Hypertension-Focused Medication Therapy Management: A Collaborative Pilot Program Uniting Pharmacists, Public Health, and Health Insurers in Wisconsin.

Heart disease and stroke are leading causes of death and disability in the United States, and high blood pressure is a major risk factor for both. Community pharmacists are readily positioned to improve cardiovascular health through services such as medication therapy management and self-management education. In 2018, the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Division of Public Health, and NeuGen, a not-for-profit health insurer, piloted a pharmacist-led medication therapy management program for people with hypertension in partnership with 8 community pharmacies. We evaluated changes in use of blood pressure self-management tools and barriers to antihypertensive medication adherence before and after medication therapy management services. Participant satisfaction was also assessed for the 59 participants at the end of the program. We observed improvements in self-reported use of self-management tools, reductions in medication adherence barriers, and high satisfaction with pharmacist care. This collaborative pilot resulted in sustainable reimbursement for participating pharmacies delivering medication therapy management services to eligible NeuGen members.

Gender-based differences in water, sanitation and hygiene-related diarrheal disease and helminthic infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Qualitative evidence suggests that inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) may affect diarrheal and helminthic infection in women disproportionately. We systematically searched PubMed in June 2014 (updated 2016) and the WHO website, for relevant articles. METHODS: Articles dealing with the public health relevance of helminthic and diarrheal diseases, and highlighting the role of gender in WASH were included. Where possible, we carried out a meta-analysis. RESULTS: In studies of individuals 5 years or older, cholera showed lower prevalence in males (OR 0.56; 95% CI 0.34-0.94), while Schistosoma mansoni (1.38; 95% CI 1.14-1.67), Schistosoma japonicum (1.52; 95% CI 1.13-2.05), hookworm (1.43; 95% CI 1.07-1.89) and all forms of infectious diarrhea (1.21; 95% CI 1.06-1.38) showed a higher prevalence in males. When studies included all participants, S. mansoni and S. japonicum showed higher prevalence with males (OR 1.40; 95% CI 1.27-1.55 and 1.84; 95% CI 1.27-2.67, respectively). Prevalence of Trichiuris and hookworm infection showed effect modification with continent. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence of gender differences in infection may reflect differences in gender norms, suggesting that policy changes at the regional level may help ameliorate gender related disparities in helminthic and diarrheal disease prevalence.

Electromyographically assessed empathic concern and empathic happiness predict increased prosocial behavior in adults.

The relation between empathy subtypes and prosocial behavior was investigated in a sample of healthy adults. "Empathic concern" and "empathic happiness", defined as negative and positive vicarious emotion (respectively) combined with an other-oriented feeling of "goodwill" (i.e. a thought to do good to others/see others happy), were elicited in 68 adult participants who watched video clips extracted from the television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Prosocial behavior was quantified via performance on a non-monetary altruistic decision-making task involving book selection and donation. Empathic concern and empathic happiness were measured via self-report (immediately following each video clip) and via facial electromyography recorded from corrugator (active during frowning) and zygomatic (active during smiling) facial regions. Facial electromyographic signs of (a) empathic concern (i.e. frowning) during sad video clips, and (b) empathic happiness (i.e. smiling) during happy video clips, predicted increased prosocial behavior in the form of increased goodwill-themed book selection/donation.