What do Papua New Guinea, Oman, and the United States of America have in common? They are the only three countries in the world with no paid-maternity-leave law. When you point out the deficiencies of the United States in this regard, somebody...
Silver Spring, Md., is not known for being backward. Just north of Washington, D.C., it is similar to other liberal-leaning inner-ring Montgomery County suburbs, only more racially and socioeconomically diverse than most. Like its neighbors,...
A school district in a low-income area of East Palo Alto is hoping to lower dropout rates by launching a health and wellness program that includes yoga. The Ravenswood School District is launching the program in partnership with the Sonima...
Donald Rose has no teeth, but that’s not his biggest problem. A camouflage hat droops over his ancient, wire-framed glasses. He’s only 43, but he looks much older. I met him one day in October as he sat on a tan metal folding chair...
"Today is Thursday, the day of Meaning." That's the message at the very top of the page. And from there down, almost everything about Amit Sood's website, stressfree.org, is couched in the self-help jargon that scientists instinctively dismiss....
The year was 1965. The ink on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was hardly dry. Duke Power Company executives at the Dan River Steam Station near Draper, N.C., needed a new personnel policy. The old one had been simple:...
It is now one hundred years since drugs were first banned -- and all through this long century of waging war on drugs, we have been told a story about addiction by our teachers and by our governments. This story is so deeply ingrained in our...
If you want to be a pessimist about the shape the world's in, just turn on the news. It seems as if we're living in an age of terrorism, war, refugees, hostages and natural disasters. If you want to look on the rosy side, read Michael Elliott's...
Nearly 50 years after it was established, Head Start is still serving thousands of children locally and keeping parent involvement a top priority. "Parent involvement has always been an integral part of Head Start," said Janis Santos, executive...
Noncommunicable diseases have become the leading killers around the globe. In 2012, two-thirds of all deaths worldwide were the result of conditions such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and respiratory infections. The mortality rate from...
Asthma affects children regardless of where they live and whether they are rich or poor. But scientists have long thought that living in poor urban neighborhoods adds an extra risk for this troublesome lung inflammation. A new study suggests...
This is a fictional story - By Steve Hein I was a soldier in the US army. I was sent to Afghanistan, then Iraq. I was told we were fighting terrorism. I was told I was defending my country. But I felt bad about what I was doing. I felt guilty for...
Allyson Bendell wasn’t always the most well behaved girl, but that didn’t make her a criminal either. In the world of group homes, however, where staff who are often undertrained and overwhelmed try to manage the severe behaviors...
Prevention Institute's new paper, Sustainable Investments in Health: Prevention and Wellness Funds, provides background to readers not yet familiar with the concept of a Prevention and Wellness Fund. It explores a crucial set of questions: how...
The 2012 National Research Council report Disaster Resilience: A National Imperative highlighted the challenges of increasing national resilience in the United States. One finding of the report was that "without numerical means of assessing...