Category: Social & Family Issues
More than 40 million Americans caring for an elderly or disabled loved one, the value of their work is $450 billion a year — a good deal for society, but . . .
States in the first half of this year have enacted a record 162 new laws or changes to existing laws that affect reproductive health and access to abortion.
For the past few years, community services for the aged and disabled have been facing big state budget cuts, layoffs of key personnel and an increasing demand for services. And the situation has done nothing but get worse.
Nationally known scholar and author, Rabbi Richard F. Address will talk on how faith and community can support those caring for a parent or other aging loved one, what “honoring our parents” looks like today and other contemporary issues of aging, spirituality, family and community.
By Kate Steadman August 14, 2009 The furious controversy over Medicare payments for end-of-life care counseling stems from Section 1233 in the health bill passed by three House committees. Related article: Doctors Providing End of Life Counseling See Benefit in Current Controversy That language would amend the Social Security Act, which also governs Medicare, the [...]
Families looking for a nursing home can now compare different facilities for quality using a free online service provided by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The Web site, Nursing Home Compare, gives quality ratings ranging from a low of one star to a high of five stars. Five stars means the facility [...]
Dr. Carolyn Clancy Dr. Carolyn Clancy, director of the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, writes a regular advice column for consumers to help them navigate the health-care system. In this column, Dr Clancy talks about what steps you should take when you’re told you have a disease or medical condition. She describes five [...]
A Seattle home-care agency whose 114-home care workers help about 200 elderly and disabled area residents live independently is closing down, Seattle Times staff reporter Maureen O’Hagan reports in todays’ paper.
When family budgets are tight, people often cut corners that can hurt their health. In her regular column, Dr Carolyn Clancy, director of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, warns that such short cuts can be risky and gives suggestions on how best to save money while at the same time preserving your health.
When a patient in an intensive care unit is too sick to communicate, it is often the family that must make critical decisions about the patient’s care. This may mean deciding with the medical team whether to proceed with a difficult operation, for example, or to withdraw life support. This a situation that many of [...]
Many of the Seattle and King County’s health problems arise from the social conditions in poor neighborhoods, where housing is substandard, jobs are hard to find, families are fragmented and where stores don’t offer products necessary for a healthy diet, Dr. David Williams, a professor of public health at Harvard University told attendees at a town [...]
The Washington Public Health Association is holding an “Equity” town hall meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 8, where health experts and local government officials will discuss how social inequities affect health in Seattle. Poor housing, inadequate education, low-paying jobs and other social factors are associated with poor health, research suggests. In Seattle, for instance, a resident [...]
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Lost in translation: Lack of trained interpreters can lead to medical errors
Interpreter services at hospitals and other medical settings are often inadequate, forcing family members, including children, to step in, or the task falls to medical staff members who may not speak the language well.
Some insurers deny ER coverage to people who have been drinking
Laws in more than half the states permit insurers to deny payment for medical services related to alcohol or drug use. Faced with the prospect of not getting paid for care, some ER personnel sidestep the problem by simply not testing patients’ blood or urine for alcohol.
Travel insurance can protect your wallet — and your health on vacation
Think your regular health insurance policy will cover you if you get into medical trouble overseas?
Don’t bet on it.
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