Tag Archives: Rice University

Rice University study: When physicians integrate with hospitals, costs go up

7 Sep

The American Medical Association wrote in 5 ways to improve access to health care:

Stabilize individual insurance marketplaces and retain ACA market reforms. The AMA advocates these actions to foster a stronger health insurance marketplace and ensure that low- and moderate-income patients are able to secure affordable and adequate coverage:
• Support expanding eligibility for premium tax credits up to 500% of the federal poverty level. Support providing young adults with enhanced premium tax credits while maintaining the current premium tax credit structure that is inversely related to income.
• Encourage state innovation, including considering state-level individual mandates, auto-enrollment and/or reinsurance, to maximize the number of individuals covered and stabilize health insurance premiums without undercutting any existing patient protections.
• Support the establishment of a permanent federal reinsurance program.
• Oppose the sale of health insurance plans in the individual and small-group markets that do not guarantee pre-existing condition protections along with coverage of essential health benefits and their associated protections against annual and lifetime limits, and out-of-pocket expenses (with the exception of short-term, limited duration insurance offered for no more than three months).
Address physician shortages. Grow the clinical workforce by expanding the number of available graduate medical education residency slots, expand medical school loan-forgiveness programs, and remove barriers to physician immigration for foreign-trained physicians to practice in the U.S.
Telehealth and remote patient monitoring will become an essential, cost-effective and reliable means to expand capacity in a health system marked by significant and persistent specialty shortages and geographic disparities. Physicians should get assurances that digital health solutions are cost-effective and provide a path to payment.
Increase efficiency of the existing workforce by instituting common-sense medical liability reforms and reducing government and insurance industry regulatory burdens—such as prior authorization—that detract from patient care and increase costs. Also, there should be advancement of new physician-led payment models to achieve better outcomes at lower cost.

https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/patient-support-advocacy/5-ways-improve-access-health-care

One model of health care is associated with higher costs.

Science Daily reported in When physicians integrate with hospitals, costs go up:

When physicians integrate with hospitals, the cost of health care rises even though there’s no evidence patients get better treatment, according to a new paper by experts at Rice University and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX).
As hospitals gain more control over physicians, they may incentivize delivery of more services but not necessarily higher quality care, the researchers said in the paper, which appears in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
“When we launched this study, we hypothesized that tighter integration of physicians with hospitals would improve care coordination,” said Vivian Ho, lead author and the James A. Baker III Institute Chair in Health Economics and director of the Center for Health and Biosciences at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. “For example, less duplicate testing might occur, which would lower costs. That hypothesis didn’t play out in the data.”
The tightest form of integration occurs when hospitals directly employ physicians, but physicians also become integrated with hospitals when they jointly contract for services with an insurer.
In 2003, approximately 29% of U.S. hospitals employed physicians, a number that rose to 42% by 2012. The share of physician practices owned by hospitals rose from 14% in 2012 to 29% in 2016. Economists refer to these relationships between hospitals and physicians as vertical integration, because they represent hospitals exerting more control over physicians as an essential part of inpatient care.
The researchers analyzed all preferred provider organization (PPO) insurance claims processed for care through BCBSTX from 2014 through 2016 in Texas’ four largest metropolitan areas — Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin. The population in these areas totaled 18.9 million in 2017, greater than the population of 46 U.S. states. The sample included all claims for health care services for patients aged 19 to 64 except for prescription drugs.
Several studies have found that vertical integration of physicians with hospitals is associated with higher annual spending, but none of these studies concurrently measured the relation between vertical integration and quality, the researchers said.
In their study, they examined claims to determine whether patients had visited a primary care physician (PCP) and, if so, which PCP they saw most frequently. The researchers attributed roughly 500,000 to 600,000 patients to a PCP for each year and used BCBSTX contracting data to determine whether each of these physicians worked in a physician-owned practice or one that was hospital-owned. The researchers then compared the annual spending for patients treated by doctors in physician- versus hospital-owned practices.
They found patients with PPO insurance coverage incur spending that is 5.8 percentage points higher when treated by doctors in hospital-owned versus physician-owned practices. The difference appears attributable to greater service use rather than higher prices. For four out of five common diagnostic tests (for example, X-rays and MRIs), claims per patient were equal to or higher in hospital- versus physician-owned practices. There was no consistent difference in quality of care (for example, 30-day hospital readmission rates, diabetic care or screening mammography) for hospital-owned versus physician-owned practices.
“Healthcare costs continue to rise faster than the growth rate of the overall economy,” said Ho, who is also a professor of economics at Rice and a professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. “Tighter integration of physicians with hospitals appears to be contributing to that cost growth, with no evidence of better quality.”
Higher spending ultimately translates into higher insurance premiums for customers, said Leanne Metcalfe, executive director of research and strategy at BCBSTX and a co-author of the study…. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190905161406.htm

Citation:

When physicians integrate with hospitals, costs go up

Date: September 5, 2019
Source: Rice University
Summary:
When physicians integrate with hospitals, the cost of health care rises even though there’s no evidence patients get better treatment, according to a new article.

