Archive for August, 2011
I didn’t know …
I was talking to a bartender/musician friend of mine the other night — young kid, in his mid-20s. He mentioned he has no health insurance. A few months ago, he sprained his wrist and rather than go to a doctor, he bandaged it up and asked a friend who practices yoga to recommend some exercises [...]
Unconstitutional? Really?
So, Rick Perry thinks Social Security and Medicare are unconstitutional. He was too busy taking a big bite of fair food to explain why be believes that. Sen. Tom Cogburn from Oklahoma agrees. He didn’t say why, exactly, but he did say he believes families should take care of the frail elderly. That would be [...]
October 2011
The lack of health care is only part of the problem here. That’s why I’m joining thousands of people in Washington, DC, on Oct. 6 for “Stop the Machine.” The so-called machine is corporate influence on American government. It was corporatre influence that kept real health reform off the table with its lies about death [...]
The “nag factor”
It’s called the” nag factor” and it’s what marketers always hope to induce in children. They know many parents will give in and buy the cereal or candy with a Disney character or Scooby Doo on the package. A study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University showed children are more likely to nag parents to buy [...]
The real Pepsi “scandal”
You might have seen it on Facebook, the post that said Pepsi has a new can that has the Pledge of Allegiance without the words “under God,” and calling for a boycott of Pepsi. First of all, the post was a hoax. Anyone who reposted was probably playing into the hands of some marketer (which [...]
Changing Medicare and Medicaid
This year, Medicare and Medicaid will be changed, whether we like it or not. The so-called compromise on the debt put 12 members of Congress in charge of slashing the nation’s budget, and if they don’t agree by Thanksgiving, automatic and drastic cuts will be made to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, even though 82 [...]
Fixing bad choices
A lot of Americans voted for people in the 2010 elections who promised to focus on creating jobs for the millions who were — and are — jobless. What we got was a crowd of idealogues who have become fixated on breaking the treasury so they can shred our public safety net. In North Carolina, [...]
More cuts to the people who need help the most
Thanks to drastic budget cuts, none of which are balanced by new revenues, North Carolina’s Medicaid program faces a $165 million budget shortfall. When you consider how poor one has to be to receive Medicaid at all (my son had to leave his wife, even though he was battling stage 3 colon cancer and couldn’t [...]
Study: Good food costs more
The medical journal Health Affiairs reports in a new study that eating healthy food can cost a family thousands of dollars a year more than eating processed and fast food. In the study, researchers from the University of Washington surveyed more than 1,000 adults. Not surprisingly, the people who ate the healthiest (that is, came [...]
Raleigh, we have a problem
The US Justice Department, which has been investigating North Carolina’s mental health system, has issued a 16-page report (http://www.disabilityrightsnc.org/intranet/downloadManagerControl.php?mode=getFile&elementID=2642&type=5&atomID=1756), condemning the state’s use of institutionalization to replace services in the community for people who have psychiatric illnesses. The report found the state in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which specifies [...]
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.
To learn more, visit www.startfromseed.org, or call Program Director Chelsea Kouns at 804-814-9946.