Checking In, Not Checking Out
by Matt Perry It was a chance encounter in my Santa Cruz neighborhood. Just down the street, I’d walked by her home many times, noticing her typing away furiously near her front window. When I later...
View ArticleBuilding A Healthy Future for California’s Children of Color
By Mayra E. Alvarez As the nation observes National Minority Health Month, April will be a good time to reflect on the progress we have made addressing disparities in health. It’s also time to recommit...
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Housing a Crucial, Missing Link for Women Escaping Domestic Violence
File photo/Thinkstock. By Lily Dayton When Los Angeles County resident Cynthia Smith mustered the courage to leave her abusive husband, she had nowhere to go but her car. She lived out of her vehicle...
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The Death Cafe: Step Right In
By Matt Perry Step inside. Grab something warm to drink. Have some cake. Today, we talk about death. There is perhaps no topic in American culture more taboo. We avoid it. We fear it. And it may even...
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Healthy Sundays in Orange County
Photo by Jeff Antenore By Fran Kritz On the second Sunday of each month, the Orange County Great Park in Irvine looks like a county fair. Balloons and banners; families with kids in strollers; mobile...
View ArticleMy Poor Aging Neighbor: Income Inequality in Later Life
by Matt Perry With income equality growing wider each day, a new article claims that even older adults can expect this inequality to increase as they age – within their own demographic. The elder rich...
View ArticleAdvocates push to ban “surprise” hospital bills
By Daniel Weintraub Major surgery or a stay in the hospital can be stressful enough, even when you have insurance. But Californians with health care coverage who seek treatment at a clinic or hospital...
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Undocumented Immigrant Children Will Soon be Eligible for Medi-Cal — But Will...
Irene Gomez, director of an outreach program for the Mixteco/Indígena Community Organizing Project in Oxnard, is working hard to spread the word about the new law to undocumented families. By Claudia...
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Alzheimer’s Welcomed Here: Dementia Friendly Communities
By Matt Perry For aging Americans, the fear of dementia now exceeds the fear of cancer. This fact has been a spark for something new to the world of aging: dementia friendly communities. Announced...
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Innovative Food Programs Combat Food Insecurity in California
photo by Mansi Shah By Fran Kritz Since Jan. 1, thousands more kids in California have had improved access to breakfast and lunch at school for little or no cost. That’s when a new law took effect...
View ArticleExposure to Trauma & Chronic Adversity Can Be Life-Threatening for Our Children
By Alex M. Johnson California is facing a public health crisis – children’s exposure to trauma and chronic adversity. A growing body of research shows that exposure to trauma harms children’s...
View ArticleDo Central Valley Hospitals Earn Their Nonprofit Tax Breaks?
By Hannah Guzik Major Central Valley hospitals don’t report enough data to determine whether they earn the extensive tax breaks they get for operating as nonprofits, according to a study released...
View ArticleFor employers, investment in caregiving pay for themselves
by Matt Perry The “Sandwich Generation” has it tough. Not only are these Baby Boom parents raising kids, they’re also caring for aging relatives who demand more of their time: dressing, feeding or...
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Feds Give Public Hospitals Financial Incentives to Care for the Uninsured
Photo: File/Getty Images By Lynn Graebner Eva, an undocumented immigrant and single mother in Bakersfield who harvests grapes to support her three children, suffered from daily hemorrhaging for eight...
View ArticleCost Deters Many Uninsured Californians
By Hannah Guzik The perceived steep cost of health insurance deterred nearly half of Californians who went without coverage in 2014, a new study reports. Roughly two-thirds of the state’s uninsured in...
View ArticleCalifornia Schools Don’t Provide Mental Health Services to 580,000 Kids in...
By Hannah Guzik California’s public schools receive more than $400 million each year to provide mental health services to students, but at least 580,000 kids in the state have been left without help,...
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Seeing the Light: Caring for Elder Patients
By Matt Perry Travis Eckard readily admits he had little understanding of how older adults were cared for at his very own medical center. “You know the biggest surprise?” asks Eckard, a...
View ArticleA Key to Health Equity in California is Diverse Physicians
By Dr. David M. Carlisle In California and across the nation, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) brought historic increases in coverage to people that have long been left out of the health care system,...
View ArticleMental Health Care Lacking for California Veterans
By Hannah Guzik More than three quarters of male California veterans who needed mental health care between 2011 and 2013 didn’t get adequate treatment, a new study reports. Researchers from the UCLA...
View ArticleA First: Ethnic Results for Medicare
by Matt Perry For the first time, the federal office that oversees Medicare has released quality data broken down by ethnic lines, revealing disparities in care by racial group. Overall, care...
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