Journal Reference:
Vivian Ho, Leanne Metcalfe, Lan Vu, Marah Short, Robert Morrow. Annual Spending per Patient and Quality in Hospital-Owned Versus Physician-Owned Organizations: an Observational Study. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2019; DOI: 10.1007/s11606-019-05312-z

Here is the press release from Rice University:

When physicians integrate with hospitals, costs go up, Rice study says

JEFF FALK

– SEPTEMBER 4, 2019POSTED IN: CURRENT NEWS

When physicians integrate with hospitals, the cost of health care rises even though there’s no evidence patients get better treatment, according to a new paper by experts at Rice University and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX).
As hospitals gain more control over physicians, they may incentivize delivery of more services but not necessarily higher quality care, the researchers said in the paper, which appears in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
“When we launched this study, we hypothesized that tighter integration of physicians with hospitals would improve care coordination,” said Vivian Ho, lead author and the James A. Baker III Institute Chair in Health Economics and director of the Center for Health and Biosciences at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. “For example, less duplicate testing might occur, which would lower costs. That hypothesis didn’t play out in the data.”
The tightest form of integration occurs when hospitals directly employ physicians, but physicians also become integrated with hospitals when they jointly contract for services with an insurer.
In 2003, approximately 29% of U.S. hospitals employed physicians, a number that rose to 42% by 2012. The share of physician practices owned by hospitals rose from 14% in 2012 to 29% in 2016. Economists refer to these relationships between hospitals and physicians as vertical integration, because they represent hospitals exerting more control over physicians as an essential part of inpatient care.
The researchers analyzed all preferred provider organization (PPO) insurance claims processed for care through BCBSTX from 2014 through 2016 in Texas’ four largest metropolitan areas — Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin. The population in these areas totaled 18.9 million in 2017, greater than the population of 46 U.S. states. The sample included all claims for health care services for patients aged 19 to 64 except for prescription drugs.
Several studies have found that vertical integration of physicians with hospitals is associated with higher annual spending, but none of these studies concurrently measured the relation between vertical integration and quality, the researchers said.
In their study, they examined claims to determine whether patients had visited a primary care physician (PCP) and, if so, which PCP they saw most frequently. The researchers attributed roughly 500,000 to 600,000 patients to a PCP for each year and used BCBSTX contracting data to determine whether each of these physicians worked in a physician-owned practice or one that was hospital-owned. The researchers then compared the annual spending for patients treated by doctors in physician- versus hospital-owned practices.
They found patients with PPO insurance coverage incur spending that is 5.8 percentage points higher when treated by doctors in hospital-owned versus physician-owned practices. The difference appears attributable to greater service use rather than higher prices. For four out of five common diagnostic tests (for example, X-rays and MRIs), claims per patient were equal to or higher in hospital- versus physician-owned practices. There was no consistent difference in quality of care (for example, 30-day hospital readmission rates, diabetic care or screening mammography) for hospital-owned versus physician-owned practices.
“Healthcare costs continue to rise faster than the growth rate of the overall economy,” said Ho, who is also a professor of economics at Rice and a professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. “Tighter integration of physicians with hospitals appears to be contributing to that cost growth, with no evidence of better quality.”
Higher spending ultimately translates into higher insurance premiums for customers, said Leanne Metcalfe, executive director of research and strategy at BCBSTX and a co-author of the study.
“Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regulators should be wary of the burden that increasing reporting requirements place on physicians in small, independent practices,” Metcalfe said. “In the long run, these requirements may have the unintended consequence of raising health care costs.”
The paper, “Annual Spending per Patient and Quality in Hospital-Owned versus Physician-Owned Organizations: An Observational Study,” was also co-authored by Lan Vu, lead actuarial systems analyst at BCBSTX; Marah Short, associate director of the Center for Health and Biosciences at the Baker Institute; and Dr. Robert Morrow, Southeast Texas market president at BCBSTX.
TAGS: Baker Institute, Economics, Research, RNH, RNhome, Social Sciences
About Jeff Falk
Jeff Falk is associate director of national media relations in Rice University’s Office of Public Affairs.

The Healthcare Transformation Institute listed different models of healthcare.

According to Healthcare Transformation Institute, among models of healthcare are:

