Video Doctor Helps HIV-Positive Patients Reduce Risky Behaviors
April 9, 2008
A computer-based interactive risk assessment and risk reduction counseling program using a video doctor sharply reduces sexual and drug risk behaviors by HIV-positive patients, according to UCSF researchers who developed and tested the intervention.
“Our most striking finding was that many of our intervention arm participants eliminated risky behaviors altogether - 38 percent who reported unprotected sex at baseline reported no vaginal or anal sex without a condom after the intervention. Forty-four percent who had been using drugs at the first visit had stopped using all drugs at the conclusion of the study,” said lead author Paul Gilbert, ScM, senior research associate at UCSF.
The program, named Positive Choice, was tested at five San Francisco Bay Area outpatient clinics among HIV-positive patients waiting to see their providers. The results of the study are published in the April 9 issue of PLoS ONE.
A total of 917 patient participants were screened for the study using the Positive Choice video doctor program. The program then randomized those reporting risky sexual or substance abuse behaviors - about half the sample - to either the intervention or the control arms. Even among those participants who continued risky behaviors, those in the intervention arm had three fewer casual sex partners and reported five fewer days of drug use in the prior month.
“We need better ways to support patients’ healthy decisions. Positive Choice is an efficient, user friendly way to use clinic waiting time to help HIV-positive patients reduce risky behaviors, which not only benefits the wellbeing of the patients but also supports broader public health goals,” said co-author David Bangsberg, MD, MPH, director of the Epidemiology Prevention and Interventions Center at San Francisco General Hospital.
Positive Choice uses the video doctor to simulate the ideal doctor-patient risk counseling conversation. Interactive video clips using an actor-portrayed doctor are matched to patients’ answers from assessment questions allowing the omission of any non-relevant counseling. The counseling sessions, which last an average of 24 minutes, end with a prompt to patients to discuss the risky behaviors with their healthcare provider during their regular appointment following the video counseling session.
“Positive Choice does not replace a patient’s healthcare provider, but facilitates and supports an important dialogue. Key features of the program are that it was developed so anyone can easily use it - even those with low literacy skills - and it can target multiple risk behaviors. In addition, the program meets or exceeds the CDC’s best evidence criteria for HIV behavioral prevention interventions,” said study senior author Barbara Gerbert, PhD, professor in the Division of Behavioral Sciences, Professionalism, and Ethics and director of the Center for Health Improvement and Prevention Studies (CHIPS) at UCSF.
—————————-
—————————-
Co-authors include Daniel Ciccarone, MD, MPH; Stuart Gansky, DrPH; Stephen McPhee, MD; Sophia Calderón, and Alyssa Bogetz from UCSF, and Katherine Clanon, MD, from the East Bay AIDS Education and Training Center, Oakland, CA.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, provided funding for the research.
The Center for Health Improvement and Prevention Studies is the research arm of the Division of Behavioral Sciences, Professionalism, and Ethics, which is within the Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences, UCSF School of Dentistry. CHIPS conducts research projects to increase understanding of the many ways that patients receive help from health care professionals and the health care system in changing their health-related behaviors.
The Epidemiology Prevention and Interventions Center at San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center is a component of the AIDS Research Institute (ARI) at UCSF. UCSF ARI houses hundreds of scientists and dozens of programs throughout UCSF and affiliated labs and institutions, making ARI one of the largest AIDS research entities in the world.
UCSF is a leading university dedicated to defining health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.
Source:
Jeff Sheehy
University of California - San Francisco
Use Of Information Technology Is Minimal In Nursing Homes
April 9, 2008
In short-term health care settings, sophisticated information technology (IT) systems assist in the diagnosis of patients, support care management, and enhance adherence to clinical guidelines. However, current levels of IT sophistication in U.S. nursing homes are unknown. In response to recent efforts from policy makers to integrate IT in long-term health care, a University of Missouri researcher found, through two different studies, that the current level of IT use in Missouri nursing homes is minimal.
“IT sophistication has been studied extensively in acute care settings, but until these studies, IT has not been measured in long-term care settings. We found many different types of technology being used in nursing homes,” said Greg Alexander, professor in the MU Sinclair School of Nursing. “While some homes have advanced systems that aid nurses in making treatment decisions, wireless technology to assist in the delivery of care, and systems that support administrative and financial matters and inpatient self-management, the majority of Missouri nursing homes have minimal levels of technology in place.”
