A community’s mental health is difficult to quantify: It’s highly dependent on self-reporting and deeply entwined with cultural context. While physical health problems are easily spotted, mental health issues are harder to see – and often harder to fix.
While obesity is a problem for Americans in all walks of life, it’s worse when you don’t live near a park, when access to public transportation is limited, when sidewalks are broken and streetlights are few. In fact, a National Institutes of Health study found that just living in a socioeconomically deprived area leads to weight gain and a greater risk of dying at an early age. In stark terms, people in Culver City live an average of eight years longer than people in Jefferson Park, according to Crump. Yet these two communities in the middle of Los Angeles are only a couple of miles apart.
Even if you're not a fan of commemorative disease days or months, there are some intriguing story angles if you end up covering National Depression Screening Day this week. Here are ideas and resources.
A formerly sickly child, West Virginia's top health official finds himself in the position to affect the health of more than 400,000 West Virginians enrolled in Medicaid, DHHR's biggest program.
A national plan will address the enormous costs of Alzheimer's, dental health cutbacks in California, another ground turkey recall and more from our Daily Briefing.
After 60+ years of smoking, my mother-in-law’s lungs were surely a toxic wasteland, yet nothing would make her quit. Journalist Ricki Lewis examines the risks and benefits of Chantix and highlights a new way to get smokers to quit: texting.
It's third period at Castlemont Business and Information Technology School in East Oakland. A visitor begins a discussion about poverty, bad food and crime. Tough times? Tough streets? These high school students aren't stressing.
The increase in HIV infections has risen alarmingly among Asian American women, and will soon surpass the rate of infections in high-risk populations unless intervening measures are taken, noted a panel of experts in San Francisco on May 17.
What's being done to prevent suicide among Latino teens in Georgia? Linda Perez investigates for MundoHispanico.
It may be hard to connect well-paid and well-conditioned pro football players with the homeless guy elbow-deep in the trashcan on your sidewalk. But when it comes to brain injuries, they have more in common than you might think.
