The Campaign for Universal Free Lunch in New York City: Lessons Learned.

The New York City (NYC) Department of Education is the largest public school system in the United States, with an enrollment of >1.1 million students. Students who participate in school meal programs can have higher dietary quality than nonparticipating students. Historically, family income documentation qualifying students in the NYC Department of Education for free or reduced-price meals reimbursed by the National School Lunch Program perpetuated poverty stigma. Additionally, National School Lunch Program qualification paperwork was a deterrent to many vulnerable families to participate and impeded all eligible children's access to nutritious meals, potentially magnifying food insecurity. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 provided a viable option for schools to serve free meals to all students, regardless of income status, as a universal free lunch (UFL) through a Community Eligibility Provision if ≥40% of students already participated in another means-based program, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In this case study, we describe the processes of (1) strategic coalition building of the Lunch 4 Learning campaign (a coalition of students, parents, school-based unions, teachers, pediatricians, community leaders, and children's advocacy organizations) to bring UFL to all NYC public schools, (2) building political support, (3) developing a media strategy, and (4) using an evidence-based strategy to overcome political, administrative, and procedural challenges. The Lunch 4 Learning campaign successfully brought UFL to all NYC public schools in 2017. This case study informs further advocacy efforts to expand UFL in other school districts across the country and national UFL advocacy.

Health and functional status, health events, use of healthcare services and costs associated with overactive bladder among the medically complex vulnerable elderly in the US.

AIMS: To assess the prevalence of overactive bladder (OAB) among medically complex vulnerable elderly (MCVE) patients in the United States and to compare health status measures, functional status, healthcare events, use of healthcare services and costs between MCVE patients with and without OAB. METHODS: Using the 2001-2010 Medicare Current Beneficiary Surveys, we defined the MCVE as those respondents who were ≥65 years old with scores ≥3 on the Vulnerable Elders Survey-13. OAB diagnosis codes or self-reported use of antimuscarinic medications were used to identify MCVE individuals with OAB. Multiple regression analyses were used to estimate the adjusted relationship between OAB and the outcome measures. RESULTS: The annual prevalence of OAB among the MCVE increased from 9.6% in 2001 to 13.5% in 2010. MCVE individuals with OAB were more likely to have experienced falls or fractures (odds ratio [OR] = 1.6; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.3-2.0), urinary tract infections (OR = 4.3; 95% CI: 3.5-5.4), institutionalization (OR = 1.9; 95% CI: 1.4-2.5), limitations in activity of daily living (ADL) (OR = 1.4; 95% CI: 1.1-1.7) and instrumental ADL (OR = 1.5; 95% CI: 1.2-2.0), hospital admission (OR = 1.6; 95% CI: 1.3-2.0) and emergency department admissions (OR = 1.6; 95% CI: 1.3-2.0) than those without OAB. MCVE individuals with OAB incurred, on average, $7188 (2013 dollars) more in healthcare costs than those without OAB. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of OAB in the MCVE population increased over time. OAB is associated with substantial clinical and economic burden. Further research is warranted to understand whether better management of the MCVE population with OAB may reduce healthcare resource use.

An approach to improve the care of mid-life women through the implementation of a Women's Health Assessment Tool/Clinical Decision Support toolkit.

The objectives of this study are to describe the implementation process of the Women's Health Assessment Tool/Clinical Decision Support toolkit and summarize patients' and clinicians' perceptions of the toolkit. The Women's Health Assessment Tool/Clinical Decision Support toolkit was piloted at three clinical sites over a 4-month period in Washington State to evaluate health outcomes among mid-life women. The implementation involved a multistep process and engagement of multiple stakeholders over 18 months. Two-thirds of patients (n = 76/110) and clinicians (n = 8/12) participating in pilot completed feedback surveys; five clinicians participated in qualitative interviews. Most patients felt more prepared for their annual visit (69.7%) and that quality of care improved (68.4%) while clinicians reported streamlined patient visits and improved communication with patients. The Women's Health Assessment Tool/Clinical Decision Support toolkit offers a unique approach to introduce and address some of the key health issues that affect mid-life women.

Outcomes of implementing the women's health assessment tool and clinical decision support toolkit.

AIM: To evaluate outcomes after implementing the women's health assessment tool (WHAT) and clinical decision support toolkit during annual well-women visits. METHODS: An observational project involved women aged 45-64 years attending one of three medical sites in Washington (WA, USA). Responses to the WHAT questionnaire and patients' health resource utilization prepost toolkit implementation were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 110 women completed the WHAT questionnaire. Majority of women were postmenopausal (77.3%) and experienced depressive mood (63.6%), hot flashes (61.8%) or anxiety (60.9%) in the last 3 months. There was a 72.2% increase in the number of diagnoses made during the annual visit versus the previous 12 months. CONCLUSION: The WHAT/clinical decision support toolkit helped identify conditions relevant to mid-life women.