According to Alexander, most agencies that advocate for wider uses of technology have overlooked nursing homes, despite the growing recognition that a stronger IT infrastructure is needed to address the complex health care needs of nursing home residents and improve the quality of care delivered in these facilities.
Recent concerns about errors in health care and patient safety have prompted policy makers and government committees to recommend the development of technologies to support clinical decision making and promote data standards. These recommendations also include designing systems that are able to communicate with each other. The Institute of Medicine recently released a report outlining the level of diversity and maturity of technology expected in nursing homes by 2010.
“These initial studies reveal that nursing home administrators have a long way to go before they achieve the goals suggested by the IOM report,” Alexander said. “The development of IT profiles is a necessary first step toward benchmarking the best practices of IT use across nursing homes in the United States. The next step is to continue this study in other Midwest states and, eventually, in every state.”
Alexander said the goal is to create a national infrastructure for health care providers that will enable the exchange of information between short-term care and long-term care facilities. Advancing technology will allow providers to coordinate and transfer work between settings as patients are relocated from one facility to another.
—————————-
—————————-
Source:
Emily Smith
University of Missouri-Columbia
Use Of Digital Health Records Improves Health Of The Elderly
April 8, 2008
Use of medications that are linked to increased risk of falls in the elderly can be reduced through careful review of patient files in the Electronic Health Record, new Geisinger research shows.
Psychoactive drugs such as anti-anxiety medicines impact a person’s neurochemistry and may predispose elderly patients to falls, which are a major cause of injury and death in the elderly.
Geisinger pharmacists and geriatricians recently reviewed the medication records of several hundred elderly patients using Geisinger’s advanced, $90 million Electronic Health Record.
After the review, the patient’s primary care doctor received an e-mail that contained medication recommendations tailored to individual patients.
Elderly patients used fewer psychoactive medications after their cases were reviewed, which has the potential to reduce falls, according to a Geisinger study in the April Journal of General Internal Medicine.
“Our research shows the importance of documenting a person’s medication lists,” Geisinger Director of Internal Medicine and lead study lead author Valerie Weber, MD said. “The Electronic Health Record is a great tool for monitoring a person’s medication and avoiding usage problems.”
It’s estimated that 30% of patients over 65 take eight or more medications, which helps fuel healthcare spending. U.S. prescription drug sales topped more than $250 billion in 2007.
—————————-
—————————-
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality funded the study.
About Geisinger Health System
Founded in 1915, Geisinger Health System (Danville, PA) is one of the nation’s largest integrated health services organizations. Serving more than two million residents throughout central and northeastern Pennsylvania, the physician-led organization is at the forefront of the country’s rapidly emerging electronic health records movement. Geisinger is comprised of three medical center campuses, a 700-member group practice, a not-for-profit health insurance company and the Center for Health Research - dedicated to creating innovative new models for patient care, satisfaction and clinical outcomes.
For more information, visit http://www.geisinger.org/
Source: Justin Walden
Geisinger Health System
Minimally-Invasive Robot-Assisted CABG Surgery
April 8, 2008
Dr. Robert Poston is a pioneer in the use of robotics for minimally invasive cardiac surgery. He recently joined Boston Medical Center (BMC) as chief of cardiac surgery. With his arrival, BMC has become one of only one of 9 hospitals across the country, and the only hospital in Boston, to offer robot-assisted minimally invasive coronary artery bypass, the most advanced treatment available for coronary artery disease (the most common form of heart disease - 16 million Americans have - and the leading cause of death - 1 million/year - in the U.S.)
For patients with severe blockages, coronary artery bypass graft surgery (cabg) allows surgeons to remove or re-direct a blood vessel from one part of the body and place it around the obstructed part of the artery, effectively by-passing it, and restoring blood flow to the heart muscle.
Minimally invasive, robotically-assisted bypass surgery allows physicians to gain access to the heart with several small incisions, unlike conventional bypass surgery which requires the chest to be opened with a 6-10 inch incision at the breastbone (sternum.)
