Mental health support in preschool may help lower sky-high expulsion rates

Chabeli Carrazana

July 20, 2021 |

The 19th |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Arkansas

Project PLAY, the third of Arkansas’ three-tiered mental health consultation system, has reduced high expulsion and suspension rates for children in child care settings. The program provides consultants who go into classrooms for several months of weekly visits to observe children and then work with staff and parents to address behavioral and mental health issues. The consultations can lead to earlier diagnoses of sensory disorders and increase the confidence and empowerment of child care providers. Lower expulsion rates have a long-term impact on children’s social, emotional, and educational development.

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In Assam, ATMs purify arsenic-laced water

Aatreyee Dhar

July 19, 2021 |

The Third Pole |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India, Barigaon, Assam

A water management committee manages Barigaon’s water ATM, which uses a nanotechnology-based ion exchange resin to remove iron and arsenic from groundwater. Residents, who swipe a pre-paid card to collect water in their own containers, pay 40 cents per 20 liters or a flat monthly fee of less than $3. Water is free for families who can’t afford the fee and delivery is arranged for those who are unable to transport water. Around 250 villagers use the ATM each day and its success inspired five additional ATMs, with plans to install 172 statewide. Fees cover maintenance and the landowner’s electricity costs.

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Hey Siri, Learn to Speak Kinyarwanda

Tolu Olasoji

July 13, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Rwanda

Common Voice is an open-source initiative to capture more languages for voice-recognition software. Users “donate” their voices by recording themselves reading text out loud. They can also validate the accuracy of already donated voices. The platform has over 9,000 hours of voice data for 90 languages contributed by more than 166,000 people. The group runs creative campaigns to encourage native speakers to contribute, like “Digital Umuganda” in Rwanda, which is a play on a national holiday when people engage in community service. The campaign gathered over 1,700 hours of Kinyarwanda language from 840 people.

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'I am not alone:' How a California county is helping Hispanic family caregivers find peace

Natalia Rodríguez Medina Tom Kisken

July 12, 2021 |

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Ventura, California

La Buena Vida connects caregivers from Latino households with respite care, training, and support groups. Using federal funding, the program serves as the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging’s resource center for Spanish-speaking family caregivers. The program also provides safety equipment, like ramps and railings. In addition to much needed emotional and physical breaks from their responsibilities, the group connects caregivers to Spanish-speaking professionals who offer counseling and support. The program staff regularly checks in with its 66 clients to see how they are doing and assess their needs.

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Colorado screening newborn babies for spinal muscular atrophy

Jennifer Brown

July 12, 2021 |

The Colorado Sun |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Colorado

A joint project between Wyoming and Colorado screens newborns for spinal muscular atrophy, allowing them to receive gene therapies to prevent the deadly disease’s progression. Once researchers identified a protein missing from the cells of people with the disease, they developed treatments that are most effective the earlier they are started. The tests have significantly increased the number of cases identified across the two states, all of which are sent to Children’s Hospital Colorado for immediate treatment. Most babies are diagnosed within four days of birth and can start treatment soon after that.

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Financially Challenged But Fierce, Griffin Hospital Innovates Its Way Through Pandemic

Carol Leonetti Dannhauser

July 12, 2021 |

Connecticut Health Investigative Team |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Derby, Connecticut

Griffin hospital used innovative strategies to test, vaccinate, and care for patients during the coronavirus pandemic. The hospital stocked up early, including with donated ventilators, and repurposed unused spaces and object to help care for COVID-19 patients. They offered large-scale testing, at the height administering 35,000 weekly tests at five drive-through locations. They also provided testing at 124 nursing homes to stem high infection rates. Once vaccinations were ready, Griffin set up clinics where people were, vaccinating thousands in nursing homes, local shops, schools, parks, and at churches.

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‘Know Your Script' initiative shows success in fight against opioid epidemic

Sydney Glenn

July 08, 2021 |

KSTU-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Utah

Intermountain Healthcare implemented an opioid reduction plan as part of Utah’s statewide ‘Know Your Script’ initiative. The plan, which includes an opioid-free surgery program that utilizes nerve blockers and non-opioid pain medications, has led to 11 million fewer opioid prescriptions. While not all surgeries can be performed this way, it has given recovering addicts a treatment alternative. The healthcare system also educates medical staff on ways to reduce opioid prescriptions and empowers patients to tell their providers that they do not want opioids.

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Special clinics aim to get COVID vaccine to developmentally disabled

Dave Altimari

July 06, 2021 |

The Connecticut Mirror |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Vernon, Connecticut

Grassroots volunteer groups are helping people across the country make COVID-19 vaccine appointments. Get Out the Shot: Los Angeles has 100 vetted volunteers who have booked 300 appointments through the group’s system and thousands more on their own. Residents leave a message or fill out a Google form with their information and a volunteer picks up their case, books an appointment, and calls them to confirm. These volunteer organizations fill important assistance gaps in local government services that are stretched thin. Some groups focus on getting appointments for people from underserved communities.

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‘This Isn't a Dying Coal Town,' It's a West Virginia Community Rethinking Health Care and Succeeding

Taylor Sisk

July 01, 2021 |

100 Days in Appalachia |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Williamson, West Virginia

Williamson Health and Wellness Center is a federally qualified health center in rural West Virginia, that provides medical, dental, and mental health care as well as chronic-disease management and wellness coaching on a sliding scale. The health center addresses social determinants of health with programs like fresh produce delivery, a community garden, and workforce development. The community health worker program has seen success by hiring local people to visit patients at home and work with them to monitor their blood sugar, take their medications properly, and learn healthy lifestyle choices.

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How ‘hockey hub' clinics are changing the vaccine game in Ontario

Justin Chandler

June 30, 2021 |

TVO |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Canada, Ontario

The “hockey hub” mass-vaccination model uses large spaces, like sports arenas, to vaccinate up to 70 people per hour, compared to 6-10 with traditional systems. Rows of 30 cubicles, each with a single chair, allow a health professional and an assistant to visit each patient with their vaccine-laden cart and quickly get consent and administer the vaccine. Once they finish the row, the first person to get their shot has waited the required post-vaccine observation time. The model requires less staff and time spent disinfecting surfaces in between patients, which substantially lowers the cost per vaccine.

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