Healthcare Delivery Models
Please check back often for updates
ACO
• The ACO Model — A Three-Year Financial Loss?
• Accountable Care Organizations: The Case for Flexible Partnerships Between Health Plans and Providers
• The Collaborative Payer Model
• Continuous Innovation in Health Care: Implications of the Geisinger Experience
• Driving Population Health Through Accountable Care Organizations
• Growing an ACO-Easier Said Than Done
• Grand Junction, Colorado: A Health Community that Works
• Grand Junction, Colorado: How a Community Drew on its Values to Shape a Superior Health System
• Higher Health Care Quality and Bigger Savings Found at Large Multispecialty Medical Groups
• The Hot Spotters: Lower Costs and Better Care for Neediest Patients
• Improving The Coordination of Care for Medicaid Beneficiaries in Pennsylvania
• A National Strategy to Put Accountable Care into Practice
• Predictive Modeling and Team Care for High-Need Patients at HealthCare Partners
• How the Stars Aligned to Make Grand Junction a Success
Care Transitions
• Connected For Health – A Community-Based Care Transition Project
• Improving Care Transitions and Reducing Hospital Readmissions: Establishing the Evidence for Community-Based Implementation Strategies Through the Care Transitions Theme
• Preparing Patients and Caregivers to Participate in Care Delivered Across Settings: The Care Transitions Intervention
Disease Management
• ICC Asthma Program Evaluation 2007-2009
• German Diabetes Management Programs Improve Quality of Care and Curb Costs
• A Home-Based Diabetes Education Program and Its Approach to Disease Management
• How Direct Primary Care Reduces Primary Care Costs
• At Martin’s Point in Maine, Primary Care Teams for Chronic Disease Patients
• Primary Care Redesign: Delivering a Value Based Population Program for Chronic Disease
• Successful Models of Comprehensive Care for Older Adults with Chronic Conditions: Evidence for the Institute of Medicine’s “Retooling for an Aging America” Report
• Taking Public Health Approaches to Care in Massachusetts
Medical Home
• American Medical Home Runs
• Changing the Conversation in California About Care Near the End of Life
• Community-Centered Health Homes: Bridging the Gap Between Health Services and Community Prevention
• The ‘GRACE’ Model: In-Home Assessments Lead to Better Care for Dual Eligibles
• The Group Health Medical Home at Year Two: Cost Savings, Higher Patient Satisfaction, and Less Burnout for Providers
• A Health Plan Spurs Transformation of Primary Care Practices Into Better-Paid Medical Homes
• Medical “Extensivists” Care for High-Acuity Patients Across Settings, Leading to Reduced Hospital Use
• A New Care Paradigm Slashes Hospital Use and Nursing Home Stays for the Elderly and the Physically and Mentally Disabled
• Restructuring Care in a Federally Qualified Health Center to Better Meet Patients’ Needs
• Transforming Physician Practices to Patient-Centered Medical Homes: Lessons from The National Demonstration Project
• Vermont’s Blueprint for Medical Homes, Community Health Teams, and Better Health at Lower Cost
Medication Management
• Medication Adherence Leads to Lower Health Care use and Costs Despite Increased Drug Spending
• Thinking Outside the Pillbox — Medication Adherence as a Priority for Health Care Reform
• Medication Adherence Leads to Lower Health Care Use and Costs Despite Increased Drug Spending
Elements of Healthcare Transformation
• Alignment of incentives
• Connectivity among caregivers and patients
• Leadership assessment and development
• Business plans and models
• Metrics and evaluation
• Medication management
• In-home care
ASU Healthcare Delivery and Policy Program
Read about our affiliated program at Arizona State University.
http://healthcaretransformationinstitute.org/page/healthcare-delivery-models

Faith Abubey of WFMY News reported on a healthcare delivery system outside the traditional insurance model.

Abubey reported in New Model: Triad Doctor Offers Unlimited Visits For $50 Monthly Fee:

But a growing number of family doctors say they have found a way to make routine doctor visits cheap and give you better care.
In some cases, you pay as low as $25 a month and still see a doctor whenever you want with no extra costs.
The idea is called Direct Primary Care (DPC).
Think of it like a gym membership.
You pay a monthly fee and you get to go as often as you want.
It’s the same idea.
In this case you get unlimited visits to your family doctor.
Access to that doctor by phone or a secure messaging system — 24/7.
You get same day or next-day appointments.
Discounts on things like labs and your prescription medicine.
All for a monthly fee of anywhere between $25 and $85 a month.
That’s it.
No extra costs. No co-pays. No insurance involved.
If you’re thinking this sounds too good to be true, even the Triad doctor who’s offering it agrees.
“It does sound too good to be true. And I think that that’s the hardest thing about selling people on this model. Because they just don’t understand how it could be that easy,” Dr. James Breen said.
Dr. Breen and his wife, Dr. Dayarmys Piloto de la Paz, who is also a doctor, opened their direct primary care practice just over a month ago in Greensboro.
It is called Vitral Family Medicine.
It is the only clinic of its kind we know of in the Triad.
But according to the Journal of Medical Economics, there are more than 300 doctors’ offices across the country using the same model.
“A lot of people describe direct primary care as do it yourself health care reform,” Dr. Breen said.
He explains that in this model, your doctor visits are longer, patients get better care and there is no red tape from insurance companies about what he can and can’t do…. https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/2-wants-to-know/new-model-triad-doctor-offers-unlimited-visits-for-50-monthly-fee/266503909

Access to healthcare for the greatest number is an important concept, but as with many things, the devil is in the details. What is the definition, cost and the population defined are questions that are political difficult to build a consensus.

Where information leads to Hope. © Dr. Wilda.com

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Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

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Rice University study: Home-schoolers see no added health risks over time

1 Jun

Moi wrote about homeschools in Homeschooling is becoming more mainstream:

Parents and others often think of school choice in terms of public school or private school. There is another option and that is homeschooling. Homeschooling is one option in the school choice menu.  What is Homeschooling?