Using small incisions between the ribs, the arms of the robot and a small camera are placed to allow the surgeon to look through lenses on a computer console that provide a 3-dimentional, 10-times-magnified image inside the patient’s body.
The surgeon’s hands control the instrument’s arms to perform the procedure. The robot’s “wristed” instruments effectively mimic the movements of the surgeon’s hands and wrist, providing the surgeon with flexibility and precise motion control as he ‘harvests’ one or more blood vessels from inside the chest cavity, to redirect one end to the heart surface beyond the blockage, bypassing the blockage, to restore blood flow to the heart.
In addition to smaller incisions (and smaller scars) the patient benefits are fewer side effects and complications, less pain, reduced risk of infection and faster recovery.
—————————-
—————————-
Robert Poston, MD, has earned a prestigious reputation for his work in this area, and has received a prestigious NIH grant to lead research and advance scientific understanding of the benefits of minimally invasive bypass surgery at BMC.
Source: Gina DiGravio
Boston University
Improving Technologies Used In Tissue Engineering And Information Technology
April 8, 2008
Carnegie Mellon University’s Nadine Aubry and colleague Pushpendra Singh of the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) are leading a research team to develop a manufacturing strategy that could improve technologies used in tissue engineering and information technology.
Aubry, head of Carnegie Mellon’s Mechanical Engineering Department, and Singh, an engineering professor at NJIT, have developed a new way of herding nano/micro-particles into highly ordered two-dimensional lattices (monolayers) with adjustable spacing between the particles.
The team’s research, reported last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA journal (http://.pnas.org/egi/content/full/105/10/3695), shows how the use of electric fields and fluid- fluid interfaces can be judiciously used to develop new materials with special properties to increase the efficiency of drug delivery patches, solar cells and the next generation of high-performance computing.
“This new manufacturing strategy could revolutionize the way we design two-dimensional nanomaterials with adaptable microscopic structures and desired properties,” said Aubry, who was recently named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for her outstanding contributions to the field of fluid dynamics.
The research team found they could control the particle distribution, particularly uncharged particles, at a fluid-fluid interface by applying an electric field. Without an electric field, particles self assemble. But they self assemble under capillary action, which make particles attract one another at the free-surface of a liquid. This is the same action we experience when our cereal flakes regroup at the surface of a bowl of milk.
This self-assembly via capillary action has serious flaws. Some of those flaws include an inability to manipulate small-sized particles and adjust the porosity of the resulting material. There are also inherent defects in the particle patterns.
“What is fascinating, is that the presence of an electric field can remedy all these deficiencies,” Aubry said. “The key is that when we apply the electric field, we can expand or shrink the lattice, and we can do it dynamically. The explanation is all in the subtle interplay between the forces - both electrostatic and hydrodynamic - acting on the particles.”
The research team shows that their new technique creates forces capable of assembling micron-sized particles and theoretically predicts that the method should apply to nanoparticles as well.
“We are extremely excited about the new self-assembly method because it offers flexibility, precision and simplicity,” Aubry said.
—————————-
—————————-
About Carnegie Mellon: Carnegie Mellon is a private research university with a distinctive mix of programs in engineering, computer science, robotics, business, public policy, fine arts and the humanities. More than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students receive an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. A small student-to-faculty ratio provides an opportunity for close interaction between the students and professors. While technology is pervasive on its 144-acre Pittsburgh campus, Carnegie Mellon is also distinctive among leading research universities for the world-renowned programs in its College of Fine Arts. A global university, Carnegie Mellon has campuses in Silicon Valley, Calif., and Qatar, and programs in Asia, Australia and Europe. For more, see http://www.cmu.edu/.
Source: Chriss SWaney
Carnegie Mellon University
Schwarzenegger Calls For Stronger Privacy Of Medical Records
April 8, 2008
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California called yesterday, Monday 7th April, for stronger privacy of medical records after an investigation at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center revealed unauthorized breaches of dozens of medical records, including those of his wife, first lady Maria Shriver, and 32 celebrities and politicians.
Governor Schwarzenegger told the Los Angeles Times that there has been a long history of unauthorized access to the couple’s medical records. He said he had been a victim of unauthorized “snooping” following hip, heart and shoulder operations.
