tagged w/ Quality of Life
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Several black-colleges in Georgia - including Paine College in Augusta - are partners in a new project to lower violence, reduce the influence of gangs and drugs, increase quality of life, proviide HIV/AIDS information and provide access to healthcare facilities for low-income and underserved residents
The three-year project is funded by a $255,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation,
"We have identified violence as a public health issue," said Rev. Terence A. Dicks, chairman of New Tools New Vision Augusta in an interview with the United Methodist News Service.
New Tools, New Vision is teaming the resources of the Southeast Community Research Center, the Research Center on Health Disparities at Morehouse College in Atlanta and four communities surrounding historically black colleges and universities in Georgia.
In addition to Paine (a United Methodist school), other colleges participating include Morehouse College in Atlanta, Savannah State University, Albany State University and Fort Valley State University.
The Kellogg grant will build problem-solving partnerships in several cities including Augusta where Paine College faculty will work with inner city communities residents are victims of violence, plagued by youth gangs and are witnesses to a dramatic rise in gun crimes (30901, 30906 zip codes).
Augusta is home to the prestigious and exclusive Masters Golf Tournament at the famous Augusta National Golf Club - that's a rich enclave located near some of Augusta's poorest communities.
The excellent story is written by UMNS Reporter Linda Green
Rev. Dicks is well known for his civil rights work in Georgia and recently served as chair of the Augusta Human Relations Commission and is chair of the Georgia Clients Council.
He co-organized the original 1986 James Brown Appreciation day in Augusta, the first time the town had honored the late Godfather of Soul.Several black-colleges in Georgia - including Paine College in Augusta - are partners... more
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"The only way a doctor can do a good job and still make a living is to reject insurers.
Imagine one morning you're craving something sweet, so you stop by the corner doughnut shop. Turns out the wait is half an hour, the clerk is rude and, when you finally get it, the doughnut is stale. Would you buy doughnuts there again? Of course not.
Yet, every day, millions of Americans put up with just that kind of service in their physicians' offices. And they keep going back.
Anyone who has visited a primary care doctor lately knows the drill: You show up on time, only to wait 45 minutes or even an hour. In the examination room, the physician (who offers no apology) seems distracted, harried and eager to get to the next patient. Then you're referred to a specialist -- who doesn't have an opening for a month.
Every politician and his Aunt Martha has a scheme to overhaul American healthcare. But not one of them will solve this problem: Most doctors are awful at serving their patients. The typical hair salon pays more attention to customer service than the typical doctor...
To be sure, physicians are not entirely to blame. With insurance companies dictating how much doctors can charge for services as diverse as a routine checkup or an appendectomy, a doctor has only one route to more income: increase volume. I know. When I began my own private practice in internal medicine, my volume grew quickly, and so did my work hours. I didn't complain because I took that as a sign of success. But before long I found myself toiling nights and weekends just to keep up with the volume. First I sacrificed my free time to my practice, then my sleep and finally the quality of my practice itself...
For more than a year, I haven't received a single dollar from any insurance company. I work for my patients. A few hundred doctors across the country are working the same way, some in blue-collar towns. Routine care should be affordable to the middle class, and as more doctors and more patients form relationships that exclude insurance companies, prices will drop. Insurance doesn't make routine care affordable; it makes it more expensive by adding a middleman. I know that some patients can afford nothing, so two afternoons a month I volunteer at a clinic that cares for indigent patients, which I could not have done with the huge patient volume I was seeing a few years ago.
When doctors break free from the shackles of insurance companies, they can practice medicine the way they always hoped they could. And they can get back to the customer service model in which the paramount incentive is providing the best care. Only then can doctors reclaim the simple dignity of any businessman: These are my doughnuts; only I and my customers can determine their worth. (At the end of each week, I will donate some to the needy, but I will not let a third party set the price.)
And when patients are the customers, doctors will listen when they ask for services not on the insurance company menu. If an urgent need arises after hours, patients want to be able to call their own doctor. Patients want to be able to e-mail their doctor with non-urgent questions and to fax them interesting articles. They want to be educated, not just medicated. They want to know they can get in to see their doctor the same day if needed, and that their doctor will be the one taking care of them if they are hospitalized. If doctors had fewer patients, meeting all of these needs would be easy..."
By Albert Fuchs
April 16, 2008"The only way a doctor can do a good job and still make a living is to reject... more
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echoz
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4 years ago
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http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/ And at the top of the list for me: making solar power affordable. It is way past time to stop just talking and take action. We have the capacity and the technology to make solar arrays, photovoltaics, and other types of solar technologies that can be installed on open lands that could generate safe, clean, and affordable power to millions of people around the world. Not to mention the opportunity for new jobs that would bring and the chance to also bring many in third world countries out of poverty. Particularly in Africa which was made for solar power. We must invest in it, demand it, and aggressively work to make governments see that federal loan subsidies for nuclear plants will do nothing to save this planet from the catastrophe that is upon us if we do not take bold action now. All of the other items on their list are also important, especially regarding providing clean water, which can also be done with solar power in third world countries. The solution rises in the sky every morning. Sometimes the solutions really are that simple.http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/ And at the top of the list for me: making solar... more
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A one stop resource for planning travel, business, conventions and recreation in America's 4th largest city. The site has special travel packages, comprehensive listings of events and attractions and extensive multimedia resources.
This is a great place to start any exploration of this growing and dynamic city.A one stop resource for planning travel, business, conventions and recreation in... more
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Only in Houston promotes Houston's creative community as a valuable resource regionally and nationwide. This site provides a strong overview of the talent and services available in advertising, filmmaking, web design,music,performing arts, fine arts, conceptual arts...you name it.
Houston is a surprisingly rich cultural resource...rich in diversity, rich in depth, rich in its variety. Log on to onlyinhouston.com to find out more.Only in Houston promotes Houston's creative community as a valuable resource... more
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Take a guess before they reveal it in the video.
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What do you really want out of a city? And what can you do without? With the environment top of the agenda in mayors' offices around the world, Monocle looks beyond the recycling bins and congestion charges to see what makes for a liveable city. Not surprisingly, few American cities came close to making the cut, though perhaps in somewhat of a surprise, Honolulu was the only one that actually did, though Portland and Minneapolis came close.What do you really want out of a city? And what can you do without? With the... more
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khsing
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4 years ago
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