============================: THU.OCT,991021 :============================
17-20:30| NYC.DeptHealth : Forum on Bkln public Health . Bkln College Student
 Union , Campus Rd & E. 27 . Info : TamaraHubinsky;212-341-9810
  I was breaking in my new Sony , and had some crashes ; so this
 took longer to publish than I would have hoped .
 You will see the tendency of the bureaucracy to extend its role into more
 and more parts of life which are not biological . 

|17:45| Turning Point is National coordinationg org .  NYC 25 health Orgs .
 does Forums . Queens & Mnhtn already held .

Commissioner of Health NealCohen :
 Transforming to significant alliances w nbds .
 Need support of community leaders & stakeholders . including non health .
  Ways to leverage scarce resources .
 TP gave tiny grant w significant impact , eg this forum
  NY PH Dept been distant City Hall burachracy .
 Traditional : Desease specific & catagorical . West Nile virus dealt w well .

 Now : Youth violence & suicide . #6 cause of death .
  call to sign mental health screenings of hi risk pops .
 Infant mortality .  100yr low  6.8 % 1000 live births .
  Bkln : highest : 7.5 . declined .13 last yr . There were 5 communities
  w > 10 D%1000B , now just 1 .
 5 % 10 communities here exceed city avg .  Isn`t that by definition ? 
 Solns need to be @ level of communities . Need to set table where all
  views present .
 Asthma worse in last 15 yrs . no new specific clinics .  Focus on Education
 Open Airways nurses teaching @ 3rd grade level . Some improvements .
 Getting Fed & State funding .

 Creating Pub Health Agenda .
  Partnership beyond buzzword .  Holistic overview .
 CDC funding desease specific , eg : TB , HIV .  not interactions .
  Duplication of separate desease DataBases . Plan to produce databook .
  Looking to create info Website .
 CDC : .1 Premature deaths preventable . Could be  .7 .
 Avoiding Disabilities & chronic .
 Always facing Budget cuts . but have been $$s out there .
 Need to Leverage . |18:5|
Dr Robert Breakbill : Health stats & Demographics . : frm CDC , Atlanta .
 (lives in N. Bkln ) . Profile not comprehensive . `90 census data most
  recent nbd level demo info . Basic info by zipcode .
 Some " small N " samples ( so hi var ) e.g. : Diabetes amputations - just a
  few in city .
 Drug abuse hospitalization , Alcohol , assaults - BedSty &
 " Linguistically isolated " : no english speaker in family .
|18:20| Q : ( about chart of sources of payment ) No  Self-Pay  listed ?
 Kings County Hosp data  No clear answer given 
  Resource data ?

|18:24| Many causes of early death & hospitalization .
 Housing , employment , education , environment , tobacco .
 Bkln DA Domestic violence TaskForce ; expanded notion of PH .

Ms Ellis : Kings Cnty ( domestic Violence ) SDA intervention unit :
  focus : 67 & 72 precinct .
 Flatbush & Sunset pk . Low reporting communities : Carib , Asian , Arab .
 Reach out to victims . info & counseling . not offering just police
  response .
 If not interested in Criminal Justice route , refer to allied agencies .
 Emergency relocation .  ' All free of charge .'  Reaching "under reporting"
  ethnoses .  Been going 6 mo .  Gotten  6.5k  911 calls .  From just
  2 of 22 precincts total .
David Lutz : Green spaces : 300 pedestrian deaths in NYC each yr .
 1.7 acres of park % Bkln Resident . Low for large cities  really ? 

 Split into neighborhood working sessions .
  I : Southwest Bkln  including  Boro Park & Coney Island .
 Changed to 5hr battery . 