Family Education defines homeschooling.

Homeschooling means learning outside of the public or private school environment. The word “home” is not really accurate, and neither is “school.” For most families, their “schooling” involves being out and about each day, learning from the rich resources available in their community, environment, and through interactions with other families who homeschool.
Essentially, homeschooling involves a commitment by a parent or guardian to oversees their child or teen’s educational development. There are almost two million homeschoolers in this country.

There is no one federal law, which governs homeschooling. Each state regulates homeschooling, so state law must be consulted. The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) has a summary of each state’s laws. State Homeschool Laws The American Homeschool Association (AHA) has resources such as FAQ and the history of homeschooling at AHA https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/05/22/homeschooling-is-becoming-more-mainstream/

See, https://drwilda.com/tag/homeschooling/

Science Daily reported in Home-schoolers see no added health risks over time: Better sleep, diet habits help counter shortfalls in formal exercise:

Years of home-schooling don’t appear to influence the general health of children, according to a Rice University study.
A report by Rice kinesiology lecturer Laura Kabiri and colleagues in the Oxford University Press journal Health Promotion International puts forth evidence that the amount of time a student spends in home school is “weakly or not at all related to multiple aspects of youth physical health.”
“Although there may be differences in the health of elementary through high school home-schoolers, those differences don’t seem to change with additional time spent in home school,” Kabiri said. “In other words, staying in home school longer isn’t related to increased health benefits or deficits.”
Earlier this year Kabiri and her Rice team reported that home-schooled students who depended on maintaining physical fitness through outside activities were often falling short.
The flip side presented in the new report should come as good news to parents and students. The study was conducted by Kabiri and colleagues at Texas Woman’s University and the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHealth) at San Antonio.
The results from studies of more than 140 children in grades kindergarten through 5, who were tested against statistically normal data for children of their age and gender, accounted for prior published research that showed home-schooled children have less upper-body and abdominal muscle strength and more abdominal fat when compared to public school students. Additional studies also showed that home-schooling benefited sleep patterns, overall body composition and diet.
However, to the researchers’ surprise, these differences in home-schooler health did not appear to be affected either way by increased time in home school…. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190523142212.htm

Citation:

Home-schoolers see no added health risks over time
Better sleep, diet habits help counter shortfalls in formal exercise
Date: May 23, 2019
Source: Rice University
Summary:
Years of home-schooling don’t appear to influence the general health of children, according to a new study.
Journal Reference:
Laura S Kabiri, Allison Butcher, Wayne Brewer, Alexis Ortiz. Youth physical health and years in American homeschools: are they related? Health Promotion International, 2019; DOI: 10.1093/heapro/daz047

Here is the press release from Rice University:

Home-schoolers see no added health risks over time
MIKE WILLIAMS
– MAY 23, 2019POSTED IN: CURRENT NEWS, FEATURED STORIES
Rice-led study finds better sleep, diet habits help counter shortfalls in formal exercise
Years of home-schooling don’t appear to influence the general health of children, according to a Rice University study.
A report by Rice kinesiology lecturer Laura Kabiri and colleagues in the Oxford University Press journal Health Promotion International puts forth evidence that the amount of time a student spends in home school is “weakly or not at all related to multiple aspects of youth physical health.”
“Although there may be differences in the health of elementary through high school home-schoolers, those differences don’t seem to change with additional time spent in home school,” Kabiri said. “In other words, staying in home school longer isn’t related to increased health benefits or deficits.”
Earlier this year Kabiri and her Rice team reported that home-schooled students who depended on maintaining physical fitness through outside activities were often falling short.
The flip side presented in the new report should come as good news to parents and students. The study was conducted by Kabiri and colleagues at Texas Woman’s University and the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHealth) at San Antonio.
The results from studies of more than 140 children in grades kindergarten through 5, who were tested against statistically normal data for children of their age and gender, accounted for prior published research that showed home-schooled children have less upper-body and abdominal muscle strength and more abdominal fat when compared to public school students. Additional studies also showed that home-schooling benefited sleep patterns, overall body composition and diet.
However, to the researchers’ surprise, these differences in home-schooler health did not appear to be affected either way by increased time in home school.
“Body composition can relate to sleep as well as diet,” Kabiri said. “And as far as muscular health goes, these kids are still active. We’re not saying there’s not an upfront benefit or detriment to their health, but after an initial gain or loss, there aren’t additional gains or losses over time if you’re going to home-school your children for one year or their entire careers. The relationship between their health and the time they spend in home school seems to be irrelevant.”
Co-authors of the study are doctoral student Allison Butcher and Associate Professor Wayne Brewer of Texas Woman’s University and Alexis Ortiz, the Berneice Castella Endowed Allied Health Chair in Geriatric Science in the department of physical therapy at UTHealth San Antonio.
The research was supported in part by the Texas Physical Therapy Foundation. http://news.rice.edu/2019/05/23/home-schoolers-see-no-added-health-risks-over-time-2/

Many of our children are “unschooled” and a far greater number are “uneducated.” One can be “unschooled” or “uneducated” no matter the setting. As a society, we should be focused on making sure that each child receives a good basic education. There are many ways to reach that goal. There is nothing scary about the fact that some parents make the choice to homeschool. The focus should not be on the particular setting or institution type. The focus should be on proper assessment of each child to ensure that child is receiving a good basic education and the foundation for later success in life.

