Insights

You learn a lot when you spend months reporting on a given issue or community, as our fellows can attest. Whether you’re embarking on a big new story or seeking to go deeper on a given issue, it pays to learn from those who’ve already put in the shoe leather and crunched the data. In these essays and columns, our community of journalists steps back from the notebooks and tape to reflect on key lessons, highlight urgent themes, and offer sage advice on the essential health stories of the day. 

Author(s)
By Hillary Meeks

<p>When my 2-year-old son has to see a doctor for his eyes or ears, I plan to take at least a half a day off work, if not a full day. Between the hours-long wait in the overcrowded specialists’ offices and the time it takes to travel to another county, our time is eaten away because these doctors are so few and far between in the San Joaquin Valley. That’s the mantra of Tulare County and health care. There aren’t enough doctors to go around, specialist or otherwise.

Author(s)
By Douglas Fischer

<p>Environmental health reporting sheds light on some of the most important decisions a person can make – about their health, their ability to have children, the health of their children, the health of their world. But first you have to get the story right.</p>

Author(s)
By Pauline Bartolone

<p>A painful irony exists in California’s agricultural heart: farm workers, far too often, don’t have access to the fruits of their own labor.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>I thought about this irony, more than a year ago, when I first read about the massive drought relief food give-aways in the San Joaquin Valley. In recent years, demand at the food bank in Fresno County has increased four-fold. The State of California has spent millions on food aid to the region. And hunger is hitting a new set of people.&nbsp;</p>

Author(s)
By Shelley Levitt

<p>They are neighborhoods where a wilting head of lettuce costs two or three times as much as a dollar meal. Where fast-food spots litter the landscape but the nearest supermarket is miles away. "Shopping local" in these communities means buying food at a convenience store or a gas station where limited shelf life restricts choices to calorie-dense, highly processed foods with little nutritional value. Fried food abounds; fresh food is near impossible to find.</p>

Author(s)
By Tena Rubio

<p>If you live in California, you see it all of the time.&nbsp;Big rig trucks driving alongside you on freeways and roads. Freight trains carrying goods up and down the coast. Ships docked at container shipping ports both in southern and northern California.</p>

Author(s)
By Ryan ZumMallen

<p>Sadly, in the city of Long Beach and the surrounding South Bay region, the topic of air pollution is nothing new.</p><p>Asthma and lung disease rates are among the highest in the nation. It is simply an unavoidable consequence of living nearby the massive twin ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.</p>

Author(s)
By Kimber Solana

<p>Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is defined by the National Institute of Mental Health as an anxiety disorder that some people get after seeing or living through a dangerous event.</p>