Leslie Boyd
Being sick in America
People in this country who are sick see the health care system in a worse light than those who are well, according to a new poll by NPR and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. They are more likely to believe cost is an urgent problem, that health care personnel don’t communicate sufficiently and that the [...]
Tell me again how the free market can handle health care?
From the Pragmatic Progressive. I only know this woman’s first name, Midge. I assume she lives in New Jersey because the closest hospital to her was in Hoboken. But her story is all too common. “Let’s talk about insurance companies. My husband Dan became very ill last Friday. He rushed in from work unexpected. He [...]
So, when do we reach the tipping point?
Once again, Americans’ health care costs have gone up. A report released Tuesday by the consultant company, Millman, found that health care costs for a family of four covered by employer-sponsored health insurance will top $20,000 for the first time ever this year — $20,728 to be precise — according to a new study released Tuesday. [...]
Do Canadians hate their health care?
I went to a party the other night and got to meet Thom, a friend of my friends Christopher and Bruce. Thom flew in from Toronto for a few days to visit, and we got to talking, first about gay marriage (Thom is legally married to his partner and Canada has not fallen apart as [...]
The damage is done
I am really happy that President Obama came down firmly on the side of human rights yesterday, but it was the day after voters in North Carolina decided to institutionalize its ban on gay marriage by enshrining it in the state Constitution. Unfortunately, the amendment went further than banning gay marriage. It defined marriage as [...]
A MUST-read book: ‘Hot Cripple’
Hogan Gorman was a model and actress in New York, working as a cocktail waitress, and like too many Americans, uninsured, when the unthinkable happened: she was hit by a car. She was told again and again that the accident should have killed her and then sent home from the emergency room with a neck [...]
Surprise!
My husband is on vacation this week and I’m not. So, he offered to take me out for a beer after work and then to dinner last night. I got to the Altamont Brewing Co. a few minutes after he did, and when I said I wanted to think about what to order, he said, [...]
Another grieving mother
I met Julia Robinson at an event in Hendersonville, NC, yesterday. The Truth and Hope Poverty Tour of North Carolina, sponsored by the NC NAACP, the NC Justice Center, the Institute for Civic Engagement and Social Change at NC Central University, and the AARP, stopped in Hendersonville, and Robinson was there to tell her story. Derrick [...]
Truly horrifying ideas
The state legislature in Tennessee has passed a bill that makes me want to avoid even driving through the state. When I first read it, I thought it was a bad joke. The bill would make any miscarriage a potential crime. It hasn’t been signed by the governor yet, and there’s no word as to [...]
Leave Medicare as it is
I ran into my friend Dr. Olson Huff this morning. Once again, this supposedly-retired physician-activist is headed to Washington to try to avert changes in the way Medicare is funded. There’s been talk about changing the single-payer program from a so-called entitlement program to a block grant to the states, as Medicaid is done now. [...]
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.