Project: Downer Drinks
Marketplace's Caitlan Caroll and a few members of the staff tried to take the edge off with "downer drinks," non-alcoholic beverages that help you relax and unwind.
Project: The Didget
It can be tough to remind a young diabetic to check their blood sugar 12 times a day, so drug maker Bayer has developed a new game to make the measurement less of a drag.
Medical training covers very little on how to confront dying and death with their patients and their families. Marketplace's Caitlan Carroll visits the San Diego Hospice and the Institute for Palliative Medicine, where they are training physicians on how to tailor care around patients' last wishes.
End-of-life care is often the most expensive health care. Many people, when given the option, choose to opt out of experimental therapies and drugs as they approach death, but the current health care system structure incentivizes more care instead of less. So patients' wishes often get left out of the equation.
About 50 miles east of Los Angeles, Mira Loma, Calif. has a very active warehouse district and some of the worst air pollution in the country. Residents concerned for their health want to prevent more warehouses from cropping up.
Project: Hospital Design
People go to the doctor to get better, but sometimes patients get new infections when they step inside a hospital. One hospital is trying to improve health by design.