Health care's "super-utilizers" are very much in the news these days, as policymakers seek ways to curb spending. But programs that deliver durable results that save money are scarce, in part because many 'frequent fliers' suffer from an incredibly complex web of issues, often tied to early trauma.
Speaking to child welfare experts around the country in the course of reporting, I’ve become convinced that people on both sides — the families in the system, and those charged with carrying out its rules — believe improvements to this country’s approach to child welfare are urgently needed.
In southern Nevada, waiting lists to see a psychologist stretch into the months, and residential treatment centers fill up fast. Jackie Valley of the Las Vegas Sun is embarking on a reporting project looking at the plight of children with mental illness, and what more might be done.
Mary Annette Pember wrote this article, originally published by Indian Country Today Media Network, as a 2014 National Health Journalism Fellow, with support from The Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism. Other stories in her project series can be found here:...
A growing body of evidence suggests that a child’s exposure to trauma and stress can have profound mental and physical health consequences later in life. Arielle Levin Becker recently set out to explore that link and collected some key reporting lessons along the way.
When reporter Arielle Levin Becker set out to interview families involved in a home-visiting program, she found unexpectedly difficult. The reservations voiced by potential sources ultimately led her to rethink how she approaches interviews in general.
Annie Brewster started Health Story Collaborative to give patients a voice, and to bring the human side of illness back into the practice of medical care and recovery. Research suggests that the way we narrate stories of illness can have a profound impact on our mental health.
Reporter Tom Corwin of The Augusta Chronicle was shocked to learn of 82 unexpected deaths in 2013 among disabled patients receiving care in community placements in Georgia. The discovery launched him on an extended data-driven investigation. Here he shares lessons from the series.
New data show that teens and young adults in the ER for an assault injury were 40 percent more likely than their peers to be involved in gun violence over the next two years. That makes such ER visits a big opportunity for those working to interrupt the cycle of youth gun violence.
The University of Minnesota is replacing the chairman of its psychiatry department following two scathing reviews of its safety protocols in research involving human subjects and its recruitment of a troubled man who later died by suicide in a schizophrenia drug trial.
