Covering the most noteworthy news stories in the health and wellness industry for the Filipino community.
Unpacking the Filipino community’s rocky relationship with mental illness acceptance HISTORICALLY, the study of mental illness has often been referred to as “abnormal psychology.” But according to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1 in 4 people suffer from a mental or neurological disorder in their lifetime, making mental illness far more common than what is…
THE growing Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) population in the U.S. is very diverse — encompassing a large number of unique ethnic identities with their own cultures, languages, and experiences. According to fact tank Pew Research Center, a whopping 20 million Asian Americans trace back to over 20 countries throughout East and Southeast Asia,…
Debbie Dobrosky noticed a peculiar hue in the sky on Monday — “a very ugly yellow casting” — as she peeked outside. A large cloud of smoke had begun to cover the sun. By Tuesday, the smoke was so heavy that “even inside my apartment I’ve had to use my inhaler twice this morning, which is…
by Julie Appleby and Alex Leeds Matthews THE planned expansion of short-term health plans under a new Trump administration rule unveiled this week is on a crash course with a brick wall in California. The Golden State’s Democrat-dominated legislature is close to banning such plans, which offer consumers lower premiums in exchange for skimpier benefits that do not meet the Affordable Care…
by Michelle Andrews As students enter college this fall, many will hunger for more than knowledge. Up to half of college students report that they were either not getting enough to eat or were worried about it, according to published studies. “Food insecurity,” as it’s called, is most prevalent at community colleges, but it’s common at…
by Alex Smith Jose Belardo of Lansing, Kan., spent most of his career in the U.S. Public Health Service. He worked on the front lines of disasters in such other countries as Haiti, Colombia, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. At home with his three kids and wife, Elaine, he’d always been unfailingly reliable, so when…
by Chad Terhune SAN FRANCISCO — Stepping into the land of the Trump resistance, Seema Verma flatly rejected California’s pursuit of single-payer health care as unworkable and dismissed the Affordable Care Act as too flawed to ever succeed. Speaking Wednesday at the Commonwealth Club here, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services…
by Jordan Rau Kaiser Health News Most nursing homes had fewer nurses and caretaking staff than they had reported to the government, according to new federal data bolstering the long-held suspicions of many families that staffing levels were often inadequate. The records for the first time reveal frequent and significant fluctuations in day-to-day staffing, with…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is alerting health care professionals and patients of a voluntary recall of several drug products containing the active ingredient valsartan, used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure. This recall is due to an impurity, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), which was found in the recalled products. However, not all…
by Judith Graham California Healthline THE kidney doctor sat next to Judy Garrett’s father, looking into his face, her hand on his arm. There are things I can do for you, she told the 87-year-old man, but if I do them I’m not sure you will like me very much. The word “death” wasn’t mentioned,…
by Blake Farmer Nashvilla Public Radio VICKI Bartholomew started a support group for wives who are caring for a husband with Alzheimer’s disease because she needed that sort of group herself. They meet every month in a conference room at a new memory-care facility in Nashville called Abe’s Garden, where Bartholomew’s husband was one of…
Los Angeles County is facing a public health crisis: More than one-quarter of its 53,000 homeless residents struggle with mental illness. “When you’re homeless on the street, your life is about survival. It’s hard to be focused on mental health,” said Maria Funk, a county mental health clinic program manager. “We are failing in many…
by Jordan Rau Even as many Republicans continue to back a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, a majority of GOP voters want to retain a core consumer protection of the law that prohibits insurers from denying care or charging more to people with histories of health problems, according to a poll released Wednesday, June…
by Christina Jewett and Shefali Luthra As the White House faces court orders to reunite families separated at the border, immigrant children as young as 3 are being ordered into court for their own deportation proceedings, according to attorneys in Texas, California and Washington, D.C. Requiring unaccompanied minors to go through deportation alone is not a new…
California’s cities and counties will be barred from adopting soda taxes for the next 12 years under a legislative deal that marks a big victory for the influential beverage industry — one that state lawmakers said holds Californians “hostage.” On Thursday, June 28 the state legislature rushed to approve the last-minute, quid pro quo deal between one…
