Latest news with #BrittanyBarber
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Employees, families predict turmoil if Pierce County center for disabled adults closes
Dozens of people spoke out in Buckley on Tuesday night against two bills in the state Legislature that would close the Rainier School, a facility that serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. About 40 or 50 people went to the 'Save Rainier School' town hall at the Buckley Fire station, 611 South Division St. The Washington Federation of State Employees sponsored the event. Many of the people who attended work for the Rainier School or have a family member who resides there. 'It affects the residents there, that's all they've known,' said Danielle Modrow, an employee at the Rainier School. 'They don't know anything else, and it's very sad the Senate is trying to do this – they're taking their home away.' The two Democratic-backed bills – one in the state Senate and one in the state House – would shut down the Rainier School. The House bill, if passed, also would close the Yakima Valley School in Eastern Washington, but would maintain respite and crisis beds in the area. The bills both say the Rainier School would shut down on June 30, 2027 and would not be able to accept new residents in the meantime. Both bills have been deemed Necessary to Implement the Budget, meaning they are not subject to the usual cutoff dates to pass out of committee. On March 24, both bills were implemented into the House and Senate budgets. The legislature must negotiate and adopt a budget before the session ends on April 27. The Rainier School has served people with disabilities in Buckley since October 1939. It includes housing, medical care, occupational and speech therapies, employment, nutrition services, recreation facilities and more. The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services – the agency that runs the Rainier School – previously told The News Tribune that there are 81 residents and 460 full-time employees, with the state paying $52 million to run the facility each year. Many of the people who attended the town hall were concerned about what would happen to residents if the facility shut down. Brittany Barber, a lead investigator at the Rainier School, said many clients would have to go to the state's two residential habilitation centers that would remain open – Fircrest School in Shoreline and Lakeland Village in Medical Lake, a town in Spokane County. 'I spoke to a gentleman earlier whose currently back at Rainier School. His parents live in Vancouver,' Barber said. 'If Rainier School closes and he moves to another RHC, they're having to drive from Vancouver to Spokane to be able to visit him, or all the way up to Fircrest, and there are no other settings close to their home that he can go to.' DSHS previously told The News Tribune that if the Rainier School shuts down, employees would work with each person to find the best choice for them. Options include the Fircrest School and Lakeland Village or a community-based setting, such as an adult family home, a companion home, a group home or supported living. Many attendees at the town hall said the Rainier School has resources for residents that many community-based organizations do not and that they are worried some residents will end up in jails, hospitals or on the streets. Cathy Frie, an attendee who worked at the Rainier School for 42 years before retiring, said she has seen many residents go to community-based settings and then have to go to the Rainier School for help they weren't receiving. 'I've seen so many clients come over here over-medicated or on the wrong medication because the community doctors are not specialized in the interactions of different drugs,' Frie said. Marie Buss, another attendee, pointed out that a closure would affect potential future residents. Buss's niece is 11 years old and has intellectual and behavioral disabilities, as well as a condition that means she will someday have to use a wheelchair. 'I've always kind of had that thought that, if it came to the point where it was too difficult to care for her, she needed specialized assistance, there was always Rainier School that she could go to,' Buss said. 'That was an option for her and with that option going away, the fear comes out of, 'What's going to happen with my niece and where will she go?'' Courtney Brunell, the city administrator of Buckley, attended the meeting and told the crowd that the Rainier School is the largest employer in the town of 5,114. She said the city is measuring the economic impacts that could happen if the school closed. Employees also repeatedly said they were scared of losing their jobs. Both bills order DSHS to offer employees 'opportunities to work in state-operated living alternatives and other state facilities and programs.' Attendees also noted that, with community-based programs, it could be hard to determine if they are safe or if residents will be well-cared for. 'We're a community within a community,' Frie said. 'The clients still at the Rainier School? If they see me, they will come up to me and visit with me. You don't find communities like that very often.' Stacy Dym, spokesperson for The Arc, a disability rights organization in Washington state, told The News Tribune in an interview that residential habilitation centers like the Rainier School are based on 'an extremely old model of care' and that smaller, community-based options provide better care. Dym pointed out that Washington is the only state on the West Coast that has residential habilitation centers, and 18 states across the country – including Oregon and California – have closed such centers completely. 'We have a long history in Washington state of successfully transitioning people in their community,' Dym said. 'My sister lived in a state institution, and we went through the same kind of fears and trepidation – and [it still worked] because Washington state has a good planning process.' She also mentioned that Washington state closed the Frances Haddon Morgan Center in December 2011 with successful results. A report from DSHS in May 2013 said the 52 people who had been living at Frances Haddon Morgan Center found new homes at other residential habilitation centers or in community-based residences. It also said those 52 people were 'remain[ing] stable in their new homes.' The Senate and House bills say DSHS has until June 30, 2027 to come up with a plan for each resident. 'People are not going to be turned out in a day, they are not going to fill our jails and hospitals,' Dym said. 'There's not a good reason to fear that these individuals that have been left uncared for or that we don't have sufficient time to plan for these needs.' Dym said that residents don't have to go to community-based facilities if they don't think it would be a good fit — there are still lots of capacity at one of the state's other residential habilitation centers. She also said the Rainier School should shut down because it has a long history of abuse. The News Tribune reported in 2018 that a former supervisor was sentenced for sex crimes against residents. In 2020, a resident's family sued the state, alleging the Rainier School staff's neglect following her bunion surgery led to her death in 2017. The News Tribune asked Dym if she thought moving residents to community-based facilities was the safer choice. She said abuse is always a possibility, but residents can experience better care in smaller settings. 'Abuse is something that we cannot guarantee won't happen anywhere ever, but it is something we can plan for,' Dym said. 'Large congregate care is more susceptible to a level of abuse because people are not treated individually. When you're all at the cafeteria at the same time, you're all going to the meeting together at the same time, your activities are based on what the larger group wants and not what you want or need, there is always that danger.' Dym said community-based settings give residents more freedom and personalized care. 'In a community-based setting, they are quite happy – they get to do things like pick the color of their room, or have a pet for the first time, or see their family more frequently,' Dym said. 'We're really excited because we believe that it is the right thing to do – to move to Washington state into the future of care.'