Related:

‘Hybrid’ homeschooling is growing                                        https://drwilda.com/2012/08/16/hybrid-homeschooling-is-growing/

New book: Homeschooling, the little option that could https://drwilda.com/2012/10/12/new-book-homeschooling-the-little-option-that-could/

Homeschooled kids make the grade for college
https://drwilda.com/2012/07/02/homeschooled-kids-make-the-grade-for-college/

Where information leads to Hope. © Dr. Wilda.com

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©
Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

COMMENTS FROM AN OLD FART©
http://drwildaoldfart.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda Reviews ©
http://drwildareviews.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda ©
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Rice University study: Digital device overload linked to obesity risk

3 Apr

Lisa Simonson wrote in the Livestrong article, What Are Good & Bad Healthy Lifestyle Choices?

Everyone makes both good and bad lifestyle choices. You may make the choices you do because of learned habits, stress, exhaustion and even timeliness. To live a healthy lifestyle you need to have a nutrient-rich diet, moderate exercise each week, get enough rest and avoid products that can lead to unhealthy habits…. https://www.livestrong.com/article/381713-what-are-good-bad-healthy-lifestyle-choices/

See, Why Digital Overload Is Now Central to the Human Condition https://singularityhub.com/2016/01/15/why-grappling-with-digital-overload-is-now-part-of-the-human-condition/#sm.0001du9uyrj9zefstyx14vmmdlhp8

Science Daily reported in Digital device overload linked to obesity risk:

If your attention gets diverted in different directions by smartphones and other digital devices, take note: Media multitasking has now been linked to obesity.
New research from Rice University indicates that mindless switching between digital devices is associated with increased susceptibility to food temptations and lack of self-control, which may result in weight gain.
“Increased exposure to phones, tablets and other portable devices has been one of the most significant changes to our environments in the past few decades, and this occurred during a period in which obesity rates also climbed in many places,” said Richard Lopez, a postdoctoral research fellow at Rice and the study’s lead author. “So, we wanted to conduct this research to determine whether links exists between obesity and abuse of digital devices — as captured by people’s tendency to engage in media multitasking.”
An upcoming print edition of Brain Imaging and Behavior will report on the study, entitled “Media multitasking is associated with higher risk for obesity and increased responsiveness to rewarding food stimuli.”
The research was conducted in two parts. In the first study, 132 participants between the ages of 18 and 23 completed a questionnaire assessing their levels of media multitasking and distractibility. This was done using a newly developed, 18-item Media Multitasking-Revised (MMT-R) scale. The MMT-R scale measures proactive behaviors of compulsive or inappropriate phone use (like feeling the urge to check your phone for messages while you’re talking to someone else) as well as more passive behaviors (like media-related distractions that interfere with your work).
The researchers found that higher MMT-R scores were associated with higher body mass index (BMI) and greater percentage of body fat, suggesting a possible link.
In follow-up research, 72 participants from the prior study underwent an fMRI scan, during which the researchers measured brain activity while people were shown a series of images. Mixed in with a variety of unrelated photos were pictures of appetizing but fattening foods.
When media multitaskers saw pictures of food, researchers observed increased activity in the part of the brain dealing with food temptation. These same study participants, who also had higher BMIs and more body fat, were also more likely to spend time around campus cafeterias.
Overall, Lopez said these findings, although preliminary, suggest there are indeed links between media multitasking, risk for obesity, brain-based measures for self-control and exposure to real-world food cues…. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190402164520.htm

Citation:

Digital device overload linked to obesity risk
Date: April 2, 2019
Source: Rice University
Summary:
If your attention gets diverted in different directions by smartphones and other digital devices, take note: Media multitasking has now been linked to obesity.
Journal Reference:
Richard B. Lopez, Todd F. Heatherton, Dylan D. Wagner. Media multitasking is associated with higher risk for obesity and increased responsiveness to rewarding food stimuli. Brain Imaging and Behavior, 2019; DOI: 10.1007/s11682-019-00056-0

Here is the press release from Rice University:

