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Biomedical subjects

D E Altman

Publications and source records attributed to D E Altman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Americans' views on the use and regulation of dietary supplements.

This article presents the views of Americans on what the government's future role should be in regulating or overseeing the growing sales of dietary supplements for health purposes. Based on results of multiple national opinion surveys, including the views of both users and nonusers of supplements, we found that a substantial percentage of Americans surveyed reported that they regularly take dietary supplements as a part of their routine health regimen. However, they reported that they do not discuss the use of dietary supplements with their physicians because they believe that the physicians know little or nothing about these products and may be biased against them. Many users felt so strongly about the potential health benefits of some of these products that they reported that they would continue to take them even if they were shown to be ineffective in scientifically conducted clinical studies. However, there also was broad public support for increased government regulation of these products. We found that a majority of Americans surveyed supported the following: to require that the Food and Drug Administration review the safety of new dietary supplements prior to their sale; to provide increased authority to remove from sale those products shown to be unsafe; and to increase government regulation to ensure that advertising claims about the health benefits of dietary supplements are true.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

The public and the welfare reform debate.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the core beliefs and policy preferences of the American public toward changing the welfare system and providing support for low-income families. DESIGN: Results are presented from 19 telephone and in-person surveys of adults nationwide between 1937 and February 1995. SETTING: At-home interviews with adults. PARTICIPANTS: Seventeen surveys; each survey involved 1000 to 2000 adults nationwide. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The results showed that the public supports strong welfare reform measures (eg, time limits and work requirements), but it is reluctant simply to cut off welfare benefits to people and leave them without some means of basic support. The surveys identified five underlying beliefs that shape the public's policy preferences: (1) welfare causes more harm than good because it discourages work and causes families to break up; (2) welfare should be a temporary transition to work, not a long-term subsidy for low-income families; (3) the country spends too much on welfare programs; (4) lack of economic opportunity as well as personal responsibility is the reason people need welfare; and (5) both government and people themselves have a shared responsibility for ensuring that people have a minimum standard of living. CONCLUSIONS: The outcome of the welfare reform debate will have a substantial impact on the 21% of the nation's children who now live in poverty. The jury is still out on what the public will support in the welfare reform debate. The Medicaid program is caught in the middle of the welfare reform debate, and its ultimate fate may rely on state rather than federal decision making.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Media coverage of managed care: is there a negative bias?

We conducted content analysis of media coverage (both print and broadcast) of managed care over the period 1 January 1990 to 30 June 1997, examining in detail more than 2,100 randomly selected stories. Coverage changed noticeably over the seven and a half-year period, with early years focused on managed care as a business story, and later years focused more on patient care and concerns about backlash. Coverage differed substantially depending on media source. The large majority of all media coverage of managed care was neutral in tone. However, the tone of coverage has become more critical over time and differs dramatically by source of media. The most visible media sources--television and newspaper special series--conveyed negative stories in more than half of their coverage and most often used anecdotes in telling their stories.

Communication↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Understanding the managed care backlash.

This paper examines the depth and breadth of the public backlash against managed care and the reasons for it. We conclude that the backlash is real and influenced by at least two principal factors: (1) A significant proportion of Americans report problems with managed care plans; and (2) the public perceives threatening and dramatic events in managed care that have been experienced by just a few. In addition, public concern is driven by fear that regardless of how well their plans perform today, care might not be available or paid for when they are very sick.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Health care in the upcoming 2000 election.

Health care will be one of the top issues in the year 2000 election, but voters' interest in health care is not as great as it was in 1992. There is no single unifying theme to the health care issue. Rather, there are multiple concerns: making Medicare financially sound, providing coverage for prescription medicines for seniors, covering the uninsured, and addressing patients' rights. Voters favor an incremental approach to expanding health insurance coverage rather than a major program. They express about equal levels of support for plans similar in concept to those proposed by presidential candidates Al Gore and George W. Bush.

Attitude to Health↗