by Chad Terhune, Pauline Bartolone,Ana B. Ibarra and Alex Leeds Matthews IN the state that’s leading the opposition to many of President Donald Trump’s health policies, California voters will face a stark choice on the November ballot: keep up the resistance or fall in line. The results of Tuesday, June 5’s primary have set up general-election contests between…
A new study shows that many people in the early stages of breast cancer with lower likelihoods of recurrence may safely abstain from chemotherapy A majority of early-stage breast cancer patients may opt to skip chemotherapy which could result in a sharp decline for the treatment option, according to a massive, highly-anticipated new study on…
by Pauline Bartolone The person who wins the four-way race to become California’s next insurance commissioner will inherit a job with broad authority over policies that cover homes, businesses, cars and even airplanes. But medical insurance? Not so much. The commissioner’s direct control over health insurers is limited, because the California Department of Insurance —…
Attorney General Xavier Becerra uses a well-worn refrain to describe his role as the state’s chief law enforcement officer: to defend California’s values. “If that translates into fighting Donald Trump, then so be it,” he said in a recent interview. Becerra has been one of the leading voices in California’s charge against the federal government,…
SADHC and its wide range of services are free to anyone who has Medi-Cal Whether you are a senior citizen or a seriously injured individual, boredom can creep up on you rather early on. You’re often spending whole days at home, remaining stagnant instead of maintaining an active lifestyle. It’s easy to get into the…
by April Dembosky, KQED Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace under the Affordable Care Act, has devised what could be a powerful new way to hold hospitals accountable for the quality of their care. Starting in less than two years, if the hospitals haven’t met targets for safety and quality, they’ll risk being excluded…
What is passive smoking? Secondhand smoke is the fume that one involuntarily inhales after someone who smokes exhales it (called mainstream smoke), or the fume that goes directly to the atmosphere from the burning tobacco (cigarette, pipe or cigar) called side stream smoke. When non-smokers breathe in these smokes or fumes from other people’s cigarettes,…
California’s children’s hospitals say they’re struggling to keep up with advances in medical care and a growing demand for their services, and they’re asking taxpayers to help — again. The California Children’s Hospital Association wants voters to pass a $1.5 billion bond measure to upgrade infrastructure and equipment at the state’s 13 children’s hospitals. It…
Just as cigarettes finally dropped in popularity, vaping came around and somehow made tobacco cool again. From 2011-2015, the use of e-cigs among high school students increased nationwide from 1.5 percent to 16 percent*—and this number just keeps going up. But how on earth do underage teenagers purchase vapes? And how do they hide their…
“Good things come in small packages.” With Thread Lift, a youthful appearance is the ‘good thing’ that comes in small packages – such as a ‘thread.’ While it may not be as accurate as the proverb because a thread is more “thin” than small, you get the point. And it is always a ‘good thing’…
San Diego, California—With summer here, there’s now more time to enjoy the outdoors and have a fresh restart for those who have neglected their resolutions from the beginning of the year. The weather’s getting warmer, school’s out, and people have another chance to renew their commitment to live a smoke-free life. Here are some tips…
by Pauline Bartolone California’s leading gubernatorial candidates agree that health care should work better for Golden State residents: Insurance should be more affordable, costs are unreasonably high, and robust competition among hospitals, doctors and other providers could help lower prices, they told California Healthline. What they don’t agree on is how to achieve those goals…
by Anna Gorman California health regulators have allowed poor care to proliferate at nursing homes around the state, and the number of incidents that could cause serious injury or death has increased significantly in recent years, according to a stinging state audit released this week. The state auditor singled out the California Department of Public…
WASHINGTON — For today, there are no doctor’s visits. No long afternoons with nothing to do. No struggles over bathing — or not. At the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., a group of older adults — some in wheelchairs, some with Alzheimer’s — and their caregivers sit in a semicircle around a haunting…
Being a nurse can be among the most rewarding career choices. As a nurse, you’re responsible for the day-to-day comfort and well-being of a wide range of ill patients. But being a nurse also means coping with stress, either from caring for patients or managing long shifts; more often you’re dealing with both. All of…