Digital device overload linked to obesity risk
AMY MCCAIG
– APRIL 1, 2019POSTED IN: FEATURED STORIES
If your attention gets diverted in different directions by smartphones and other digital devices, take note: Media multitasking has now been linked to obesity.
Long Description
New research from Rice University indicates that mindless switching between digital devices is associated with increased susceptibility to food temptations and lack of self-control, which may result in weight gain.
“Increased exposure to phones, tablets and other portable devices has been one of the most significant changes to our environments in the past few decades, and this occurred during a period in which obesity rates also climbed in many places,” said Richard Lopez, a postdoctoral research fellow at Rice and the study’s lead author. “So, we wanted to conduct this research to determine whether links exists between obesity and abuse of digital devices — as captured by people’s tendency to engage in media multitasking.”
An upcoming print edition of Brain Imaging and Behavior will report on the study, entitled “Media multitasking is associated with higher risk for obesity and increased responsiveness to rewarding food stimuli.”
The research was conducted in two parts. In the first study, 132 participants between the ages of 18 and 23 completed a questionnaire assessing their levels of media multitasking and distractibility. This was done using a newly developed, 18-item Media Multitasking-Revised (MMT-R) scale. The MMT-R scale measures proactive behaviors of compulsive or inappropriate phone use (like feeling the urge to check your phone for messages while you’re talking to someone else) as well as more passive behaviors (like media-related distractions that interfere with your work).
The researchers found that higher MMT-R scores were associated with higher body mass index (BMI) and greater percentage of body fat, suggesting a possible link.
In follow-up research, 72 participants from the prior study underwent an fMRI scan, during which the researchers measured brain activity while people were shown a series of images. Mixed in with a variety of unrelated photos were pictures of appetizing but fattening foods.
When media multitaskers saw pictures of food, researchers observed increased activity in the part of the brain dealing with food temptation. These same study participants, who also had higher BMIs and more body fat, were also more likely to spend time around campus cafeterias.
Overall, Lopez said these findings, although preliminary, suggest there are indeed links between media multitasking, risk for obesity, brain-based measures for self-control and exposure to real-world food cues.
“Such links are important to establish, given rising obesity rates and the prevalence of multimedia use in much of the modern world,” he said of the findings.
Lopez and his fellow researchers hope the study will raise awareness of the issue and promote future work on the topic.
The study was co-authored by Todd Heatherton of Dartmouth College and Dylan Wagner of Ohio State University.
TAGS: Psychological Sciences, Social Sciences
About Amy McCaig
Amy is a senior media relations specialist in Rice University’s Office of Public Affairs.

Well duh, it appears that lifestyle choice has a great deal to do with good food choices.

Patti Neighmond reported in the NPR story, It Takes More Than A Produce Aisle To Refresh A Food Desert:

In inner cities and poor rural areas across the country, public health advocates have been working hard to turn around food deserts — neighborhoods where fresh produce is scarce, and greasy fast food abounds. In many cases, they’re converting dingy, cramped corner markets into lighter, brighter venues that offer fresh fruits and vegetables. In some cases, they’re building brand new stores.
“The presumption is, if you build a store, people are going to come,” says Stephen Matthews, professor in the departments of sociology, anthropology and demography at Penn State University. To check that notion, he and colleagues from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine recently surveyed residents of one low-income community in Philadelphia before and after the opening of a glistening new supermarket brimming with fresh produce.
What they’re finding, Matthews says, is a bit surprising: “We don’t find any difference at all. … We see no effect of the store on fruit and vegetable consumption.”
Now, to be fair, the time was short. The store was only open for six months before residents were surveyed. Matthews says most residents knew that the store was there and that it offered healthy food. But only 26 percent said it was their regular “go to” market. And, as might be expected, those who lived close to the store shopped there most regularly.
Matthews says the findings dovetail with other work, and simply point to the obvious: Lots more intervention is needed to change behavior. For one thing, we’re all used to routine, and many of us will just keep shopping where we’ve been shopping, even if a newer, more convenient and bountiful store moves in.
But more than that, he says, many people, particularly in low-income food deserts, just aren’t used to buying or preparing healthy meals — they haven’t had the opportunity, until now.
Alex Ortega, a public health researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, agrees that providing access to nutritious food is only the first step.
“The next part of the intervention is to create demand,” he says, “so the community wants to come to the store and buy healthy fruits and vegetables and go home and prepare those foods in a healthy way, without lots of fat, salt or sugar.”
Ortega directs a UCLA project that converts corner stores into hubs of healthy fare in low-income neighborhoods of East Los Angeles. He and colleagues work with community leaders and local high school students to help create that demand for nutritious food. Posters and signs promoting fresh fruits and vegetables hang in corner stores, such as the Euclid Market in Boyle Heights, and at bus stops. There are nutrition education classes in local schools, and cooking classes in the stores themselves….
The jury’s still out on whether these conversions of corner stores are actually changing people’s diets and health. The evidence is still being collected. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/02/10/273046077/takes-more-than-a-produce-aisle-to-refresh-a-food-desert

In other words, much of the obesity problem is due to personal life style choices and the question is whether government can or should regulate those choices.

Personal Responsibility:

There is only one person responsible for your life and the vocation you have chosen. That person is the one you see in the mirror in the morning when you wake up. Don’t blame God, your boss, your parents, your former teachers, your coach, your co-workers or your dog. You and only you are responsible for your work life and what you have achieved. The sooner you accept this notion, the sooner you will begin to make changes that lead to a happier and more productive life and career. http://www.corethemes.com/coreconcepts/

It’s all about ME unless I have to take responsibility for ME. The same brilliant minds who think the government can substitute for family have fostered a single parenthood rate of 70% in the African-American community and about 50% for the population as a whole. Given the child abuse and foster care numbers, this plan hasn’t worked well. Sometimes folks have to be responsible for their choices.

