misfire by the gun lobby regarding health reform 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

“BackSnack" Program Improves Students’ Academic Performance, Behavior
http://www.harvesters.org/WhoWeAre/Index.asp?Reference=BackSnack&~=

Missouri’s “BackSnack” program, which provides backpacks of food to low-income children so they can avoid going hungry on weekends, is having a positive effect in the classroom. An evaluation of the program by the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership found that the program is helping elementary students improve their academic performance, school attendance and behavior. the BackSnack program has grown in the last two years from providing 650 elementary students with healthy snacks to 10,000 each weekend in the Kansas City area alone.

WORST

Gun Lobby Attack on Health Care Reform Misfires
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/white-house-takes-on-gun-lobbys-health-care-reform-attacks.php

Gun Owners of America urged the defeat of the Senate health reform bill on the basis of imaginary threats it said prevention measures would pose to the Second Amendment. In an action alert to its membership, GOA alleged that "special 'wellness and prevention' programs (inserted by Section 1001 of the bill as part of a new Section 2717 in the Public Health Services Act) would allow the government to offer lower premiums to employers who bribe their employees to live healthier lifestyles -- and nothing within the bill would prohibit rabidly anti-gun HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius from decreeing that 'no guns' is somehow healthier." The White House responded that the bill specifically lists what types of programs would be involved under that section of the legislation, and that there is no mention of guns or changing premiums for gun owners.

MO Hospital System, Whole Foods CEO Win "Best, Worst Prevention Idea of the Week" Honors

An Ozarks hospital system’s use of prevention improve care to Medicare patients while cutting costs was named Partnership for Prevention's "Best Prevention Idea of the Week," while the CEO of Whole Foods’ repeated calls for personal responsibility while was “Worst Prevention Idea of the Week.”

The Best/Worst Idea awards are a regular feature of Prevention Matters <http://preventionmatters.blogspot.com/> , 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.

St. John’s Uses Prevention to Improve Medicare Service, Save Money

St. John's Health System of Springdale, Mo., improved care of its 30,493 Medicare patients so much in the third year of a Medicare project -- while also cutting Medicare costs -- that St. John's has earned back some of the savings. The health system will receive $3.2 million from Medicare for its achievement, as one of only five groups that earned incentive money for its success. The physician groups focused on 32 quality measures, focusing on diabetes, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, hypertension and cancer screening. Evidence showed that the focus on prevention will reduce complications from the disease, reducing the need for care or emergency room visits in the future, officials said. And St. John’s officials said their efforts can be replicated at small rural facilities.

Whole Foods CEO Stresses “Personal Responsibility,” Ignores Community Role in Health

In a Wall Street Journal column, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey opposed increased government spending and control in health care, suggesting instead that Americans “should use our freedom to make wise lifestyle choices that will protect our health.” The boutique grocer listed several pro-business alternatives to reforms advocated by the White House, but none of them addressed making more healthy choices available to underserved populations who don’t have supermarkets in their neighborhoods and can’t afford to pay $39 for a pound of goat cheese.