Group Comments : issues :
 Capitated rate doesn`t work ; nmust go back to fee for svc .
 Declining Chiropractors  |19:23| Sony bombed 
  .43 medicaid eligible - can`t get chiropractic .
 Noise from machines or music .
 Traffic air qual . Gowanas reconstruction .
 Language & cultural barriers .
  Sunset park drug use .
 |19:38| more bombs 
BC : Community Assets :
 SunSet Pk : Community grps : Luthern Med Ctr : & Bay ridge .
  Shrinking funding .
 Highschool student educational brigades .  Beacon Schools .
 Metropolitan Jewish Health system - nurses to Sr centers .
  NonProfit - deliver MediC- -are , -aid
 Volunteer time as valuable as money .

|19:52| Community org w no money -  Religious instituions ( faith community )
 Assets - waterfront property recycling . Transportation sys is an asset .
 Merchant associations .
 Gateway Natnl Park  . Health Clubs . | YWHA YMCA
 " hopefully this will all be Pub health agenda " 
 BCAT   cable tv  | Boro Pres Harold Golden |
  I made comments twice .  First when McDonald`s was being added
 to the list of Public Health issues . ( need I say more ? ) .
 and , Towards the end when "Lack of Insurance" was chosen as the most
 popular problem . I commented that the cheapest way to buy anything is
 generally with cash . A cause of the problem of uninsured is that everything
 under the sun , including predictable events , and various forms of charity
 are being legislated into insurance contracts . So it is not possible to get
 just pure catastrophic insurance to just cover truly bankrupting events .
 This is why people choose to do without any coverage .

Finally , I asked how many in room accessed the Web . 
  All were on Web !  |20:4|

|20:30| Pleniary again :  Prioritys & recomendations :
 SE : Access : svcs - scale , educ . cult competency . Yeshiva access to
  same resources as pub schools | Environmental - smaller scale |
  Sr affordability .
  Other : Mental health for immigrants ,
    Need jobs for pub health professionals . 
 Assets : Immigrent communities have radio - libraries .  educated .
  There is access to LongTerm care . Elected officials good .
 SW : BC : Priorities : Lack of Ins . prevention . Nutrition : obesity .
  Income . - high enough can`t get from state , but can`t afford themselves .
  Gowanas corridor Air polution . ( BC  big on Alc & Tobac enforcement . )
  Fin reimbursements for health care .
  Area has lots of Non-Profits . Students as ambasadors . NewUtric HS Sports .
  Chinese Amer grp ( not there ) Prevention ( doesn`t go himself . )
 Central : Uninsured . Education . Mental Health - stress , ritalin
   Advocate to get bigger piece of pie . need more Holistic , spiritual .
   Languge barriers .
  Assets : SUNY Downstate Hosp . The people .
  Need :  build human  capital . better mkting . faith institutions .
   better outreach . Outpatient Psychiatric .
 Central 2 : Asthma - housing . Teen health - moms in prison .
  Cultural diversity .  respecting each other - stress .
  School health - lack of resources .
  Assets Carib Woman`s health org . Restoration .
  People don`t know all funding resources . 
 Central 3 :  Access : Health Coverage . Desease : Asthma HIV . ProstateCanc
  Education : raising Consciousness - should take more responsibility .
 Assets : Hospitals : , Census . Community Leaders . Media & Advertising .
  Right to vote .
 North 0 : Funding , Immigrent entitlement Education ( after school
  programs ) , Access/coverage , Environmental health & Prevention . Lack of
  Data .  Alternatives outside the 'biomedical model ' .
  Better colaboration between  Boards of Health & Ed .
  Waste transfer stations ,  Use of mercury in homes & disposal .
  Mental Illness . collaboration between agencys .
  Ethical Culture :   El Puente - youth .
 North 1 : ditto above : Strengthing Families - day care , Adult health care
  . Waste sites - asthma .
 Assets . jobs available , but edu & training insufficient .
  Interagency colaboration & resource advertizing .
|21:4|

Bottom line , when the major nutritional problem is obesity , and needs include " Entitlement " education , and virtually no deseases mentioned ( other than asthma , I would conclude that the public health of the Borough is pretty darn good .