Richard Florida Introduces the Philips Livable Cities Award
The Philips Livable Cities Award is an initiative designed to generate practical, achievable ideas for improving the health and well-being of people living in cities. Individuals, community or non-governmental organizations and businesses are eligible to participate in the Award program that comprises a total prize fund amounting to 125,000 Euros.
With the aim of developing simple solutions to the complex challenges faced by the residents of cities today, the program consists of three distinct award categories:
- Well-being Outdoors: initiatives that will help citizens feel safe in public spaces or help create city identity and foster a sense of belonging
- Independent Living: initiatives that will help the growing number of elderly people living alone to feel secure and comfortable in a city, with appropriate access to healthcare
- Healthy Lifestyle at Work and Home: initiatives that will support a healthy body and mind, whether through a person’s surroundings or via other essentials such as exercise, sleep and diet.
An overall award of 75,000 Euros will be granted for the best idea submitted in any of the three categories. There will also be two additional awards of 25,000 Euros each for the best submissions in the two categories not covered in the overall award. The award criteria will be developed by an international panel of experts chaired by Richard Florida, author of The Great Reset, Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute and Professor of Business and Creativity at Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
Find out more about the Award and how to enter at www.philips.com/because
New rules for mental health Care
According to federal regulations issued on Friday, employer-provided group health plans must now offer the same coverage for drug abuse and mental illness as for other ailments. Known as mental health parity, these new measures will ban group health plans from offering different coverage standards for mental health disorders. Substance abuse treatment also and those for surgery or general medical treatment.
Today, employer-provided group health insurance plans cover some 150 million Americans. A bill passed by Congress in 2008, the new rules, exempt group plans covering 50 or fewer workers. Group plans that offer mental health and substance abuse treatment cannot charge higher deductibles under the parity system. They also cannot place different limits on frequency of treatment than they would for medical and surgical care.
After federal agencies review comments from the public, industry and other interested parties, the rules cold take effect as early as July 1st. A Washington-based advocacy group, The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare, said the regulations begin the final chapter in an effort to ensure that Americans with mental illness have equal access to health care.
Gastric Bypass Surgery
A surgery that including shrinking the size of the stomach, Gastric bypass surgery, sometimes recommended for obese people, involves re-routing the path that food takes. The possibility of post-surgical infection, blood clots or developing gallstones are a few risks with this procedure. So who as candidates for this bypass surgery?
The U.S. nations Library of Medicine says the following people may be: people who are obese and not able to lose weight by exercising and dieting, people who are committed to a diet and exercise regimen, people who are not mentally ill, people who do not have drug or alcohol dependency problems, people who have a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher; typically at least 100 pounds overweight, and people who have a BMI of 35 or greater, in addition to a serious health problem that could get better with weight loss — for instance, type 2 diabetes or heart disease.
If you feel you are in need of this surgery and you think you fit one of the criteria on this list, speak with your doctor and find out all the details. Understand the risks you will take and the benefits also and they you can decide which is right for you.
Fake Drugs Bought on the Web
People who are buying drugs purporting to treat erectile dysfunction over the Internet, are playing Russian roulette with their lives. At the very best, the drugs won’t help you and at the very worst, they can kill you. Dr. Margaret E. Wierman, professor of medicine at the University of Colorado at Denver feels you will waste your money and can possibly hurt yourself.
A mushrooming problem these days is counterfeit Internet drugs. Between 2005 and 2007 it was seen that seizures because of fake drugs sold in Europe quadrupled. According to the study, published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice, And the number of investigations undertaken by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration increased by a factor of eight between 2000 and 2006. Study authors stated that as many as 2.5 million men in Europe have taken counterfeit Viagra. The only way to avoid this growing problem is to not buy any medications over the Internet.
These Internet sales allow buyers to avoid that shame-factor that accompanies asking for this type of drug but the Viagra-like pills bought online are not really cheaper than the real thing. Men find in embarrassing to ask for this from their doctor and likewise to go to the pharmacy to pick up his prescription.
New rules for mental health Care
According to federal regulations issued on Friday, employer-provided group health plans must now offer the same coverage for drug abuse and mental illness as for other ailments. Known as mental health parity, these new measures will ban group health plans from offering different coverage standards for mental health disorders. Substance abuse treatment also and those for surgery or general medical treatment.
Today, employer-provided group health insurance plans cover some 150 million Americans. A bill passed by Congress in 2008, the new rules, exempt group plans covering 50 or fewer workers. Group plans that offer mental health and substance abuse treatment cannot charge higher deductibles under the parity system. They also cannot place different limits on frequency of treatment than they would for medical and surgical care.
After federal agencies review comments from the public, industry and other interested parties, the rules cold take effect as early as July 1st. A Washington-based advocacy group, The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare, said the regulations begin the final chapter in an effort to ensure that Americans with mental illness have equal access to health care.
