HJBR May/Jun 2022

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE I  MAY / JUN 2022 43 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalBR.com their own recovery efforts. The summit explored different practices and policies to move Louisiana forward from these storms and COVID-19, focus- ing on whole health and how participants can fur- ther support these efforts.” Gov. John Bel Edwards opened the two-day summit, followed by Gail Christopher, MD, exec- utive director, National Collaborative for Health Equity, who served as the keynote speaker. Davondra Brown, director of the Bureau of Com- munity Partnerships and Health Equity for the Louisiana Department of Health, was also on hand to discuss how the department is address- ing health equity and moving Louisiana forward. The five key objectives that were outlined during the summit included defining equitable recovery and providing examples of policies that have a proven or promising impact on health out- comes, health equity, and achieving LA40by2030; explaining how a data-driven equity approach to social and political determinants of health, includ- ing place, race, and poverty, contributes to Loui- siana’s recovery efforts; engaging participants in advancing policy initiatives, such as addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES), improv- ing women’s health, adopting a living wage, and greater accountability on improving health out- comes and equitable recovery; identifying the roles various audiences, including policymak- ers, communities, and individuals, can play in an equitable recovery; and providing updates and promoting collaboration, civic engagement, and collective impact for the State Health Improve- ment Plan (SHIP) and improving Louisiana’s health ranking. The summit was organized via the Louisiana Center for Health Equity in collaboration with the Louisiana Department of Health Office of Pub- lic Health and Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Louisiana Healthcare Connections Recognized as a Multicultural Healthcare Leader In recognition of its continued efforts to reduce healthcare inequities and address social determi- nants of health within the Medicaid population it serves, Louisiana Healthcare Connections has been awarded the National Committee for Qual- ity Assurance (NCQA) Distinction in Multicultural Health Care. “Our mission at Louisiana Healthcare Connec- tions is to transform Louisiana’s health and cre- ate health equity for our Medicaid population,” said Jamie Schlottman, chief executive officer. “Eliminating disparities in healthcare is essential to improving the quality of care we provide to all our members.” The NCQA Distinction in Multicultural Health Care identifies organizations such as Louisiana Healthcare Connections that lead the market in providing culturally and linguistically sensitive ser- vices and working to reduce health care dispar- ities. NCQA awards distinction to organizations that meet or exceed its rigorous requirements for multicultural healthcare. “Cultural competency is crucial to providing high quality healthcare,” said NCQA president Margaret E. O’Kane. “Organizations achiev- ing Multicultural Health Care Distinction are leaders in closing the ethnic and racial dispari- ties gap, and NCQA commends them for their dedication.” The industry-leading accreditation is a rigor- ous assessment of a health plans’ structure and process, clinical quality and patient satisfaction. Louisiana Healthcare Connections was not only accredited, but also received a perfect score from the accrediting board. “Receiving a 100% score from NCQA is remark- able,” said Yolanda Wilson, Louisiana Healthcare Connections vice president of quality improve- ment. “Our efforts to directly promote health equity, advocate for our communities and train on cultural sensitivity and bias has allowed us to provide an even higher standard of care for the diverse populations we are privileged to serve.” ExerciseMay Treat Long COVID- induced Diabetes, Depression While no medically recognized treatment exists for Long COVID, exercise may break the vicious cycle of inflammation that can lead to develop- ing diabetes and depression months after a per- son recovers from the virus. “We know that Long COVID causes depres- sion, and we know that it can increase blood glu- cose levels to the point where people develop diabetic ketoacidosis, a potentially life-threaten- ing condition common among people with type 1 diabetes,” said Candida Rebello, PhD, a research scientist at Pennington Biomedical Research Cen- ter. “Exercise can help. Exercise takes care of the inflammation that leads to elevated blood glu- cose and the development and progression of diabetes and clinical depression.” It’s unclear how many people suffer from Long COVID. But estimates range from 15% to 80% of the people infected. Based on those figures, it’s possible that as many as 1 million of Louisiana’s residents suffer from Long COVID. Long COVID causes what the Centers for Dis- ease Control describes as “a constellation of other debilitating symptoms” including brain fog, muscle pain, and fatigue that can last for months after a person recovers from the initial infection. “For example, a person may not get very sick from COVID-19, but six months later, long after the cough or fever is gone, they develop diabe- tes,” Rebello said. One solution is exercise. Rebello and her co- authors describe their hypothesis in “Exercise as a Moderator of Persistent Neuroendocrine Symp- toms of COVID-19,” published in the journal Exer- cise and Sports Science Reviews. “You don’t have to run a mile or even walk a mile at a brisk pace,” said Rebello. “Walking slowly is also exercising. Ideally, you would do a 30-minute session of exercise. But if you can only do 15 minutes at a time, try to do two 15-min- ute sessions. If you can only walk 15 minutes once a day, do that. The important thing is to try. It doesn’t matter where you begin. You can gradually build up to the recommended level of exercise.” “We know that physical activity is a key compo- nent to a healthy life. This research shows that exercise can be used to break the chain reaction of inflammation that leads to high blood sugar levels, and then to the development or progres- sion of type 2 diabetes,” said Pennington Bio- medical Executive Director John Kirwan, PhD, who is also a co-author of the paper. This work was supported in part by award num- ber 1K99AG065419-02 from the National Insti- tute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health and from the National Institute of General Medi- cal Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, which funds the Louisiana Clinical and Transla- tional Science Center through award number U54