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Childhood Obesity and Disparities in Obesity Care
The prevalence of obesity has surged in the setting of the obesity epidemic. Among U.S. children and adolescents 2-19 years old, over the ten years... -
Considerations for the Role and Treatment of Emotional Eating
Obesity is a challenging and increasingly prevalent medical concern worldwide. The relationship between obesity and numerous other medical conditions... -
Update in weight management within primary care in the era of GLP-1
Note: this piece is an update to the 2024 article Integrating Weight Management in Primary Care, published in this journal, which outlined practical...
Archive
Perspectives in Primary Care features writing from practitioners, activists, and community members representing organizations, practices, and institutions across the United States and around the world.
Healing Across the Divides: Peace Building Through Health
Shortly after Healing Across the Divides began its work, the Israeli army had placed boulders at the entrance to Sinjil—a Palestinian town in the central West Bank—blocking it off from the outside world. A local Palestinian woman contacted me, persistently urging me to “tell President Bush to end the occupation.” And doing everything possible within my realm of control, I ...
Health Equity
COVID-19
Public Health
Burnout / Resiliency / Moral Injury
BIPOC
Behavioral Health / Mental Health
An Intersectional Approach to Understanding the Mental Health Challenges of America’s Essential Workers
In an effort to flatten the curve and promote containment of the novel coronavirus, many safety precautions have been enacted, including shelter-in-place ordinances. However, several members of the workforce, such as healthcare workers, bus drivers, sanitation workers, cashiers, and fast-food employees, collectively referred to as “essential workers,” have been deemed exempt from such policies. While there is general consensus around the importance of essential workers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been less attention towards the interplay of identity and ...
Primary Care
Health Systems Transformation
COVID-19
Behavioral Health / Mental Health
Value in Health Care
Here’s Why Mental Healthcare Is So Unaffordable & How COVID-19 Might Help Change This
If you ask a patient to describe their experience finding a therapist or psychiatrist in the community, don’t be surprised if ‘expensive,’ ‘difficult,’ and ‘discouraging’ are some of the first words that come to mind. The decades-long separation of mental healthcare from physical health has left patients and clinicians alike with serious challenges navigating options for care. And the cost has been much more than just inconvenience—our poorly integrated system is responsible for
The COVID-19 Pandemic: Now is the Time for Primary Care to Address Loneliness
With more than 6 million diagnosed cases and nearly 200,000 deaths in the United States, the novel coronavirus is our nation’s most pressing public health crisis. And further, physical distancing measures have resulted in significant
LGBTQ Youth Face Unique Challenges Amidst COVID-19
The physical toll of the COVID-19 pandemic is tangible, though its impact on mental health is just starting to be understood—and this includes the mental health impact on LGBTQ youth. At baseline, LGBTQ youth are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide compared ...
The Impacts of Racism on the Health of our Nation
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has a legacy of being outspoken on issues that matter to our patients and the communities in which our members serve. We advocate loudly for our most marginalized patients, including those who are transgender, those with limited English proficiency, those with disabilities and, of course, people of color. It is in that spirit we issued a
Primary Care and COVID-19
Primary care is the foundation for population health and well-being. Unfortunately, our efforts to address the coronavirus pandemic have exposed many critical structural deficiencies in our country’s health care system, most notably the lack of investment in primary care. Equal access and equitable care While the disparate impact of the coronavirus on