The Governor told the Times that every time he left the operating room he was told that people were going through his file. They “had white coats on”, he said, and they had snuck into the hospital, “They had nothing to do with the hospital staff at all,” he told the paper.
Schwarzenegger pointed out it was not just the UCLA Medical Center, “This kind of thing has been happening all over the state, wherever there are celebrities involved”.
The Governor’s administration will be pushing for California’s hospitals to bring in new safeguards to prevent improper access to medical records, not just those belonging to celebrities.
According to the New York Times, the head of California’s health department said yesterday the agency was planning to sanction the UCLA Medical Center after an investigation revealed that hospital workers had snooped into the medical records of more than 60 patients.
The violations first came to light last May when the National Enquirer published an article about the health of the actress Farrah Fawcett, informing its readers that her cancer had returned. This news was broken before Fawcett had even told her family, reported the New York Times.
The hospital launched an investigation after Fawcett’s lawyers told them they believed that information from her medical records had been given to the press.
A spokesperson for the hospital told the New York Times they found evidence that one worker, who had since left, had improperly accessed the records of 61 patients, about half of them celebrities and politicians. There was already an intention to fire the employee, but she resigned. There was no evidence however that the employee had given information to third parties. The investigation looked at her emails and phone records.
Dr David Feinberg, chief executive of the UCLA Hospital System, apologized for the violations and referred to the former worker as a “rogue” employee, reported the Associated Press.
Earlier this year, several UCLA employees were fired or suspended after an internal audit showed a patient’s medical records had been violated. While the spokesperson did not say whose records they were, the New York Times suggested they might belong to Britney Spears, who had been admitted to the hospital’s neuropsychiatry unit a few months ago.
The California Health and Human Services Agency has now begun its own investigation. The agency has the power to fine the hospital, remove its licence, and refer its findings to law enforcement agencies.
According to the Associated Press, the agency’s secretary, Kim Belshe said on Sunday that they were “very concerned about what appears to be a pattern of repeated violations”.
Belshe said the state will be taking action against the hospital.
In a statement released on Sunday, the UCLA Health System said that they did not inform the Department of Public Health or the affected patients at the time they discovered the breach because it was “consistent with state law and based on the findings of our investigation”.
The organization explained that like all medical institutions in the US, they are working hard to strengthen information systems to protect patient privacy while at the same time making sure this doesn’t hamper authorized personnel getting hold of patient data quickly, for example when emergencies strike.
The UCLA Health System said it had stringent policies on patient confidentiality and all employees, faculty members, contractors, volunteers and other workers were required to sign confidentiality agreements and undergo extensive training.
Sources: Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Associated Press, UCLA Health System.
Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD
Copyright: Medical News Today
Teens Who Have TV In Their Bedroom Are Less Likely To Engage In Healthy Habits, U Of M Research Finds
April 8, 2008
University of Minnesota School of Public Health researchers have found that older adolescents who have a bedroom television are less likely to engage in healthy activities such as exercising, eating fruits or vegetables, and enjoying family meals. They also consumed larger quantities of sweetened beverages and fast food, were categorized as heavy TV watchers, and read or studied less than teens without TVs in their bedrooms.
“The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents remove television sets from their children’s bedrooms. Despite this recommendation, almost two-thirds of our sample had a bedroom TV, which appears to be a factor for less than optimal behavior,” said Daheia Barr-Anderson, Ph.D., M.S.P.H., first author of the study.
A study group of 781 socioeconomically and ethnically diverse teens participating in the School of Public Health Project Eating Among Teens (EAT) study reported on their television viewing habits, study habits, grades, diet, exercise habits, and family connectedness. Nearly two-thirds of the participants had a television in their bedroom or sleeping area, and those who did watched four to five more hours of television each week.
Girls with a TV in their bedrooms spent less time in vigorous activity each week than girls without TVs in their rooms (1.8 versus 2.5 hours). They also ate fewer vegetables (1.7 versus 2 servings per day), and had fewer family meals (2.9 versus 3.7 meals per week). Boys with TVs in their rooms not only had lower fruit intake (1.7 versus 2.2) and fewer family meals (2.9 versus 3.6), they also had a lower grade point average compared with their counterparts with no TVs in the bedroom (2.6 versus 2.9).
