December 2015

We all need support, no matter who we are.  As a pediatrician, CEO and a mom, I am constantly juggling priorities, schedules and child care.  Some days are just plain hard and I’ve learned that the only way to get through the tough days and weeks is to practice self care.  Self care is about how we can be our best selves in order to be of support to those around us. For children to lead healthier lives, they need a healthy adult who can act as an emotional buffer to...

What I’ve learned from being my brother’s health advocate in a system filled with more stigma than compassion. Until three months ago, I knew almost nothing about the three-pound organ and its crucial role as garbage disposal (eliminating toxins) and refrigerator (storing and releasing vitamins). But once I stepped in as my brother’s health advocate, I became an expert in how it functions and what happens when it fails. I first noticed it with my chiropractor, a widower in...

On December 10, President Obama, with a stroke of a pen, made it official: the No Child Left Behind era is over. Obama signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), one day after it was passed by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote in the U.S. Senate, which followed broad passage in the House last week. The Every Student Succeeds Act is the seventh reauthorization of the landmark Elementary and Secondary Education Act , first passed in 1965, and the first since 2002 when...

If you work with clients in health or human services, you will at some point work with an interpreter. Have you thought about the awkward position they occupy? Language is only part of the problem. They must be “white” enough to understand and navigate the bureaucratic culture, while being black/brown/yellow/red enough to understand the client’s worldview and concerns and to be able to gain the trust of the communities they serve. When I worked with refugees, I often served...

Chronic inflammation in the bloodstream can 'fan the flames' of depression, much like throwing gasoline on a fire, according to a new paper from researchers at Rice University and Ohio State University. 'Inflammation: Depression Fans the Flames and Feasts on the Heat' appeared in a recent edition of the American Journal of Psychiatry. The study reviewed 200 existing papers on depression and inflammation. "In the health area of psychology at Rice, we're very focused on the intersection of...

Say it's Monday and it's a bad one. You overslept and definitely didn't shower, so your hair might smell and maybe you spill some coffee on your shirt while you're barreling toward the Metro, which is especially unfortunate because you're meeting with your boss at 9:30. Just when you think your bloodstream has reached maximum cortisol saturation, a slow-moving elderly man steps between you and the train doors. Then he drops his wallet. Do you rush past him because you're too stressed to deal...

It’s like Yoda once said: “Size matters not.” Put aside for the moment the size of the units in Carmel Place , a new multifamily housing development that just went up in New York City. Here are a few numbers that matter more than the square footage: Carmel Place is a nine-story development that includes 55 units. Of those, 33 units are designated market-rate; eight of the 22 units slotted for affordable housing are reserved for very-low-income renters. Sounds good, right?

The recent  mass shooting in San Bernardino has been labeled an " act of terror" by the FBI, and before that, major media outlets. The media seems to have a two-tier level in determining what should be labeled an act of terror and what should be labeled as the act by a person who is mentally ill. These labels, and when they are applied, are another expression of this country's  brutally racist history. The Middle East couple in San Bernardino, are linked to...

The letters began arriving in the mailboxes of the sprawling public-housing complex last spring. The Worcester Housing Authority had tried to make residents self-sufficient, the letters said. But now it was taking another step. The letters explained that step in big letters that were hard to miss: “IMPORTANT MESSAGE: Residents Required to Go to Work/Attend School.” As long as they weren’t disabled or over 55, the letter elaborated, at least one member of each household had...

Victoria Borja started doing illegal graffiti in middle school. "It's all on the risk. You know you might get in trouble and just the thought of that makes it even more fun," Borja says. She loved the thrill of putting her work in front of an audience. "It's not just for yourself, but for other people to know how you're expressing yourself, it's like your own art gallery but everyone can see it and it's for free," she says. She was never caught vandalizing property, but she did end up at a...

MOMS (Mental Health Outreach for Mothers) is a multi-neighborhood, community-driven partnership that is developing interventions to meet the mental health needs of single mothers in at-risk neighborhoods. Based in New Haven, Connecticut, the project tests the hypothesis that combining basic needs services with mental health and economic security services for mothers will decrease stress and increase parenting capacity. [For more go...