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SALEM, Ore. - Oregon's next State Health Improvement Plan will take on social factors that can affect people’s health, including exposure to racism, childhood trauma, living-wage jobs, food security and access to health care, the Oregon Health Authority said Friday. The PartnerSHIP, a steering committee responsible for developing the 2020-2024 SHIP, determined the priorities during a meeting on Feb. 12. They include: Institutional bias : This is defined as the systematic distribution of...

Imagine identifying a toxin so potent it could rewire a child’s brain and erode his immune system. A substance that, in high doses, tripled the risk of heart disease and lung cancer and reduced life expectancy by 20 years. And then realizing that tens of millions of American children had been exposed. Dr. @Nadine Burke Harris, California’s newly appointed surgeon general, will tell you this is not a hypothetical scenario. She is a leading voice in a movement trying to transform our...

This story was co-published with the Chicago Sun-Times. Leer en Español. Eight months after its shelters for immigrant children came under public scrutiny over allegations of abuse and lax supervision, Heartland Human Care Services says it will close four shelters in suburban Chicago and add staff, training and other resources at its remaining five facilities. The decision, announced to employees in a memo Friday, comes as another agency, Maryville Academy, plans to open two additional...

It’s the flu season, and David, a 4-month-old baby with a chronic lung disease, is with his pediatrician for a flu shot. David’s condition leaves him particularly vulnerable to respiratory illnesses like the flu. During the visit, David’s parents, Clare and Dave, discover that they need to make separate appointments to receive their own flu shots, which only complicates their already overwhelmed daily routine. Now imagine a place where David and his parents can receive a flu shot at the same...

The United Nations issued its sixth Global Environmental Outlook report on Wednesday, conveying the message that the world is not on track to meet goals to create a more sustainable future by 2030 or 2050, and that urgent action is required in order to not just meet global temperature goals set in the Paris Agreement, but to ensure they aren't rendered impossible. In 2015, the U.N. developed 17 Sustainable Development Goals to address global challenges including climate, environmental...

Gary Weber estimates that he has clocked over 30,000 hours of meditation and yoga. It all began in 1972. As a 29-year-old Ph.D. student at Penn State University, he felt that he was struggling for control over his own brain. Like many of us, it frustrated him that he couldn’t manage the constant stream of thoughts roaming around in his consciousness. Anxieties about the past, the future, and everything in between would come and go without him having any say in the matter. Deciding that...

Sen. Kamala Harris, a candidate for president, is floating a new idea: funding for mental health treatment as a form of reparations for slavery. She talks with NPR's Steve Inskeep. [To listen to this story by Morning Edition, go to https://www.npr.org/2019/03/14/703299534/sen-kamala-harris-on-reparations ]

For a lot of people with Childhood PTSD, the work we do to HEAL traumatic memories can become so consuming that we come to think of ourselves — to the exclusion of other parts of our identity — as traumatized people. This can be depressing and limiting, and it doesn’t have to be this way. In this video I teach you an easy technique to shift your life story and your identity from a negative sense of self to one that’s just as true, but more positive. You can go more deeply into this topic in...

By K. Hecht, A. Hosack, & P. Berman Claire is doing well at school with the help of Mr. And Mrs. Carson’s babysitting. She has really been getting along well with Davy’s Head Start teacher. The teacher doesn’t judge Claire for being in foster care, though Claire is sure t his is what makes the neighbors laugh when she walks out in the neighborhood with Davy. This teacher is different. She never laughs at her and answers all her questions; Claire feels she is finally understanding...

More American teens and young adults appear to be struggling with mental health issues , and experts believe a number of cultural trends may help explain why. A new study found the percentage of teens and young adults with depression, anxiety and other mental health issues has increased sharply over the past decade. The same pattern was not seen in older adults. "We found significant increases in major depression, serious psychological distress which includes anxiety and hopelessness and...

Black History Month has come and gone. It is a month that reminds us of the resilience, fortitude and strength black Americans have exhibited to stay alive and thrive in this country. Black women in particular have borne the brunt of adverse experiences created by the nation’s racist foundations. While significant strides have been made, black women continue to suffer needlessly and disproportionately from the seeds of white supremacy that many of us continuously work to uproot. The issue of...

A community meeting at the Route 9 Library & Innovation Center in New Castle saw a healthy attendance and some insight into the direction of services in the First State. Presentations were made by the members of the state Family Services Cabinet Council to give details on how Governor John Carney's Executive Order 24, transitioning Delaware into a 'trauma informed state,' affects services that look to assist in everything from the opioid epidemic, student care and data collaboration...