Leslie Boyd
The ER is NOT the answer
I couldn’t stay away from the Civic Center yesterday. Mitt Romney was coming to speak and I had to be there to counter his “the emergency room works fine” lie. See, Mitt believes people can get the care they need at the emergency room and that they won’t get a bill. Wrong and wrong, Mitt. [...]
The great migration
I’m migrating my blog entries over to our new site, www.wnchealthadvocates.org, reading some of them as I go along. It’s a long process, but it’s interesting to see how we have evolved from when we started by putting up this web site just six weeks after Mike died. We have educated, we have helped people [...]
It’s about women’s health care
I went to Charlotte yesterday with my friend, Sarah Skinner, to attend the Planned Parenthood Yes We Can rally just across the way from the DNC site. I didn’t go because of abortion; I went because millions of women get their health care through Planned Parenthood, and I don’t want to see health care access [...]
Supporting women’s health care
I’m heading to Charlotte tomorrow with my friend Sarah Skinner. Sarah and I have a lot in common — we’re a couple of old hippies who think access to health care is the most important issue of the day. We have been to Washington, DC, together four times, and now we will take the issue [...]
Changing our name
It’s not always easy letting go of something with an emotional connection as strong as the one I have to Mike, but there comes a time when it becomes necessary. That time has come for our name. Life o’ Mike has honored the memory of my son, who died because he couldn’t get access to [...]
A guide to affordable healthy eating
I have railed against fast food and processed food rather frequently on this blog (and in person), and people usually claim that low-income people can’t afford healthy food. Well, the Environmental Work Group has issued a new publication to debunk that myth. The booklet, “Good Food on a Tight Budget,” offers a wealth of information [...]
The truth about Obama’s “raid ” on Medicare
I don’t want to be political here, but I need to correct some falsehoods out there, especially the one about President Obama “stealing $716 billion from Medicare. Here’s the truth, as told by the New York Times (with my comments in italics): “In reality, the $716 billion is not a ‘cut’ in benefits but rather [...]
Bullying as a public health issue
In the last few years, physicians have begun to recognize various forms of violence as a public health issue. Certainly, with the number of people who are shot simply because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time, gun violence now is seen as a danger to health. The National Rifle Association and [...]
More problems for a broken system
At a board meeting for Western Highlands Area Program this morning, parents came forward to talk about how their children were being left to fend for themselves in a system where funds keep shrinking while the needs keep growing. Western Highlands manages the care for people with developmental disabilities, mental illness and substance abuse problems [...]
Gaps in care will improve under Obamacare
A new study by the Commonwealth Fund suggests that gaps in health coverage likely will be reduced once the Affordable Care Act kicks in fully in 2014. The study showed that more than one-third of Americans were uninsured for one month or longer between 2004 and 2007, and 23 million of them lost insurance more [...]
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.
Life o’ Mike honors Joe Eblen
Life o' Mike presented its first Michael T. Danforth Community Service Award to Joe Eblen at a luncheon on June 8, in the Friendship Hall of First Congregational Church, 20 Oak St., Asheville.
Joe, seen here with Leslie Boyd, left, and his wife, Bobbie, has spent his life helping children and families, both as a coach and game official for more than 60 years, and as founder of Eblen Charities.
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.