The Nation's Health: April 2, 2018
PI's Rachel Davis and Lisa Fujie-Parks are quoted in this article discussing the role restrictive gender norms play in normalizing and increasing sexual violence, and the need to challenge those norms to prevent sexual violence.
Modern Healthcare: March 10, 2018
This guest commentary in Modern Healthcare by Ganhi Pritesh hihglights how community centered health homes address upstream determinants of health and improve communities. "Clinical inventions alone can't get us to the health outcomes we want without complementary community interventions."
The Vista Press: March 9, 2018
The Vista Press covers how community health groups and policymakers recently met in Los Angeles to advocate for a program to fight pollution and drought by capturing more rainwater and urban runoff. Water runoff carries paint, solvents, pesticides, and is therefore highly polluted; the article quotes PI's Elva Yanez: "Children, pregnant women and the elderly are at the greatest risk for illnesses associated with contaminated stormwater. Gastroenteritis, respiratory diseases, hepatitis, eye ear skin infections. It's a huge problem."
California Healthline: March 7, 2018
Jocelyn Wiener of California Healthline writes about how CA became the second US state to increase the minimum tobacco sales age from 18 to 21, resulting in a significant drop in state retailers selling tobacco to kids under age 18. Most retailers support the new law, and Wiener quotes PI's Founder Larry Cohen as saying, “It’s a sign that there’s real momentum over the past couple of decades in recognizing that tobacco is harmful and that protections are appropriate.”
SVCnews.com: March 7, 2018
The LA County Board of Supervisors voted to examine tobacco shops in unincorporated areas of LA County to assess their impact on community health and safety. Among other subject matter experts, the press release quoted PI's Robert Baird: “Without reliable enforcement, the over-concentration of alcohol retail outlets in communities of color a generation ago can easily repeat itself with tobacco shops retailing cannabis. In reality, this process appears to be well underway and with similar impacts for addiction, public safety and disinvestment.”
MASSLIVE: March 3, 2018
Anne-Gerard Flynn of MASSLIVE promotes the "Ounce of Prevention" conference, the state Department of Public Health's annual event advocating for healthier communities through professional development, on March 27 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the DCU Center, 50 Foster St. PI's Founder Larry Cohen will delver the keynote address.
USA Today: February 27, 2018
USA Today's Jayne O'Donnell writes about the potential for stronger laws to protect victims of gun violence, quoting PI's Lisa Fujie Parks:
"Increased activism on the part of young people affected by school shootings is coming at a critical time in the gun safety movement, says Prevention Institute associate program manager Lisa Fujie Parks.
'What gives me a lot of hope is that never before have we had such a strong research base to know what kinds of policies will be effective,' says Parks. 'And we’re reaching that tipping point when it comes to both policy changes and...
AlterNet: February 26, 2018
PI's Ruben Cantu's latest blog featured in AlterNet, "Building community resilience to weather climate change," explores how climate change is even more destructive to communities that already face adverse experiences:
"While we all share the same warming planet, the effects of climate change aren’t experienced evenly across societies. Climate change poses a disproportionate threat to communities that already face multiple challenges, including economic disinvestment, higher rates of violence, and exposure to other environmental hazards."
February 17, 2018
In the wake of Parkland, Doug Wilks of Deseret News reports on how students across the country are advocating for policy change and community-driven solutions to protect communities from gun violence. "They are turning their terror into anger, and action, something lawmakers in Washington, D.C., and perhaps adults in general, have chosen not to do." He highlights the importance of approaching the gun violence epidemic with different lenses, citing Prevention Institute as an organization that views gun violence as a public health crisis.
High Desert Daily Press: February 7, 2018
High Desert Daily Press covers how folks in High Desert are looking to the St. Joseph Health Community Partnership Fund's Intersections Initiative for a community prevention approach to issues like homelessness, crime, and housing. PI's Sandra Vierra is quoted: “We need to be part of the policy-making process so we can turn things around,” Vierra said. “Our call to action, or opportunity, is to move upstream and get to the root of the problem.”