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Sugary drinks linked to greater oral cancer risk, study indicates
ST. PAUL, Minn., March 13 (UPI) -- A study released Thursday found that women who consumed at least one sugar-sweetened beverage daily had a nearly five times greater chance of developing oral cancer than those who largely avoided sugary soft drinks. The University of Washington study comes as cases of oral cavity cancer are increasing at an "alarming" rate among mainly younger, non-smoking, non-drinking patients without any other identifiable risk factors. Some have theorized that diet may play a role in the rising numbers. Oral cavity cancer, for many decades, was primarily associated with older men exposed to well-known cancer risks, including tobacco, alcohol and betel nut chewing. With the advent of anti-smoking health campaigns, the overall number of smoking-related oral cavity cancer cases in Western nations has been steadily declining. Still, more than 355,000 new cases of oral cavity cancer were diagnosed globally in 2020, with nearly 177,000 deaths. Most concerning, however, has been an increase in cases among non-smokers globally, especially among younger White women. The cause of this rise remains unknown. Among the possible culprits that have been ruled out is human papillomavirus, or HPV, a common infection spread through sex. The University of Washington study, published in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, found that high sugary soft drink intake was associated with a significantly increased risk of oral cancer in otherwise low-risk women, regardless of their smoking or drinking habits. While sugar-sweetened beverages have previously been eyed for links to colorectal and other gastrointestinal cancers, they have never before been studied in connection with cancers of the head and neck. The results may point the way for a new direction in seeking the cause of oral cancer in low-risk women, according to lead author Dr. Brittany Barber, an assistant professor of otolaryngology head and neck surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine and her study colleagues. "Oral cavity cancer is less common than breast or colon cancer, with an annual incidence of approximately 4-4.3 cases per 100,000. However, the incidence of oral cavity cancer is increasing in non-smoking, non-drinking women," Barber said. "Our study showed that, in women, consuming one or more sugar-sweetened beverage per day was associated with a 4.87 times higher risk of oral cavity cancer or three people more per 100,000 diagnosed. "Clinicians should be aware of the both the oral health risks associated with consumption of sugary beverages and the emerging oral cavity cancer epidemic in women." The data was compiled from responses to the national Nurses' Health Study, begun in 1976, and Nurses' Health Study II, begun in 1989, which contain survey information submitted by nearly 163,000 female nurses every two years over the course of three decades on demographics, lifestyle and medical conditions. From that database of nurses' study participants, the researchers zeroed in on 124 reported cases of invasive oral cavity cancer. In their models, those nurses who reported drinking one or more sugar-sweetened beverage daily (or five people per 100,000 population) had a 4.87 times higher risk of oral cavity cancer compared with those who drank fewer than one beverage monthly (two per 100,000), increasing the rate of oral cancer by three more people per 100,000 population. When restricted to both nonsmokers or light smokers and nondrinkers or light drinkers, the risk of oral cancer was 5.46 times higher. The latest findings build on earlier studies showing that sugary drinks are associated with periodontal disease in young adults, which in turn has been linked with oral cancer. "Although this association does not imply causality, our hypothesis is that diets with higher added sugar may contribute to chronic inflammation, which may, in turn, contribute to the risk of [oral cavity cancer]," the authors state. The study is indeed "eye-opening" and addresses "an important question with an elegant study design and generating clear and compelling results," said Dr. Arnaud Bewley, an associate professor who chairs the Department of Otolaryngology at UC-Davis Health. Bewley, who was not involved in the study, told UPI in emailed comments he is "not surprised that sugary beverages play some role in oral cancer etiology. The high-sugar nature of the modern Western diet is being increasingly understood to be at the root of many chronic diseases, and this study adds to that list. "As the authors point out, it may not be the sugar itself directly inciting the cancer; It may be the chronic inflammation from dental and gum disease, the alteration in the oral microbiome or even the dental interventions that follow," he said. Consumption of high sugar beverages also may be associated with other dietary habits or other behaviors that were not captured in the survey and are therefore impossible to control for, he noted. Agreeing with that assessment was another noted otolaryngologist, Dr. Ilya Likhterov, an associate professor of otolaryngology of the University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine, who told UPI he suspects the consumption of sugary beverages might be a surrogate for a generally compromised and unhealthy "oral biome" in the participants who developed oral cancer. "We do know that there are young patients who are non-smokers and non-drinkers who don't have the traditional, environmental risk factors for cancer that do develop [oral cavity cancer, and there's been a lot of work being done trying to identify the cause of it," he said. Regarding sugar-cancer link, "my first thought would be oral hygiene," he added. "We know that patients with gingival disease or chronic inflammation of the mouth have known risk factors for oral cavity cancer. "Like in the gut, the oral microbiome has 'good' bacteria and 'bad' bacteria. Sugar intake can really change the balance, and that could be a cause for the increase in incidence of oral cavity cancer." That possibility could be a direction for further research focusing on the effect of changing oral bacteria on the immune system and its ability to fight off mutations, Likhterov said.
