HAMBURG, Iowa (AP) — Some people forced from their homes by Missouri River floodwaters will be leaving their refuge at an Iowa state park. Waubonsie State Park sits dry a few miles north of the southwest Iowa community of Hamburg, which was hit hard after two nearby river levees failed. Park manager Matt Moles told Omaha, Nebraska, station KETV the park had about 80 flood refugees staying there during peak occupancy this past spring. But that’s dwindled as people returned to their homes or found other accommodations.

Other flood victims found temporary quarters elsewhere in Iowa and even across the river in Nebraska. But now winter approaches, and Iowa officials say park water service must be turned off because of the impending freeze and the need for repairs. Electricity still will be available, and off-season camping will be allowed.

RED OAK, Iowa – U.S Republican Senator Joni Ernst, a combat veteran, has joined a bipartisan group of senators in calling on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to take action following a troubling report from the Government Accountability Office that found Veterans Health Administration facilities are hiring providers with a history of misconduct. Ernst and her colleagues are requesting detailed information from the VA about the steps it will take to address the problem.

The Senators wrote, “Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities lack adequate safeguards to ensure that veterans are not treated by providers who have a history of adverse actions against them related to providing substandard patient care, endangering public safety, substance misuse, or unprofessional conduct. We urge you to take immediate action to correct this issue and to ensure quality care for veterans who have sacrificed much in the brave defense of our freedoms.”

The Senators point to a disturbing and inconsistent adherence to policies related to verifying a potential provider’s credentials. This is due in part to a lack of uniform and mandatory credential training across facilities. The Senators continued, “In fact, the report details that staff responsible for the implementation of these credentialing standards were unaware of the standards in at least five facilities. Without uniform policies, appropriate training, and consistent implementation, VHA continues to hire providers that lack proper credentials to the detriment of veterans.”

Earlier this year, Senator Ernst introduced the Ensure Quality Care for Our Veterans Act, which requires that every health care provider hired by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with a revoked license undergoes a third party review of that provider’s care. If the review determines that a competent practitioner would have managed the veteran’s care differently, the veteran will be notified. Ernst spoke before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee urging support for this legislation.

(Radio Iowa) — A University of Iowa pain researcher has won two grants as part of a national effort to improve treatments for pain and cut the use of opioids. Professor Kathleen Sluka says one grant funds research into why 40 to 50 percent of people develop acute pain after surgery or following a broken bone. “This study will look at biological and psychological and various different factors in the acute period to see which of those factors are important for the development of the chronic pain within six months. And also, what were any specific factors that helped those people that got better that were different between the two groups,”Sluka says.

She says very little is known about why some people recover easily from acute pain — and they hope to find pain signatures that can help them ease the pain. “Whether pharmacological therapies or non-drug therapies — to help people prevent the development of chronic pain altogether,” she says.  Sluka says cutting the source of the pain should lead to a drop in the use of opioids. “So if you have less pain and you don’t develop chronic pain — in theory there would be less use and need for opioids. And especially long-term need for opioids,” Sluka says.

Sluka is a professor of physical therapy and rehabilitation science and says they also received a grant to examine a treatment that doesn’t use opioids. “The one that we have been looking at is called transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation or TENS. And TENS is just the application of electrical current through the skin for pain control, and that activates our bodies own opioid system,” according to Sluka. She says there are a lot of benefits to using the body’s own pain killers. “When it does that it doesn’t come with all the bad side effects of taking an opioid — it just activates the pain inhibition part. We just finished a test on a clinical trial that shows that it works very well with individuals with fibromyalgia as an addition to their existing treatment plan,” Sluka says.

She says there are some products available now that use this system — but they haven’t had a lot of testing. Sluka says they are going out to 20 or 30 physical therapy practices and ask to give it to patients with fibromyalgia during treatment and see if it helps them have less pain, allows them to do more therapy, and whether it leads them to be more compliant with their physical therapy.” She hopes they want a lot more data on this type of treatment.”Our goal is to try have this for more frequent use — just because of its safety profile and because it does work for people with pain,” Sluka says.

