Friday, January 23, 2015

Martin Luther King Day, 2015

By Margaret Wheeler, MD




For this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, in the fiftieth anniversary year of the Voting Rights Act and the Selma to Montgomery March, it is hard not to draw comparisons between those days and ours.  

Friday, January 16, 2015

Prostate Health Support Group for African American Men

By Nynikka R. A. Palmer, DrPH, MPH

Prostate cancer among African American men is one of the most intractable cancer disparities. African American men bear an excess burden of prostate cancer across all stages of management, including presentation, diagnosis, treatment, survival, and quality of life.

Monday, January 12, 2015

On point: Broadening pain management options with acupuncture

By Maria T. Chao, DrPH, MPA

As I think about the year ahead, one change that I’m really excited about is the prospect of acupuncture for patients at San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH). In the US, pain management is the leading reason that patients seek care from acupuncturists. Acupuncture utilization has increased by 50% over the past decade, but is not commonly used by non-Asian minority populations and those with limited income. Barriers to use include high out-of-pocket costs and limited access to services.