With high rates of many mental illnesses and not much money to treat them, are the rural counties of far-northern California destined for meager mental health services? What's lacking in these systems, and - perhaps more importantly - how did ones in similar areas overcome the same problems?
The seeds for the Welcome Home Project were sown while I was interviewing Dan Simmons, a program analyst for an anti-violence program in Oakland. Formerly incarcerated himself, Simmons knows what it takes to stay out of prison. “We put most of our resources towards the 65% of former inmates that re
Daniel Sopcak and Betty Sanchez are married, homeless and struggling with alcohol and other ailments in Anchorage. Their days are a window into a rough, often invisible world.
From providing mental health care at the supermarket to training pediatricians in infant mental health, some in health care and social services are trying to apply the lessons of brain science and development to prevent problems that can threaten children’s health and well-being.
Three high-profile deaths that occurred over the past year are worth noting as reminders of the larger topics that should be top of mind for health writers.
Addiction usually leaves a wake of chaos, and all kinds of casualties - marriages, jobs, health. Today's opioid addiction crisis is not only claiming lives, but sparking a new epidemic of hepatitis C among new injection drug users.
The Affordable Care Act has made it easier to obtain drug addiction treatment services like methadone in California, but access to detox centers remains limited.
So much crucial brain development occurs in the first three years of life that one researcher jokes that to him and his colleagues, 3-year-olds are practically middle aged. And yet,the first three years of life often get comparatively little attention in mental health or education policies
Prescription painkillers like OxyContin have flooded the market. They're incredibly addictive, and once people are hooked, the habit gets expensive. More and more are turning to the cheaper alternative, heroin. And now, more people die every year from accidental opioid (painkillers and heroin) overd