Barr-Anderson suggests that the first step parents can take to help their teens decrease unhealthy behaviors is to keep, or remove, a TV from the bedroom of their teen. Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, Ph.D., principal investigator of Project EAT notes, “Our findings suggest the importance of not having a television in a child’s bedroom. When families upgrade their living room television, they may want to resist the temptation to put the older television set in their children’s bedroom.”
—————————-
—————————-
This study was supported by a grant from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, and by an Adolescent Health Protection Research Training grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services.
The study, “Characteristics Associated With Older Adolescents Who Have a Television in Their Bedrooms,” will be published in the May edition of Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Source: Laura Stroup
University of Minnesota
Wii Used In Parkinson’s Study
April 8, 2008
It’s Ingrid Bell’s turn at bat. She steps up to the plate, awaiting the pitch. A 70-mph fastball soars toward her. She swings and connects with the ball.
Foul ball! Everyone cheers for her anyway.
This baseball game’s not taking place on a field, and there’s no real bat or ball to be seen. Mrs. Bell is playing the Nintendo Wii as part of her occupational therapy. She is among 30 Parkinson’s disease patients participating in a Medical College of Georgia study to determine if occupational therapy enhances the treatment of the disease.
Parkinson’s disease affects daily tasks that people take for granted. Brushing teeth, getting out of bed and walking become a problem for these patients because of dopamine depletion, which results in stiffness or slowing of movement and fine motor dysfunction.
“Occupational therapy looks at how the illness affects the patient’s whole life, from the psychological, cognitive and sensory motor standpoints,” says Dr. Ben Herz, assistant professor of occupational therapy in the School of Allied Health Sciences and a study principal investigator along with Dr. John Morgan, neurologist. “Our therapists are responsible for helping someone maintain or gain their independence with functional activities.”
While occupational therapy is frequently used in the comprehensive care of Parkinson’s patients, evidence is needed to support its short- or long-term effectiveness, says Dr. Herz.
“We’re hoping to show a slowing of the progression of the disease and a decrease in medication while increasing function. If we can teach patients to exercise and do functional activities, maybe we can have them take less medications,” he says.
Study participants are divided into an experimental group receiving therapy or a control group that does not. Each participant meets individually with an occupational therapist for one hour a week for eight weeks. Participants in both groups are given functional and standardized tests and evaluated on a quality-of-life scale before and after therapy begins, then four months later. The control group has the option to receive therapy after the second evaluation.
“None of the participants have had occupational therapy before because we wanted no preconceived notions of what therapists would do or how they would do it,” Dr. Herz says. “A few participants were probably taken aback when they heard they’d be playing video games.”
But the Wii has been popular with both participants and therapists.
“Because the Wii is interactive and you have to do certain functional movements to be successful, it’s an effective modality for working with Parkinson’s patients,” says Dr. Herz. “One of the therapists uses the Wii for timing and loosening up, and the other uses it for coordination and balance issues.”
Participants also perform functional activities, such as dressing and rolling over in bed; fine motor skills, like circling in word searches and carefully moving blocks in the game Jenga; and stretching.
“These therapists are thinking way out of the box. They’re doing activities that will make a difference in these participants’ lives based on what we know about Parkinson’s,” Dr. Herz says.
Early results show at least short-term gains. Therapists set goals for each participant prior to treatment. These goals range from independence with daily living activities, such as cooking, dressing or bathing, to functional activities such as sports and leisure without any adaptation. About 98 percent of those goals have been met or surpassed, Dr. Herz says.
When Mrs. Bell started therapy in January, she was dependent on her husband to walk, dress and get out of bed. She could climb only one step on her own.
“Now she’s doing 24 steps without any difficulty,” says Dr. Herz.
“I may need help putting my shirt and shoes on, but I’m trying as hard as I can to do it myself,” Mrs. Bell says.
—————————-
—————————-
The study, funded by a $30,000 grant from the National Parkinson’s Foundation, is a collaboration between the Department of Occupational Therapy and MCG’s Movement Disorders Program.
