Life stressors and psychological well-being. Does Access to Health Care Help the Older Lebanese?

Health care should protect against the detrimental effects of stress on psychological well-being by providing both direct and indirect benefits. Using a sample of 490 older Lebanese (age 60 and over), this study examines whether access to and utilization of medical care buffer the impact of specific stressors on depressive symptoms. Findings show that access to medical care is associated with depressive symptoms for those who experienced recent death, serious accident and health-related stressors and that limited access increases depression for those exposed to recent violent stressors.

Reach of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) interventions and nutrition and physical activity-related outcomes, California, 2011-2012.

Introduction: This study combined information on the interventions of the US Department of Agriculture's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education with 5,927 interview responses from the California Health Interview Survey to investigate associations between levels of intervention reach in low-income census tracts in California and self-reported physical activity and consumption of fruits and vegetables, fast food, and sugar-sweetened beverages.

Methods: We determined 4 levels of intervention reach (low reach, moderate reach, high reach, and no intervention) across 1,273 program-eligible census tracts from data on actual and eligible number of intervention participants. The locations of California Health Interview Survey respondents were geocoded and linked with program data.

Three out of four children with mental health needs in California do not receive treatment despite having health care coverage.

More than 300,000 California children ages 4 to 11 have mental health needs, yet only one-fourth of them received mental health care in 2007 and 2009. Health insurance coverage and a usual source of care typically facilitate mental health service use; however, this is not the case for children with mental health needs. This policy brief identifies children at risk for mental health needs and highlights some barriers to their receiving mental health services.

The link between intimate partner violence, substance abuse and mental health in California.

This policy brief presents findings on the linkages between intimate partner violence (IPV), emotional health and substance use among adults ages 18-65 in California. Among the 3.5 million Californians who have ever been victimized by IPV as adults, over half a million report serious psychological distress (SPD) in the past year.

The health status and unique health challenges of rural older adults in California.

Despite living in the countryside where open space is plentiful and there is often significant agricultural production, rural older adults have higher rates of overweight/obesity, physical inactivity and food insecurity than older adults living in suburban areas. All three conditions are risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and repeated falls. This policy brief examines the health of rural elders and, by contrast, their urban counterparts, and finds that both groups are more likely to be unhealthy than suburban older adults.

Mental health status and use of mental health services by California adults.

In 2005, nearly one in five adults in California, about 4.9 million people, said they needed help for a mental or emotional health problem. Approximately one in 25, or over one million Californians, reported symptoms associated with serious psychological distress (SPD).