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California emergency departments (EDs) treated about 143,000 people experiencing homelessness in 2019, according to hospital discharge records. Almost half of homeless patients visited the ED four or more times in the year.Medi-Cal covered 70 percent of ED visits by homeless patients, underscoring the importance of the CalAIM program, which provides added Medi-Cal benefits, such as housing supports and case management.Linking discharge data with homeless assistance program data can offer insights into how people engage with EDs and homeless services across the state, and throughout the year, as well as help evaluate programs and public investments.This work has been supported, in part, by the University of California Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives grants MRP-19-600774 and M21PR3278

This retrospective cohort study sought to examine participant skill and functional progression in an adaptive snow sports program for children and young adults with disabilities.One hundred twelve individuals, majority male, who participated in at least 2 adapted ski or snowboard sessions were evaluated by trained adaptive instructors. The primary outcome measure was standardized skill level ranging from 1-novice to 9-expert. Secondary outcome measures of cognitive, emotional, social, physical, and independence scores, were rated on a scale from 1–5, with 5 being the highest.The median number of sessions per participant was 4 (range 2–65 sessions) and median participation duration was 2 years (range 2–10 years). A Wilcoxon-rank sum test demonstrated an improvement in final skill level compared to baseline (p < 0.0001), with an average increase of 1.2 skill levels per participant and an average increase of 0.48 skill levels per year of involvement. There were also improvements from initial session to final session in all secondary outcomes: social (p = 0.002), emotional (p = 0.018), physical (p < 0.0001), and independence (p < 0.0001) scores.Overall, there were improvements in all measured domains. This uses objective and functional measures to validate ongoing engagement with this adaptive skiing program at the athlete, volunteer, and organizational levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]