Source: Paula Hinely
Medical College of Georgia
Addicted.com Promotes Observance Of Alcohol Awareness Month
April 7, 2008
In honor of Alcohol Awareness Month (April), Addicted.com, a website for addicts and their families to find support and recovery resources online, is urging the population at large to seek out more help to treat the addiction to alcohol that they or their loved ones may struggle with.
“Alcohol abuse is a problem of epic proportions in the United States today,” said Addicted.com Founder and CEO John S. Shegerian. “It is estimated that in this month alone, 54 million Americans will participate in binge drinking of some kind and that approximately 22 million adults can be categorized as people who abuse alcohol or are alcohol dependent. From college students who binge drink to professionals who drink after a long day of work to seniors who drink out of loneliness - it is a far reaching condition that touches virtually every American family. During Alcohol Awareness Month, we at Addicted.com send a message out to those struggling with their addiction that help is available — go online, read books, get screened - whatever it takes to start your road to recovery - and do it today!”
To recognize serious problem of alcohol abuse, the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration declared April “Alcohol Awareness Month” in an effort to promote education and emphasize the seriousness of the condition.
“We applaud the Department of Health and Human Services,” said Shegerian. “Their attempts to encourage anonymous screenings and the promotion of educational programs for people struggling with alcohol addiction are a major contribution to society.”
The Addicted.com site itself works to educate visitors via a full slate of professional addiction experts that specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of common addictions including eating disorders, sexual addiction, gambling and drug and alcohol addiction. The site also offers people seeking help a proprietary Zip Code Locator which visitors can use to find nearby recovery centers, doctors, counselors and other assistance for their addictions.
The site is also the first of its kind to feature virtual tours of treatment facilities so that people struggling with addictions and their families and loved ones can get a sense of the treatment options available in advance.
Along with AddictedSpace and AddictedTube, visitors can take self-tests to help determine whether they have an addiction and may need to seek help. Articles, advice, experts and other resources give users the option of complete anonymity if they are seeking resources but aren’t ready to share their story with the world.
Addicted.com provides addiction recovery resources and tools for addicts, family members and friends throughout the Internet community. The main goal of the site is to maintain a well-known on-line space for people to visit when they need advice, answers, assistance or just someone to talk with.
http://www.Addicted.com
Reproductive Health Professionals Criticize Censorship Of Content Related To Abortion On USAID-Funded Database; Applaud Dean’s Reversal
April 7, 2008
ARHP applauds the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Dean’s reversal of POPLINE’s decision to remove the search term “abortion” from their database. This action helped rectify what amounted to ideological censorship that could negatively impact patient care and is of great concern to reproductive health professionals everywhere.
Too often in this political climate we see political ideology trumping science in the field of reproductive health. Removing abortion as a search term on a publicly funded reproductive health care database is clearly a decision driven by ideology - and not based on the medical or scientific needs of the reproductive health professional community the database exists to serve.
POPLINE implied the decision to remove the term abortion was based on their funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and told an inquiring librarian that “as a federally funded project, we decided this was best for now.” Unfortunately, USAID has a history of using ideology instead of science to make reproductive care and funding decisions. For example, USAID has withheld funding from developing countries if potential grantees provide abortion services or abortion referrals to women.
Beyond the censorship of literature on elective abortion, the actions taken by POPLINE would have had further consequences. In clinical terms, the word “abortion” applies to much more than just elective terminations of pregnancy. Women with wanted pregnancies and their health care providers who are looking for information on spontaneous abortion, inevitable abortion, incomplete abortions, missed abortions, and related medical information, would have been deprived of this key data. POPLINE’s “stopword” action would have greatly limited the ability of health care providers and women to link to the scientific literature on the topic of abortion, directly impacting patient care.
ARHP applauds the Dean’s decision to restore public access to evidence-based information on abortion and abortion-related research, and to restore public confidence that science-not ideology-is used to develop publically-funded education, research, and policy.
The Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP) is the leading source for trusted medical education and information on reproductive and sexual health. ARHP educates health care providers, informs consumers, and helps shape public policy. ARHP is a non-profit membership association composed of highly qualified and committed experts in reproductive health. ARHP members are health professionals in clinical practice, education, research, and advocacy and they include physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurse midwives, researchers, educators, pharmacists, and other professionals in reproductive health.
Association of Reproductive Health Professionals
