Community & Public Health

Susana Castro’s arms are deformed, bruised and mangled. At 67-year-old native of Mexico City has suffered from diabetes since she was 40. She now requires three hours of dialysis treatment every third day, or else she will die.

Doctors have a privileged view of the true impact of guns, since they're on the frontlines of treating victims. Now, physicians across the country are starting to share stories of the trauma they've seen firsthand.

The 12-square-mile Hoopa Reservation in Northern California has been grappling with drug abuse for decades. A new reporting project aims to find out how Hoopa youth are navigating the realities of addiction.

At Los Angeles Unified's 15 wellness centers and through in-class screenings, the district is stepping efforts to help students cope with extremely high levels of trauma and toxic stress.

“We started looking at the data and found the most vulnerable people in the county, and we put this team together to go find and work with them,” said Anna Roth, director of Contra Costa Health Services.

Battery recycling is considered one of the most potentially hazardous industries. Yet Vernon’s Exide workers were routinely being poisoned with nearly nonexistent intervention by Cal/OSHA.

At LAC+USC Medical Center, primary care doctors now routinely ask patients about things such as food, housing and mental health, with teams of providers ready to connect them to services.

Stories of undiagnosed PTSD among Hmong and Vietnamese American refugees are common in some California communities. What can their experiences tell us about future health impacts facing incoming Syrian refugees?

Dealing with students’ childhood trauma may improve classroom behavior and attendance rates — at least that’s the idea at the Los Angeles Unified School District’s wellness centers.

Juan was homeless and struggling with alcoholism before a team of health care providers at LAC+USC were finally able to put him on a new path. It's part of a new approach to treating the whole patient at the county's largest hospital.