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Rice University study: Factors that lead to greater college success

30 May

Moi has written quite a bit about motivation in education. In Research papers: Student Motivation: An Overlooked Piece of School Reform:

Moi often says education is a partnership between the student, the teacher(s) and parent(s). All parties in the partnership must share the load. The student has to arrive at school ready to learn. The parent has to set boundaries, encourage, and provide support. Teachers must be knowledgeable in their subject area and proficient in transmitting that knowledge to students. All must participate and fulfill their role in the education process. https://drwilda.com/tag/student-achievement/

Science Daily reported in Factors that lead to greater college success:

Educational attainment is a national priority because it creates both economic and personal gains: higher incomes, better individual and family health and deeper civic engagement. U.S. college enrollments are increasing, suggesting greater educational attainment; however, national college completion rates are lagging behind other developed nations. Recent research suggests that U.S. college students could succeed if they are encouraged to develop a sense of belonging, a growth mindset and salient personal goals and values, according to a new national report co-authored by a Rice University psychology professor….https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170530115102.htm

Citation:

Factors that lead to greater college success
Date: May 30, 2017
Source: Rice University
Summary:
Researchers identify three competencies most frequently showed evidence of supporting students’ college persistence and success, as measured by grades, retention and graduation: A sense of belonging, a growth mindset and personal goals and values.

Here is the press release from Rice University:

Study identifies factors that lead to greater college success
Amy McCaig
– May 30, 2017Posted in: Current News
Educational attainment is a national priority because it creates both economic and personal gains: higher incomes, better individual and family health and deeper civic engagement. U.S. college enrollments are increasing, suggesting greater educational attainment; however, national college completion rates are lagging behind other developed nations. Recent research suggests that U.S. college students could succeed if they are encouraged to develop a sense of belonging, a growth mindset and salient personal goals and values, according to a new national report co-authored by a Rice University psychology professor.
Across these studies, three competencies most frequently showed evidence of supporting students’ college persistence and success, as measured by grades, retention and graduation:
• A sense of belonging, meaning that college students (particularly underrepresented minorities and first-generation college students) feel that they belong in college, fit in well and are socially integrated. Approximately 85 percent of the studies measuring students’ sense of belonging demonstrated a positive impact of belonging on students’ college GPAs.
• A growth mindset, referring to college students’ beliefs that their own intelligence is not a fixed entity, but rather a malleable quality that college can help improve. Seventy-five percent of the studies measuring students’ growth mindset showed this characteristic had a positive impact on students’ college GPAs.
• Personal goals and values that college students perceive to be directly linked to the achievement of a future, desired end. Approximately 83 percent of the studies measuring personal goals showed this characteristic as having a positive impact on students’ final course grades.
Oswald noted that this recent research reported some remarkable findings based on low-cost, brief writing exercises for improving these intra- and interpersonal competencies. One required students to write about the relevance of course topics to their own life or to the life of a family member or close friend. Another intervention aimed to lessen psychological perceptions of threat on campus by framing social adversity as common and transient, and used subtle attitude-change strategies to lead participants to self-generate the framing in their writing.
With these interventions, GPAs have been shown impressively to improve not only in the class where the intervention was given, but many semesters beyond, Oswald said. Furthermore, the interventions show the largest benefits accrue in student groups that are at greatest risk for academic failure. Oswald thus noted that these interventions have promise but deserve further intensive research to assure these interventions can impact student success in the future, in other college settings.
Oswald said measures of intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies should be held to rigorous development procedures and statistical standards, just like the SAT, ACT, MCAT, LSAT and other standardized tests of cognitive competencies.
“Many current assessments of these competencies fall short in providing solid statistical evidence supporting their reliability and validity,” Oswald said. “It is important to investigate these measures carefully, for example, because students can differ in how they interpret the meaning of rating scales, or sometimes they feel pressured to present themselves in the best light.”
He and his co-authors recommend further research in partnership with higher education institutions to build on the report’s findings and to find reliable ways to track these intra- and interpersonal characteristics that can lead to increased college completion.
The report was funded by the National Science Foundation and is available online at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/24697/supporting-students-college-success-the-role-of-assessment-of-intrapersonal. The study was sponsored by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
– See more at: http://news.rice.edu/2017/05/30/study-identifies-factors-that-lead-to-greater-college-success/#sthash.T0hY0O6N.dpuf

Moi wrote about “success cultures in HARD QUESTION: Do Black folk REALLY want to succeed in America?

All moi can say is really. One has a Constitutional right to be a MORON. One must ask what are these parents thinking and where do they want their children to go in THIS society and not some mythical Africa which most will never see and which probably does not exist. Remember, their children must live in THIS society, at THIS time and in THIS place.