Sluka says there’s been a lot of money put into finding ways to slow or end the opioid epidemic. She says some of it is going to be a matter of going away from the old idea that you have a pain — so you just pop a pill to take care of it. “You know there’s a lot of options out there — but I don’t think people know what all the options are. I don’t think most people think that if I go exercise that will help my pain, They think it will make it worse,” Sluka says. “But the reality is if you exercise on a regular basis and you are more active — you have less pain.”

The first grant is six-and-a-half million dollars for four years. The second award is around the same dollar amount for five years. Sluka is working with Laura Frey Law, a U-I associate professor of physical therapy and rehabilitation science, and Christopher Coffey, a U-I professor of biostatistics on the first project. The second trial is being done in collaboration with the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the U-I College of Public Health.

(Radio Iowa) — Representatives of the Obama Foundation have been in Iowa this week, looking for artifacts from Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns in Iowa. Sam Michel  is a spokesman for the foundation. “Obviously Iowa in 2008 played a huge role in the Obama campaign,” he says, “and as the museum team was designing the Obama Presidential Center they wanted to highlight the role of Iowa, the role of the people who were volunteering and working on the Obama campaign in telling the story of President and Mrs. Obama.”

Earlier this week, the foundation hosted events in Mason City and North Liberty for Obama campaign volunteers to share their stories — and their memorabilia.”Yard signs, campaign pamphlets, photos as well as things that are personal memento’s to people who worked on the campaigns, things that mean a lot to them,” Michel says, “things that help explain why they decided to work for then-Senator Obama.” There’s an event tonight (Friday) in Des Moines for more story telling and memorabilia sharing. “Right now, we’re just trying to get a good understanding of what all is out there,” Michel says. “We’ll catalog it this week, we’ll record it and then go back to Chicago, figure out what we want to display in the Presidential Center Museum and go from there.”

Tonight’s Obama Foundation meeting will be held at the headquarters of the Isiserettes, a drill and drum corps made up of Des Moines kids. In November of 2007, the group led Obama, his wife and Obama supporters on a march up a Des Moines street to the Iowa Democratic Party’s annual fall fundraiser. The Obama Presidential Center Museum is still being designed and Michel says they hope to break ground within the next year or so.

(Radio Iowa) — An Iowa State University researcher says the idea that striking a “power pose” in the mirror can boost your confidence, abilities and testosterone levels is complete bunk. The idea of power posing gained popularity after a study came out about a decade ago, but I-S-U psychology professor Marcus Crede says there’s no scientific evidence it really works. Just what is a power pose? “The most common example is standing like Wonder Woman, your hands on your hips, upright,” Crede says. “Some people extend their arms up in the air. It’s a pose associated with powerful people. You’re taking up lots of space, you’re standing very tall and upright.”

Crede says there’s not a single study to support claims power posing is effective, while the original 2010 report made numerous claims. “One was that it would make you feel more powerful,” Crede says. “The second one was that it would make you more willing to take risks, which in many business settings is important, you know, you put yourself out there. It also claimed it would increase your testosterone levels and lower your cortisol levels, and cortisol levels are associated with stress.”

The original study has drawn criticism as the results couldn’t be replicated, but a follow-up study in 2018 presented an updated analysis of the research. Crede says from all the studies he’s reviewed — some three-dozen of them — power posing just doesn’t work. “Some people say before you go for a job interview or give that big presentation at work, go to the bathroom and power pose for a couple of minutes,” Crede says. “There’s nothing wrong with that and I don’t think it’s going to hurt you, but don’t think that you can substitute good preparation for an interview or a presentation with simply power posing for a minute or two.”

Power posing is the subject of a TED Talk which is reportedly the second-most viewed TED Talk on YouTube, with some 70-million views. There’s also a book on power posing that was a New York Times bestseller. “A lot of people have been exposed to this and there’s a huge industry on power posing where the main proponent goes around the country giving talks at $100,000 a pop telling people to power pose,” Crede says. “There’s simply no evidence for this. To me, that’s somewhat troubling that so many people have been sold this idea that really has no scientific basis.”

Crede compares power posing to a drug being sold to the public without a single study ever having been able to show the drug works better than a placebo — or better than doing nothing.