Show airs Friday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m.
“In Focus,” KNME-TV’s public affairs series that explores issues important to New Mexicans, will explore what is happening to medicine in our communities and in the southwest. Remaking New Mexico Medicine: An In Focus Town Hall Special airs on KNME on Friday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m. A local panel of experts will discuss ways in which professionals are finding innovative ways to tackle today’s health-related challenges.
The local town hall will include discussion about the transformation taking place by a panel of health care experts and will feature video clips about local programs that address the same issues presented in the national series, including using technology to improve access to quality care, improving patient/physician communication, and diabetes self-management:
• Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) involves using telemedicine to expand education in rural areas around Hepatitis C, with plans to later address diabetes, hypertension, and obesity issues.
• The Senior Mentor Program of the University of New Mexico Center on Aging and School of Medicine’s Geriatric Program pairs senior citizens with medical students to improve communication skills and inform future doctors about the health-related issues that seniors frequently face.
• A St. Joseph Community Health and Diabetes Education Project addresses diabetes education among Hispanics through gardening and cooking programs in Albuquerque.
As many as 98,000 Americans die each year in hospitals due to preventable medical errors. One million more are injured. In fact, medical errors kill as many people per year as breast cancer, HIV-AIDS and car accidents.
In addition, 18,000 Americans die each year from heart attacks because they didn’t receive medications, although they were eligible for them. More than 50 percent of patients with diabetes, heart disease, asthma and depression are currently managed inadequately.
These and other statistics underscore conditions within the American health care system that should be addressed.
The national series, Remaking American Medicine: Healthcare for the 21st Century, explored the quality crisis and the innovative solutions being undertaken by health care providers, patients and their families to transform the care provided by today’s institutions.
Media Contact: Evy Todd, (505) 277-1218; e-mail: etodd@unm.edu
Posted by scarr at November 16, 2006 04:56 PM