HealthCetera

It’s no secret that America’s current model […]

When a child is sick in the hospital, finding ways to help families participate in the healing process can be transforming. Introducing integrative therapies to children and families in ways that are accessible and fun requires taking into account different learning styles, the age of the child, degrees of illness, and time constraints.  These teaching resources can help children, their families and caregivers cope with the physical, mental, and emotional side effects of serious and prolonged illness.  HealthCetera producer Eve Adler interviews integrative nurse Bess Heliker, RNC, MN, CNS NICU Clinical Nurse Specialist and Alexandra Cree, a mother of a child who had leukemia. She learned some of these therapies to support the health and healing of her child.

Maternal death rates have risen over the last decade and most deaths are preventable. Each year roughly 700 women die from pregnancy or delivery related complications. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention states that the mortality ratio for African American women is more than three times that of white women. So why are so many more women of color dying of pregnancy-related deaths? According to one report, blood clots and preeclampsia are the leading causes of death for black women. Preeclampsia is a sudden onset of high blood pressure along with protein in the urine. White women are more likely to suffer from a higher rate of mental health issues, infection, and hemorrhage. While disease complications are contributing factors, they do not entirely explain the vast differences in maternal health outcomes. Dr. Rewa Thompson, a Women's  Health Practitioner and professor at Stony Brook University, shares the complexities surrounding maternal death and takes a closer look at racial bias. In addition, a recent nursing graduate shares her labor experience and perspective regarding the covert factors that persistently contribute to unfavorable outcomes for women of color.

HealthCetera in the Catskills on WIOX Radio. Host Diana Mason, RN, interviews Michael DiBenedetto about the dangers of lead bullets to animals and humans, and the policies and strategies that could reduce their use.

Graphic Medicine (www.graphicmedicine.org) is a growing field that encompasses the intersection of comics and health care. A leader in this nascent field is Dr. Monica Lalanda, an emergency room physician in Spain. Dr. Lalanda has integrated her comic-making and practice of medicine into her teaching of medical ethics.  She also spearheaded the effort to create the Spanish-language version of the Graphic Medicine website, Medicina Gráfica, (https://medicinagrafica.com). You can learn more about Monica’s work, and her book Con-Ciencia Medica, on her website, https://monicalalanda.com. She tweets @mlalanda. She is interviewed here by nurse, cartoonist, and Senior Fellow MK Czerwiec, who also co-runs the Graphic Medicine website. (www.comicnurse.com)  This month a special issue of the American Medical Association’s Journal of Ethics is devoted to ethical issues related to using comics in healthcare. Dr. Lalanda’s contributed to this article to the issue: http://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/2018/02/medu1-1802.html  Also this month, an traveling exhibit and online Graphic Medicine resource center has been launched by the National Library of Medicine. Learn more about that exhibit here: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/graphicmedicine/index.html. 

HealthCetera Producer Kristi Westphaln interviews demographer Dowell Myers on the new importance of children in America. His research reframes the issue of the competing demands of child health versus an increasing population of aging Americans and adults with chronic illnesses.

HealthCetera in the Catskills Producer and Host Diana Mason interviews Donna Cutting and Susan Deane of SUNY Delhi School of Nursing about the new BSN in 10 law that was signed into law in 2017 and takes effect in 2018, requiring all newly licensed nurses to obtain a baccalaureate degree within 10 years. The law may serve as model for other states seeking to increase the percentage of registered nurses with baccalaureate degrees, as recommended by the Institute of Medicine's Future of Nursing report. The program aired on WIOX Radio in January 2018.

Rob Porter, a top White House aide […]

Last September, Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico.  Residents of some of the hardest hit rural areas found themselves stranded, their homes, businesses, schools and health clinics damaged –– some beyond repair. It's been four months after Hurricane Maria hit the island and nearly 40 percent of the island's electricity customers remain without power. Across the island, school enrollment has shrunk by some 22,350 students since the storm hit, according to Puerto Rico's Department of Education. That means about 1 in 13 kids are gone, and it's unclear whether they'll ever be back. "Nurses go to where patients are." Nancy Rudner, DrPH, APRN responded when I asked her why she went on her second deployment to Puerto Rico this month. Dr. Rudner joined an all-female inter-professional health team for two-weeks. She was the only team member who spoke fluent Spanish so took on the additional role of interpreter. She said that health services are improving. She met those who have lived with no power for four months. Many have limited access to a clean water supply. Crops have been ruined so there are no fresh fruits or vegetables to eat.  She wants people to know that in spite of these tremendous hardships the people of Puerto Rico are rebuilding and getting things done. Puerto Rico Se Levanta! (Puerto Rico Rises!!)

Wayne Jonas, MD, former head of the NIH Office of Alternative Medicine talks with co-producer Liz Seegert about our dependence on prescription drugs, alternative and complementary medicine, and how the health system should focus more on healing, not just curing.

This episode of Healthcetera welcomes listeners on a tour at the intersection of health, heart, and art in Philadelphia with special guide, Dr. Sunny Hallowell. Sunny is a pediatric nurse practitioner at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Professor of Nursing at Villanova University, University of Pennsylvania graduate, and an avid follower of health-involved art history.  

Talking about gun violence in the U.S. is difficult. Personal feelings run high, and the environment for conversation degrades quickly. This edition of HealthConnections advocates no political position. It does not argue for more or fewer firearms restrictions. Instead, this conversation backs a step up to tell us what we know about the human toll of gun violence in the United States and in Tennessee. It is predominantly carried out by men. Men are also typically the victims. Most firearms incidents happen at home. Mass shootings grab the headlines, but make up a small portion of gun incidents each year. And shooters often have a history of domestic violence. "The portrait we try to paint...of gun violence victims, is not a single portrait," UT's Dr. Carole Myers says. "Therefore, there's not a single solution. This is something that maybe we could come together as Americans, and make sure we understand the problem, then...find solutions without making it a political issue."

It’s been over two months since the Children's Health Insurance Program, CHIP funding has expired. States are now preparing for the possible end of funding for CHIP, which covers more than 9 million American children. In Colorado, where CHIP covers 167,00 children, there's enough funding to get them through the end of January. They will be sending letters to those families to let them know what their options would be if the program actually ran out of money. This week, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) helped push a tax bill through the Senate that will cost about $1 trillion. At the same time, he lamented the difficulties of finding the money to fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which costs about $14 billion a year — a program Hatch helped create. Senior Fellow Kristi Westphaln, RN MSN PNP-PC, a San Diego based Nurse Practitioner and co-producer of HealthCetera weighs in on the potential impact on the health and welfare of our children if we CHIP funding is not reauthorized.

This HealthCetera in the Catskills program addresses federal efforts to undermine women's reproductive rights. Host Diana Mason, PhD, RN, interviews Lisa David, CEO of Public Health Solutions, and Debra Marcus, CEO of Family Planing of South Central New York, about the potential impact of these changes on women in the nation and how women in New York have state guarantees for respecting women's reproductive choices.

Since WWII, Americans have been sold the idea […]