European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 13, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday May 13, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 9 health Core Success key imagination of program intrigues other services agencies by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington a health care program designed to harness and focus the collective imagination of the air Force medical sen ice has in such a re sounding Success that older military health care Agen cies we clamouring to join. Col. Theodore Oatley director of the air Force s 2 year old Center for health Core innovation Al Brooks fab Texas and his staff recently briefed official from the Navy army veterans administration and Public health service on becoming part of the innovation network with All the agencies responding positively. The program has put Oatley and his staff in a Posi Tion to act As a focal Point Lor ideas from health car providers in the Field on How to improve medical care for military beneficiaries. Hundreds of such innovations have poured in and the Center recently released its second compilation of the Best ones. The Catalon covers the spectrum of health services including administration aerospace Medicine dental services mental health pharmacy operations and nutritional services with Ench entry followed by Ihen ame and phone number of the person who developed the concept. A Sample from the Catalon the denial clinic at  a West Ger Many. Tills Short notice appointment cancellations by keeping a standby till of other patients who could re Spond quickly to openings the Hospital 01 . Sawyer fab mich., now uses the local remarks category on leave and earning statements to remind personnel who Are gelling ready to move 10 an overseas assignment that they need to be tested for the aids virus. The base Hospital at Dyess fab Texas has system in which As Many As seven beepers representing available internists anaesthetists surgeons and other specialists can be reached by dealing a single number saving crucial response time for heart attacks and other emergencies the medical clinic at Raf Fairford England has a Home visit program for mothers who have just Given birth that provides emotional support As Well As practical guidance on the care of Newborn children. The Hospital at hell Nikon a Greece has peo ple visit All patients admitted to local greek hospitals to provide a Liaison in a strange environment. At Torrejon a Spain the Hospital has attached non flying flight surgeons to base squadrons for train ing and flying duties one Day a month increasing the number of experienced flight surgeons who would be available in wartime. The air Force regional medical Center Al was Baden West Germany has established army and Navy liaisons to help smooth service specific logistical needs of patients and their family members who Are not part of the air Force. It runs the Gamut from ideas that save maybe five minutes out of a Day to millions of dollars a year Galley said. And the Best thing about it is that people can pick and choose the ideas that Best Mil their own  Mallcy said the military ii being forced to develop More creative and non traditional approaches to health care because of shrinking budget. With current fiscal constraints we All have to do More with less he said. Expanding the air Force information network to other military health care agencies and eventually to Federal agencies outside the defense department can Only help in that Effort by providing a wider Pool of ideas for further improvements he said. There s no guarantee that the people at the top know everything there is to know he said. By Lap Ping the Energy of the people in the trenches we can provide answers to problems that we May not have Al the Headquarters level. The Bottom line is Access to and timeliness of health Tare and that s what we re striving to improve with this program Wii generation retiring in Comfort study finds Washington tap much of the i generation that fought in world War ii and returned Home to create an economic and baby Boom is retiring in com fort a Florida researcher reports. More Ihan Hal of retirees age 65 to 74 have income a double the poverty level and 12 percent form an elite group with income from Al least three sources according Locharles f. Longino of the University of  elderly affluence in t spread evenly across the nation Longino reports in the june edition of Ameri can demographics  Are a Cluster of Stales with a Large share of the comfortably retired Longino said in analysing 1980 census data the most recent information Avain Able with sufficient detail for the study. Connecticut Florida Hawaii Nevada and new Jer sey had Many of the comfortably retired while the pension elite made Strong showings in Connecticut and Washington Longino  world War ii gis reaped the benefits of government programs that provided educations and Home Loans Cost of living escalators for their social Security benefits and Federal Laws protecting private pensions Longino noted. In addition Many were Able to invest in stocks and Bonds in a Lime of booming Economy. Longino looked at three groups of retirees in his study those aged 55 to 64, 65-74 and 75 and Over in 198 1. He termed them the i generation after the term government Issue which became popular for sol Diers in the 1940s.jusl Over half 51.1 percent of those in the 6s-74 potential Retiree Sas a percent of social Security taxpayers cu1990 " e32025 i . 