From the opening keynote of this week's National Health Journalism Fellowship seminar, prevention and health beyond just health care have been common themes. Today's afternoon panelists gave examples of programs that take simple, novel approaches to integrating physical activity into people's daily lives.

Take a Walk

Stan Dorn, senior research associate at the Urban Institute, says that in the game of health care reform legislation, "We are in the playoffs."

The players are largely Democrats and the few Republicans who are not opposing reforms outright. Here is a roundup of the agreements and debates in Washington, D.C., as well as a few story ideas, which Dorn outlined in this morning's seminar with the National Health Journalism Fellows.

Behind the construction projects surrounding the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, affordable housing is hard to come by. There were three apartment buildings in the block just north of the stadium, between Georgia and Figueroa Streets, but in the last year, tenants from two of the buildings were forced to move when the buildings were condemned. Which appears to be just fine by owner, Frank McHugh.

The National Health Journalism Fellows will take a tour of the varied landscapes of Downtown Los Angeles this afternoon. Their guides, Sandra McNeill, Executive Director of the Figueroa Corridor Community Land Trust, and Roberto Bustillo, a tenant organizer for Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE), say that the much lauded revitalization projects are exacerbating problems faced by long-time tenants in the area.

The New York Times reported in September that domestic violence programs in the state of California have have been largely eliminated. The Domestic Violence Program's last $16 million was cut completely in July, in efforts to close a near $24 billion state budget deficit.

Violence is a public health problem, said Eve F. Sheedy, Deputy City Attorney, Domestic Violence Legislative and Policy Advisor in the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office. It matters to public health that these resources have been cut.

Over $1 billion in services are poured into the 13 poorest neighborhoods of Alameda County each year. It is what Anthony Iton calls "services overkill."