It's easy for the headlines on health stories to go way beyond what the study itself actually supports. That happened this week in coverage of new research on how physically active preschoolers are. It serves as a good reminder to acknowledge any given study's limitations.
SF Chronicle health reporter Erin Allday really didn't want to cover an appearance by the discredited scientist Andrew Wakefield, but her editors sent her anyway. Here she shares how she approached the assignment, dodged the topic's potential pitfalls, and ended up with a well-received A1 story.
As a multimedia journalist, I tell stories using video, photography, radio and writing. For a recent series of data-heavy stories on vaccines, I focusing mainly on writing. But as I came to realize, I should have paid more attention to the images. Here's why.
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 hardest part of reporting on the health implications of Central Valley rivers was not the research or content, but finding the right characters for the stories. In the end, a radio reporter discovered the best way to find the characters that brought his stories to life was on the river itself.
Laura Starecheski's recent NPR series on childhood adversity and trauma is an essential listen for those interested in how childhood events can shape long-term health. Starecheski recently spoke to Reporting on Health about how she reported the stories and what she learned along the way.
The strategy of using cell phones and texts to nudge people toward healthier decisions makes a lot of sense. But as L.A. Times' Eryn Brown discovered in reporting her series on "m-health," the promise of these programs is still far ahead of the reality.
The high-deductible health plans sold under the "bronze" banner may look lousy at first glance. But while they may not be ideal coverage, they're far better than the high deductible plans sold before Obamacare. And they can supply a critical lifeline when misfortune strikes.
The rate of childhood obesity has tripled over the past 30 years. While there are no easy solutions, programs that focus on the whole family have shown positive results in changing both behaviors and health measures.
There's little data available on in-home caregiving, which makes reporting on the issue challenging. Unlike nursing homes, in-home care suffers from little oversight. But that's why it's such an important topic to cover. Here are some essential resources and tips to get started.