35% Switzerland Shutco Era Ploumi of non. Neil Khz  age group were listed As comfortable and 12.3 percent were in the  the younger group 59,1 percent were Comfort Able and 4.7 percent were in the elite. They were less Likely to qualify As elite since few were receiving social Security in addition to other retirement benefits. The oldest group listed 37.5 percent u comfortable and  percent As elite. Few in this group had income eco Reatini assets and most completed a Large share of their working lives before world War ii when pension benefits were less common and  found the comfortably retired of the 65-74 age group in such resort and retirement Stales Florida. Nevada and new Jersey in Connecticut where Many new York executives have retired and in  has a Large asian population in which extended families Are More common a situation which boosts the household income measure used As the basis for this calculation Longino  the pension elite Conne Licul and Washington placed Well As did Florida Maryland and new Jersey Longino also noted thai Here Are clusters of affluent elderly in some metropolitan areas he cited As examples fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach Fla. San Diego and Palm Springs Calif. And along the East coast of Mobile Bay  is director of the Center for social research in aging at the University of Miami and his work was partially funded by the american association of re tired persons. American demographics published by Dow Jones 4 co. Inc., report on population mailers. More depression anxiety noted in Vietnam vets Washington a american sol Diers who served in Vietnam suffer from More depression anxiety and alcohol abuse than do other gis but medical examinations reveal no physical indications of exposure to agent Orange a herbicide used widely during the Vietnam War. Those Are among the findings of the Vietnam experience study a Federal report prepared for release thursday at a Senate committee hearing. The study conducted by the National centers for disease control and release for publication in the journal of the Ameri can medical association also showed that Vietnam veterans have a greater hearing toss and a measurably lower sperm count. Cd based its findings on Telephone interviews with 7,924 gis who served in Vietnam and 7,364 veterans who served elsewhere. Those interviewed were selected randomly front enlisted men who entered the army from 196swi97i. Subsample of 2,490 Vietnam veterans and 1,972 Ouier soldiers also underwent extensive physical examinations As part of the study. Vietnam veterans were almost twice As Ilary history of the two groups examine the former soldiers they could detect few medical difference Between the Vietnam veterans and inc others. The study said the difference Between what the Vietnam veterans reported and what was found in examination May be the result  stress. Vietnam veterans May have reported More symptoms and past medical conditions because they experienced More stress than did non Vietnam veterans the study said. Vietnam veterans also showed More anxiety and depression in a Battery of psychological tests. Stress can produce anxiety depression and a variety of somatic physical symptoms the study said. The Vietnam veterans arc More Likely to experience psychological problems the study said. About 14 percent of the Viel vets Are abusing alcohol compared to 9percent of the other group. For anxiety the difference is 5 percent to 3 percent and for the two groups of soldiers. _ _ soldiers who served in Vietnam panic the Toups Bill the study said data suggest ulary those in combat suffered More hear that More Vietnam veterans suffered drug ing loss than those who served elsewhere the study said. Likely i9.fi percent to 11.1 percent to re depression s percent to 2 percent port that they had health problems. Yet drug use was Toul the same Between when physicians who did not know the Mil the groups j Ujj hat More related deaths. Fifteen percent of the Vietnam veterans also suffered some symptoms of combat related Post traumatic stress disorder and 2 percent reported such symptoms the month of the interviews. The study also said that the perceive exposure to herbicides a perception that in itself May Lead to additional stress is associated both with psychological problems and Wii self reported Adverse health conditions bul is not associated with objective measures  Many in the Vietnam veterans of Amer Ica organization have blamed health prob lems on exposure during the War to agent Orange a herbicide used to thin vegetation in dense Jungle combat areas. Use of agent Orange was discontinued after it was deter mined that it contained dioxin a Polen cancer causing chemical. The cd study however said it found no difference in the rate of cancers Between Vietnam veterans were 40 percent More Likely 10 have High frequency hearing loss than gis not in Vietnam the study said. It added that this is consistent wild result of several studio of array troops thai show that exposure to military Iris results in irreversible hearing impairment. A study of semen Sample taken from571 members of the two groups showed that the Vietnam Veteran it twice As Likely to have a Low sperm concentration and 1.5limes is Likely to have Low Levels of Normal sperm cells. And yet the study said the two groups fathered about the same num Ber of children 1.4 each for the Vietnam vets and 1.5 for the non Vietnam soldiers and reported about the same rate of birth defects in their children we were not Able to determine the Rea sons for the differences in sperm characteristics Between Vietnam and non Vietnam veterans the report said