RESUMEN
Rhode Island College has spearheaded state-wide age-friendly initiatives while simultaneously fostering three principles of Age-Friendly Universities on its campus. The principles consist of dialogue with advocacy organizations for older adults, enhanced student understanding of the impact of an aging society that includes its benefits, and promotion of gerontological research in higher education. The challenges encountered in grafting age-friendliness onto both "town" (the community) and "gown" (the campus) have been limited resources, small-scale endeavors, barriers to dissemination of information, and difficulties in mobilizing older adults to share governance. The enlistment of students addresses these challenges by the unpaid work they provide in exchange for course credit; their deployment as navigators for older adults to better utilize social media and as producers of age-friendly educational content; cultivation of their collaboration with community agencies to assist older adults via informal, temporary, flexible arrangements; and participation in intergenerational learning experiences that can bolster volunteering.
Asunto(s)
Envejecimiento Saludable , Relaciones Intergeneracionales , Universidades/organización & administración , Anciano , Conducta Cooperativa , Humanos , Vida Independiente , Aprendizaje Basado en Problemas , Evaluación de Programas y Proyectos de Salud , Medios de Comunicación Sociales , Factores de TiempoRESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: The impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on the utilization of the emergency department (ED) for periapical abscess (PA) is unknown. The objectives of this study were to provide nationwide estimates of hospital-based ED visits with PA and to examine the effect of the ACA on the use of EDs for PAs. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) for 2008 to 2014. All ED visits with a diagnosis of PA were selected. The International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision-Clinical Modification code was used to identify PA. Patient- and hospital-level characteristics were examined. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data. RESULTS: From 2008 to 2014, a total of 3,505,633 ED visits for PA occurred. The proportion of ED visits with PA significantly increased over the study period (from 460,260 in 2008 to 545,693 in 2014). Medicaid was the primary payer (30.3%) and more than 40% were uninsured. Mean charge per PA-related ED visit was $1080.50 and total PA-related ED charge across the United States was $3.4 billion. Among those hospitalized following PA-related ED visits, mean hospitalization charges were $34,245 and total hospitalization charges were $5.7 billion. CONCLUSION: Oral health continues to be overlooked in health care. A large proportion of ED visits with PA were made by those covered by Medicaid and uninsured. The passing of the ACA has not reduced the number of ED visits with PA.