Archive for May, 2008
Dying for coverage
Wonder how many people are dying because they don’t have insurance? Check out Families USA’s study on state-by-state numbers f0r the years 2000 to 2006. http://familiesusa.org/issues/uninsured/publications/dying-for-coverage.html The total is a little shy of the study by the Institute of Medicine and the Urban League, but it’s chilling nevertheless. Statistics always lag two to three years [...]
Good, but not good enough
This wouldn’t give affordable healthcare to everyone, but it’s a start. According to the newspaper, The Hill, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D.-Ill.) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R.-Maine) are working on a bill that would allow business associations such as the National Association of Realtors to offer group insurance plans that would put the cost [...]
Go Duke!
I don’t really care about sports, but I am a huge Duke fan. Almost irrationally so. My blue runs Duke Blue. When there was the controversy with their lacrosse team, I couldn’t believe they had done anything wrong. If it had been any other school, I would have thought something was suspicious with the whole [...]
More about Mike
I’ve had people tell me that Mike didn’t have insurance because he made bad choices. They’ve said if he had done everything right as a teenager he would have had a job that offered insurance. I have to admit, Mike made some bad choices as a teenager. He became addicted to drugs and alcohol. But [...]
hello lifeomike
A wonderful tribute to Michael, and to all who have died at the hands of our greedy, for-profit health care system. It is unconscionable that anyone in this land of obscene wealth should die because they lack access to health care. Even though I’m Mike’s aunt, I didn’t know him well. I’ve gotten to know [...]
Healthcare Crisis
Since the federal government hasn’t moved in providing healthcare to all its citizens, states are starting to make moves to do it. The problem here is that not every American citizen gets equal care. Check out this information on what some states are doing: http://www.kff.org/uninsured/kcmu_statehealthreform.cfm Be sure to look at the PDF to see individual [...]
Welcome to Life o’ Mike
We are on a mission: Tell the stories of people who have died because they didn’t have health insurance. Mike was one of those people, and I was fortunate enough to be his mom for 33 years. Mike was born Nov. 3, 1974 — my 22nd birthday. He had some medical problems that we later [...]
Thank you
Thank you for sharing your story with us!
Have a beer in May
Stop into Altamont Brewing, 1042 Haywood Road, West Asheville, any time in May and ask for their "charity" beer of the day. Buy one and Life o' Mike gets $1. In fact, we get a buck for each one sold. So go in every day and have one to support Life o' Mike.
Thanks, Altamont!
Patient Pals & Family Friends
Life o' Mike has a peer support program for people with one or more serious or chronic medical issues or disabilities.
We aim to reduce isolation and fear among people who have conditions, including psychiatric illness, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, mild dementia or other cognitive disorder or disability, thereby reducing depression and complications as people learn to improve self-management of their medical conditions.
Patient Pals help alleviate feelings of isolation and frustration. They can help people develop a list of questions to ask the doctor and then accompany the person to the doctor to make sure all the questions are answered, taking notes to be sure the person understands the doctor’s answers.
Our trained volunteers also accompany their “Pals” to art exhibits, movies and walks outdoors, meet for coffee, call to check in and more.
Our Pals have experienced weight loss, improvement in diabetes, HIV, psoriasis, depression and more, just because they have someone who cares about them. Some relationships develop into longer-term friendships; other Pals move on to more independent lives.
Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.
We need volunteers, who are asked to donate a minimum of one hour a week. Training is free and includes information on active listening, ways to help and when to know more help is needed.
And of course, we need funding.
To learn more, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712 or e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com.
Start From Seed
Life o' Mike has a new program- Start from Seed (SFS).
SFS is a volunteer doula program aimed at providing non-medical, comprehensive support to low income, high-risk women and families of Buncombe County focusing on three areas:
1. We help new doulas with certification and training in return for their participation as a volunteer doula for SFS
2. We mentor volunteer doulas with their first few clients
3. Our volunteer doulas provide birth and postpartum doula services to low income, high risk moms, providing support and tools to empower them as a new parent.
A birth doula is a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; a postpartum doula provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period.
Start from Seed clients are referred to us from the Buncombe County Department of Health’s Nurse-Family Partnership Program, Western North Carolina Community Health Services, and Mission Hospital. The Program is intended and designed for growing clients’ inner strength and helping them gain empowerment to help them cope with the emotional, physical and mental challenges of childbirth, labor, and motherhood.
Our new moms and their infants have many needs. If you would like to help them get off to a good start, please visit our Start from Seed web site: Start from Seed, or call Program Director Chelsea Kouns at 804-814-9946.