IHPI Informs - July/August 2022

July/August 2022

New poll finds many older adults look beyond conventional medicine for help

Whether they chose chiropractic care, massage therapy, meditation, yoga, or another option, two in three adults age 50 to 80 have used at least one integrative medicine strategy to ease physical or mental health symptoms or for relaxation, according to new results from the National Poll on Healthy Aging. But only 18% of older adults who currently use, formerly used, or are interested in using integrative health strategies have actually talked about it with a health care provider.

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When heart-assisting implants could save a life, patients who are Black or female don’t get them as often

A study led by Thomas Cascino, M.D., M.Sc ., clinical lecturer of internal medicine, showed Black people and women with severe heart failure who might be good candidates for surgery to implant a heart-assisting device have a lower chance of actually getting that operation than white or male patients.

IHPI Brief

Examining Equity in Access to Heart Transplantation

After 2018 Policy Change

New poll finds older adults ready for updated COVID-19 boosters

A new U-M National Poll on Healthy Aging shows that 61% of people over 50 who have already gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine are very likely to roll up their sleeves this fall to get an updated booster shot. That percentage might increase if health care providers specifically recommend the updated vaccine to their patients, the poll suggests.

In the news

IHPI members making headlines

Pulse oximeters missed low oxygen levels in more Black veterans than white veterans

A study by Michael Sjoding, M.D., M.Sc., and colleagues examined data from over 100 hospitals in the U.S. Veterans Health Administration. The results suggest that there may be over 75,000 instances a year where low blood oxygen is missed in a Black veteran yet would have been detected if pulse oximeters functioned as well as they do in white veterans.

Lung screenings paired with phone-based smoking cessation programs could save lives, money

New research from a U-M team, including Rafael Meza, Ph.D., professor of public health, provides important evidence for implementing telephone counseling and other effective cessation interventions within lung cancer screening.