Photo by Shane on Unsplash.
Caught Between Crises: Long COVID Patients Struggle to Find Healthcare in Rhode Island
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With Rhode Island’s healthcare system strained to the breaking point, long COVID patients grapple with complex, mysterious, and disabling symptoms — and find meaning supporting each other and working for disability justice. In early 2020, Ariana, now 32, of North Providence got sicker than she [...]

27
Aug
The book's cover and a photo of the author.
Essential Work in A Living: Working-Class Americans Talk to Their Doctors by Michael Stein, M.D.
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When Dr. Michael Stein, a doctor and writer in Providence, sees patients, he makes a special effort to learn about their work. Much of it is manual labor: “Because I am a primary care doctor in a mid-sized industrial city in the northeastern United States [...]

23
Jul
While some may think of COVID as a thing of the past, others continue to take precautions in their daily lives, including children who wear masks at school. Photo by Eduardo Barrios.
Why We Mask: Solidarity, Creativity & Community Care in a Not-Quite-Post-Pandemic World
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At a backyard cookout this spring, Emily Kindschy did something she hadn’t done in several years: she took off her mask in a crowd. “We were standing at a distance, in the wind, so it felt safe,” she says. It felt good to be unmasked [...]

09
Jul
The graduation of the pilot Imani program in RI at the Bethel AME Church. Photo courtesy of Ericka Mack-Andrew.
The Imani Program Offers R.I. a Faith-Based Solution to Opioid Addiction
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Homer Lee-Walker felt he should have been dead a long time ago from his addiction. He says he fell in with the wrong crowd as a teen, and soon after, he was using cocaine, pills, alcohol, and anything else he could get his hands on. [...]

12
Feb
Photo courtesy of The Children’s Medical Group
Real-World Treatment for Pediatric Mental Health Debuts Here
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Mental healthcare isn’t a luxury; it’s a fundamental right, akin to physical healthcare, and it should be treated that way. Unfortunately, that is not the norm for pediatric behavioral health. Nearly one-third of youth in the U.S. will have an anxiety disorder by the age [...]

31
Jul
Attendees at a retreat for women of color within Newport HEZ’s Collective of Phenomenal Women working group - Photo courtesy of Newport Health Equity Zone
Moving Beyond Disease-Specific Approach, Health Equity Zones give Rhode Islanders Opportunity to Improve Quality of Life
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‘The value of HEZs is undeniably proven… We hope to be the ripple that makes that change. It’s intentional disruption that’s necessary. That’s what we are doing collectively.’ Across Rhode Island, fourteen “health equity zones,” or “HEZs,” are engaging residents and stakeholders to improve the [...]

31
Jul
Noise in Providence: orange is the loudest, green the quietest. Courtesy of Brown University School of Public Health
Noise is the New Smoking
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Whether it’s the frame-rattling, wall-penetrating bass of car stereos with over-sized subwoofers, the growl of modified mufflers, the inescapable day- (and often night-)long blare of house parties, the grating drone of leafblowers, or the sleep-depriving inundation of dangerously high volume levels from nearby entertainment venues, [...]

21
Feb
Overdose prevention facility operated by OnPoint NYC photo courtesy of OnPoint NYC
Nation’s First State-Regulated Overdose Prevention Center To Open in Providence
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The overdose crisis is a national epidemic, claiming the lives of over 100,000 people per year – more than gun violence and traffic accidents combined .  With over 434 Rhode Islanders who died in 2022, many of us are connected – either directly or indirectly-  [...]

14
Feb
Prescription for Partnership: New Collaboration Provides Medications to Uninsured Rhode Islanders
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For 25 years, the Rhode Island Free Clinic, located in South Providence, has provided free medical care for Rhode Island adults who do not have health insurance and cannot afford to pay for primary care and other services. In 2022, the clinic reported treating 2,570 patients. Clinic services have [...]

06
Dec
The helping hands of a CHW Credit: CHW Association of RI (CHWARI)
Taking Care of the Neighborhood:  Community Health Workers on the Front Line and Beyond
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In the last few years, if you visited a local health or community center for your Covid vaccine, spoke to someone who followed up with you after the visit, or were interviewed following a bout with the illness, you most likely met with a Community [...]

28
Nov