HealthCetera

The Trump Administration is proposing to significantly […]

Diana Mason, RN, PhD, host of HealthCetera in the Catskills on WIOX Radio, talks with Kaiser Health News reporter JoNel Aleccia about her investigative reporting on the problem of guns in households where someone has dementia, the unintentional injuries and death that can result, and how best to respond to this problem that is escalating as the older adult population with dementia grows.

Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, is a Nationally Certified School Nurse (NCSN), entering her 18th year in the Camden City NJ School District. As a new school year begins she talks about the connection between home, school and the school nurse.

When you head off on vacation this summer—whether it’s for a weekend camping trip or a week at the beach—chances are you will be in an automobile and you will be sharing the road with some 18-wheelers.  But have you stopped to think about the people who drive the big-rigs?  While smoking in United States has dropped to 15 percent overall, half of truckers continue to smoke. Roughly 70 percent of truckers are obese, and the rate of diabetes in truckers is twice that of the general population. Truckers commonly experience high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and sleep apnea, and being on the road all the time increases their risk of loneliness, depression, and anxiety. Each of these conditions increases the likelihood of a crash. What’s being done about it? Nurse practitioners have been stepping up to keep truckers healthy and our roads safe. Charting Nursing’s Future—a project of the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action—has been exploring this topic. Reporter Jennifer L.W. Fink, who authored two articles, Nurse Practitioners Help Keep the Roads Safe–Why Not the Rails and Skies? and Nurse Practitioners Help Truckers Keep on Trucking.  This podcast was produced and hosted by Jennifer L.W. Fink, and by Charting Nursing’s Future, Nicole Fauteux, project director and senior editor.  Charting Nursing’s Future is a publication of the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, which is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson and AARP Foundations. 

June was Alzheimer's and Brain Disease Awareness Month. While you are likely quite aware of Alzheimer's, you may not know how it works, what sets its effects apart from other neurological issues, or even its departure from normal aging processes. In this edition of HealthConnections, we set out to separate fact and fiction regarding Alzheimer's. Dr. Carole Myers speaks with Joel Anderson, a University of Tennessee researcher whose work focuses on Alzheimer's and related illnesses and their effect on caregivers.

On March 1st, the National Library of Medicine celebrated the launch of their new exhibit and collection: "Graphic Medicine: Ill-Conceived and Well Drawn” which was guest curated by cartoonist & mental health activist Ellen Forney..  It was my great pleasure to speak with Dr. Patricia Brennan, the first nurse and first woman to serve as Director of the National Library of Medicine. We discuss graphic medicine, its importance, and its applications. Hope you enjoy listening to this conversation as much as I enjoyed having it. To learn more about the Graphic Medicine collection/exhibit at the National Library of Medicine, including an online curriculum for both middle grade and college students, go to https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/graphicmedicine/index.html  Follow on Twitter: @NLMdirector @ComicNurse  @ellen_forney

Racism is making people sick -- especially black women and babies, says Miriam Zoila Pérez. The doula turned journalist talks with producer Dr. Kenya Beard about the relationship between race, class and illness.

The internet is riven throughout with misinformation. Some of it is malicious. Much of it is rumor, hearsay, misinterpretation or otherwise well-meaning but still inaccurate. Regardless of the motive, bad information is bad information. When it comes to your health, or that of your family, that misinformation can lead to bad outcomes. In this edition of HealthConnections, Dr. Carole Myers interviews Knox County Health Department Director Martha Buchanan and Public Information Officer Katherine Killen explain Webidemic, KCHD's effort to combat medical misinformation. They cover the negatives of bad health information online, how to recognize it, and where to find vetted, reliable information useful in making medical decisions.

An estimated 40 to 70 percent of caregivers live with depression, anxiety or both, according to the Family Caregiver Alliance. And, a study by the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry reports that nearly 20 percent of adults aged 55+ experience a mental health condition, including cognitive impairments or mood disorders. With the expected population of adults 65 and older expected to reach 80 million by 2045, there’s a clear need to address better access to improved mental health services. Through the Insights Initiative, part of the California-based SCAN Health Plan community service program Independence at Home, social workers and family therapists used evidence-based practices to treat depression, anxiety, distress, grief, loneliness and other symptoms in seniors in their home and in their primary language. Senior-producer Liz Seegert recently spoke Denise Likar, vice president of Independence at Home, about this innovative approach to delivering behavioral health services to seniors and their caregivers.

China is the largest global supplier of key ingredients for medicines and vitamins. Healthcare providers writing prescriptions for antibiotics, antidepressants, actually many drugs, have no clue, so patients taking them don’t either. HealthCetera producer Dr. Kenya Beard interviews co-author Rosemary Gibson on her new book China Rx: Exposing the Risks of America’s Dependence on China for Medicine, an investigative report into the dependence on China for the production of crucial medications. She co-authored this with Janardan Prasad Singh Rosemary Gibson is a senior advisor at the Hastings Center, a bioethics research institute, and is the author of numerous books investigating healthcare issues.

The Woodhull Study Revisited is a three-phase study sought to replicate the original Woodhull Study that examined journalists’ use of nurses as sources in leading print media of the day. The updated study also included an analysis of tweets from the top 50 schools of nursing. The preliminary findings show that, two decades after the original Woodhull Study, little has changed.

One of the challenges for older adults is trying to maintain independence in their own homes as they age.  Declining mobility and chronic health problems can get in the way of independence but so can a dwelling that is unsafe or not sufficient for an older person’s changing needs. Sarah L. Szanton, Phd, ANP, FAAN., Director, Center for Innovative Care in Aging at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, has developed a model of care that address all of these needs. Community Aging in Place -- Advancing Better Living for Elders, the CAPABLE model of care, uses home repair people, nurses, and occupational therapists to keep older adults functioning well and safe in familiar surroundings. She spoke with co-producer Diana Mason about the CAPABLE program and how the health system can support aging in place.

To effectively combat human trafficking, each of us needs to have a clear "lens" that helps us understand what human trafficking is. Co-producer Kristi Westphaln interviews Nurse Scientist Dr. Cheryl Boyd about human trafficking in the United States.

Meet Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the Pulse shooting in Orlando and Vice President of The Dru Project, “an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization on a mission to spread love across the nation and promote gay straight alliances.” In this episode (recorded on May 22nd before the Manchester bombing), Brandon talks about identifying as “intersectional,” Black, White, gay, and male and the ways in which these identities have influenced his thoughts and feelings about healthcare. Brandon describes the “awkward first date” feeling of seeing a new healthcare professional and talks about the impact feeling judged during the encounter can have on one’s willingness to continue seeing that healthcare professional. We talk about Brandon’s experience with mental healthcare professionals after the Pulse shooting as well as about what the world of healthcare might have been like if his friend Drew Leinonen, a master’s-prepared psychologist, hadn’t been killed at Pulse. Brandon shares how his view of the world has changed as a result of the Pulse shooting, and he talks about how his relationship with his father has changed over the years. Finally, Brandon shares his thoughts about what healthcare professionals need to know about gun violence and the impact it has on survivors. You can follow Brandon on Twitter at @bjoewolf and the Dru Project @thedruproject

Lisa Kern, a school nurse, on the Board of Directos and Executive Committee of the National Association of School Nurses. School nurses joined the march locally and in Washington, DC. School Nurse Kern talks about the role of school nurses in preventing violence and the need for gun safety in our country.