Moi wrote in Black people MUST develop a culture of success: Michigan State revokes a football scholarship because of raunchy rap video:

The question must be asked, who is responsible for MY or YOUR life choices? Let’s get real, certain Asian cultures kick the collective butts of the rest of Americans. Why? It’s not rocket science. These cultures embrace success traits of hard work, respect for education, strong families, and a reverence for success and successful people. Contrast the culture of success with the norms of hip-hop and rap oppositional culture.
See, Hip-hop’s Dangerous Values
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1107107/posts and Hip-Hop and rap represent destructive life choices: How low can this genre sink? https://drwilda.com/2013/05/01/hip-hop-and-rap-represent-destructive-life-choices-how-low-can-this-genre-sink/
One person does not speak for a group, but members of a group can often provide useful insight about the group.

Here is Arthur Hu’s take on INTRODUCTION TO BASIC ASIAN VALUES:

One of the most central features of a culture are its values. Values are the standards by which one may judge the difference between good and bad, and the right and wrong things to do. Though some values are universally shared among all cultures, it is the contrast and differences in values of different cultures that can account for the interactions and perceptions that occur between different cultures.
Traditional values are a common thread among individuals in a culture. Stereotyping comes about because of common behavior patterns that are based on common values, and distortion and misperception can come about as a result of misunderstandings of those values. Stereotyping can also be dangerous because people are individuals with their own values which may vary a great deal from the traditional ideal. Values can vary quite a bit depending upon one’s generation, class, education, origin, among other factors. For example, there is considerable difference in what might be called “traditional” and “modern” American values.
Although each distinct Asian culture actually has its own set of values, they all share a common core, which is probably best documented in the Japanese and Chinese traditions, and by philosophers such as Confucius, whose writings had considerable influence throughout Asia. In the Asian American experience, these values interact with what might be called simply “western” or “Caucasian” values, but if one contrasts the values of America with those of Europe, it can be seen that these are really “Modern American” values that provide the best contrasts.
Asian values are very much inter-related. They all support the view of the individual as being a part of a much larger group or family, and place great importance on the well-being of the group, even at the expense of the individual. American values, on the other hand emphasize the importance of the well-being of the individual, and stresses independence and individual initiative. Although it may seem that values such as education, family, and hard work are shared between cultures, these values manifest themselves quite differently in the two cultures.
Some Asian values are so important that some of the cultures, especially the Japanese have given them names of their own, and are used commonly. Here is a list of some of the most outstanding values:
Ie (japanese) – The family as a basic unit of social organization, and as a pattern for the structure of society as a whole.
Education – The whole process of child rearing and education as a means of perpetuating society, and of attaining position within society.
Enyo (japanese) – The conscious use of silence, reserve in manner.
Han (chinese) Conformity, and the suppression of individual attriputes such as talen, anger, or wealth which might disrupt group harmony. (Chinese)
Amae (japanese) – To depend and presume upon the benevolence of others. A deep bonding in human relationships between one who is responsible for another, and one who must depend on another.
Giri (japanese) – Indebtedness, obligation and duty to others, reciprocity.
Gaman (japanese) – Endurance, sticking it out at all costs. Self-sacrifice for the sake of others.
Tui Lien (chinese) – Loss face, shame. The final standard as to how well one lives up to these values.
Family and Education
Probaly the most notable aspect of the modern “Asian Model Minority”¬stereotype is that of the academic overachiever. A number of asian students have done conspicuously well in terms of test scores, gifted student programs, admissions to prestigious schools, academic awards, and in classical music. Though obviously not all Asians fit this pattern, this trend can be attributed primarily to the basic notion of the family, and the central role that education plays in the family.
Great importance is placed on child rearing, and education is a funda¬mental aspect of this. Asian parents are more likely to spend much more time with their children, and drive them harder, sometimes even at the expense of their personal time and ambitions of the parents themselves. Though Americans might consider Asian parents to be dominating, parents in turn are expected to give children all the support they can.
While it would no be unusual for an American parent to hire a babysitter to watch the kids while they go out, or expect their children to put them¬selves through college lest the parents sacrifice their own stand of living, this is much less likely in an Asian family. Living in an extended family is not unusual, and filial piety, respect for parents is a very important principle.
Unlike the youth orientation in American culture, age and position are most highly respected. The Asian family has within it a heirarchy which is a mirror of the structure of society as whole. For example, the parent child relationship is carried further on to ruler and ruled, employer and employee. Education is the most valued way of achieving position, an success in education is viewed as an act of filial piety. In imperial times, examinations were the only way to achieve position in China. Even in America, education is seen as a key to social mobility, and economic opportunity. Education for their children was a major reason why many immigrants came to America from Asia. http://www.asianweek.com/2012/04/28/introduction-to-basic-asian-values/

There is no such thing as a “model minority” and getting rid of this myth will allow educators to focus on the needs of the individual student. Still, the choice of many parents to allow their children to make choices which may impact their success should have folk asking the question of what values are being transmitted and absorbed by Black children.

Resources:

Culture of Success
http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/culture-success

How Do Asian Students Get to the Top of the Class? http://www.greatschools.org/parenting/teaching-values/481-parenting-students-to-the-top.gs

Related:

Is there a model minority?
https://drwilda.com/2012/06/23/is-there-a-model-minority/

Where information leads to Hope. © Dr. Wilda.com

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