Using Point-in-Time Homeless Counts to Monitor Mortality Trends Among People Experiencing Homelessness in Los Angeles County, California, 2015‒2019.

To report trends in mortality rates, mortality rate ratios (MRRs), and causes of death among people experiencing homelessness (PEH) in Los Angeles County, California, by using annual point-in-time homeless counts and to compare findings to published longitudinal cohort studies of homeless mortality. We enumerated homeless deaths and determined causes by using 2015-2019 medical examiner‒coroner data matched to death certificate data. We estimated midyear homeless population denominators by averaging consecutive January point-in-time homeless counts.

Assessing the Retail Environments of Licensed and Unlicensed Cannabis Dispensaries: Adapting the Marijuana Retail Surveillance Tool to Inform Cannabis Regulation in Los Angeles County.

Context: After statewide legalization of recreational cannabis in California, the Los Angeles (LA) County Board of Supervisors requested a health equity impact assessment to inform its decisions on whether and how to regulate cannabis dispensaries in unincorporated areas of LA County.

Objective: As part of this assessment, the LA County Department of Public Health compared the retail environments of licensed and unlicensed cannabis dispensaries in different parts of the county, using the Marijuana Retail Surveillance Tool (MRST), a validated instrument piloted in Colorado and Washington.

Design: Two waves of observational surveys were conducted, one comparing licensed and unlicensed dispensaries within and near unincorporated areas of LA County and another comparing licensed dispensaries across LA County in areas with varying levels of health advantage according to a neighborhood index measuring social determinants of health.

Initial Postoperative Hemoglobin Values and Clinical Outcomes in Transfused Patients Undergoing Noncardiac Surgery.

Background: Intraoperative red blood cell (RBC) transfusion is common, yet transfusion strategies remain controversial as pretransfusion hemoglobin triggers are difficult to utilize during acute bleeding. Alternatively, postoperative hemoglobin values may provide useful information regarding transfusion practices, though optimal targets remain undefined.

Methods: This is a single-center observational cohort study of adults receiving allogeneic RBCs during noncardiac surgery from 2010 through 2014.

Routine Assessment of Health Impacts of Local Transportation Plans: A Case Study From the City of Los Angeles.

Objectives: To determine the health impacts of three future scenarios of travel behavior by mode for the City of Los Angeles, California, and to provide specific recommendations for how to conduct health impact assessments of local transportation plans on a more routine basis.

Methods: We used the Integrated Transportation and Health Impact Model to assess the health impacts of the Los Angeles Mobility Plan 2035 by using environmental impact report data on miles traveled by mode under alternative implementation scenarios as inputs. The Integrated Transportation and Health Impact Model links region-wide changes in travel behavior to population exposures to physical activity, air pollution, and traffic collisions and associated health outcomes and costs.

Applying a prevention framework to address homelessness as a population health issue.

This paper presents a population health framework for homelessness prevention. Rooted in the Los Angeles County Homeless Initiative, the framework includes strategies that affect social determinants of health that influence a broad range of health outcomes prevalent among the homeless. For each prevention level, we consider the purpose of prevention, the sub-population of interest, and evidence of the effectiveness of interventions in addressing factors that affect health and health outcomes.

Anesthetic implications for patients with Segawa syndrome.

Study Objective: To characterize the perioperative course of patients with Segawa syndrome undergoing anesthetic management.

Design: Retrospective observational case study.

Setting: Large tertiary medical center.

The Experience of Direct Outreach Recruitment in the National Children's Study.

Objective: Few studies have reported the outcome of direct outreach methods for recruitment of research participants in population-based samples. We describe the relationship of outreach strategies that are tailored to specific community factors to recruitment and consent outcomes in 10 National Children's Study direct outreach study locations (all were single counties).

Methods: Each study center collected data from a target population of women who resided in selected county segments that were sampled based on a geographic area probability sampling design.

Starting school healthy and ready to learn: using social indicators to improve school readiness in Los Angeles County.

Background: School readiness is an important public health outcome, determined by a set of interdependent health and developmental trajectories and influenced by a child's family, school, and community environments. The same factors that influence school readiness also influence educational success and health throughout life.

Context: A California cigarette tax ballot initiative (Proposition 10) created new resources for children aged 0 to 5 years and their families statewide through county-level First 5 commissions, including First 5 LA in Los Angeles County.

Improving childhood asthma outcomes in the United States: a blueprint for policy action.

Background/objective: Asthma is increasingly being recognized as an important public health concern for children in the United States. Effective management of childhood asthma may require not only improving guideline-based therapeutic interventions, but also addressing social and physical environmental risk factors. The objective of this project was to create a blueprint for improvement of national policy in this area.