Author and physician Sunita Puri talks to journalist Fran Smith about why journalists should be telling these stories — and how they can do so in a more thoughtful way.
Aging
It can be very difficult to find long-term care in California, and it’s even harder for families without a nest egg to pay for it. That spells trouble, because California is getting older.
In Orange County, older adults die of Alzheimer’s disease at a higher rate than their peers in most of the country — it’s the third leading cause of death for the group, compared to the sixth nationwide.
Binghui Huang wrote this series as a project of the National Health Journalism Fellowship, a program of the University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Journalism.
There’s strong evidence that palliative care can improve the quality of life for terminal and chronically ill patients, while reducing emergency room visits and hospitalizations by as much as half.
An actor-turned-activist founded the "We Got This" program five years ago. It is aimed squarely at boys like Maleak, who has a father in prison, a mother struggling to make ends meet and, often, lots of pent-up anger.
As the country faces a deluge of older patients, emergency departments nationwide are seeking ways to improve senior care.
Racial disparities in end-of-life care — how mistrust keeps many African Americans away from hospice
Sharitta Berry was at Oakland’s Highland Hospital when she got the bad news in early 2018.
For Asians, Latinos, and other ethnic minorities, the end of life presents unique challenges. Language barriers and cultural traditions can often inhibit access to hospice, pain management, and comfort care.
As California faces a statewide shortage of physicians, there’s one area that will be hit especially hard: the large collection of cities, suburbs and rural areas that make up Southern California’s Inland Empire.