“Can You Cure a Domestic Abuser?” – The Atlantic
“A class developed in Duluth, Minnesota, has heavily influenced how domestic abusers are rehabilitated across the U.S. But critics question whether it works.”
The photograph above shows Andrew Lisdahl and his fiancée, Theresa, at their home, along with Andrew’s daughter with his ex-wife (left) and one of Theresa’s daughters (right). – David Kasnic
“Andrew Lisdahl was mad. His wife, Gretchen, had smoked a cigarette, a habit he detested. They fought, and Gretchen spent the night at a friend’s house. The next day, Andrew drank a bottle of tequila and hitched a ride to the stained-glass studio where Gretchen, an artist, gave lessons. When Andrew found her, he grabbed her left hand and tried to remove her wedding ring, but Gretchen fought him off. As Andrew stumbled away, he took Gretchen’s car keys and phone.
“After work, Gretchen’s father drove her back home to retrieve her things. Inside, Andrew had been passed out on the couch, but he woke up and yelled at Gretchen, “Get the fuck out!” When she didn’t, he grabbed her by the hair, dragged her into the living room, threw her on the carpet, kicked her in the chest, and pinned her to the ground. As Gretchen’s father approached the house, Andrew let her go and she was able to escape.
“Gretchen went to a police station near their home in Superior, Wisconsin, and showed an officer on duty the red marks coloring her sternum.”
Read this story in its entirety at The Atlantic, click here.
Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation (PATF) Offers Funding for Tablet Technology
Did you know that PATF offers partial grants for tablet technology to our Mini-Loan borrowers? That’s right — if you’re a Pennsylvanian with a disability planning to use a PATF Mini-Loan to pay for a tablet (for example, an iPad, Samsung Galaxy, Amazon Fire, etc.) we can provide a grant to offset the cost by up to 50% of the loan ($500 at most).
These loans also offer an opportunity to build credit, with 0% interest and no fees. Borrowers of ANY income level are eligible.
Please note: PATF does not extend grants only. If a loan applicant meets eligibility guidelines, PATF may be able to offer a partial grant in conjunction with a Mini-Loan.
Save money, build credit, and most importantly, get the assistive technology you need! Contact us for details. https://patf.us/contact/
American Girl Introduces Doll With Disability
Joss Kendrick, who has congenital hearing loss, is American Girl’s 2020 Girl of the Year. (American Girl)
“With a new doll, the iconic American Girl lineup is for the first time telling the story of a girl with a developmental disability.
“The brand’s 2020 Girl of the Year has congenital hearing loss. Named Joss Kendrick, the character is deaf in her left ear but can hear a little in her right ear using a hearing aid.
“While American Girl has previously featured issues like stuttering and offered accessories including a wheelchair, hearing aids, service dogs and arm crutches, Joss is the brand’s first character to have a physical disability as part of her story, according to Julie Parks, a spokeswoman for American Girl.”
“Rich People Don’t Just Live Longer. They Also Get More Healthy Years.” – The New York Times
Wealthy men and women generally have eight to nine more years of “disability-free” life after age 50 than poor people do, according to a new study of English and American adults.
“Credit … Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group, via Getty Images”
by Heather Murphy
“Yes, indeed, it’s good to be rich in old age. According to a new study, wealthy men and women don’t only live longer, they also get eight to nine more healthy years after 50 than the poorest individuals in the United States and in England.
“‘It was surprising to find that the inequalities are exactly the same,’ said Paola Zaninotto, a professor of epidemiology and public health at University College London and a lead author of the study.
“The findings, published on Wednesday in The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, emerged from two primary questions: What role do socioeconomic factors play in how long people live healthy lives? Do older adults in England stay disability-free longer than those in the United States?”
Find out more, read this article at The New York Times in its entirety.
“The agony of weekend loneliness: ‘I won’t speak to another human until Monday’” – The Guardian
“For growing numbers of people the weekend is an emotional wilderness where interaction is minimal and social life non-existent. What can be done to break this toxic cycle?”
“I wake up on a Saturday and feel down. It’s a struggle to pull myself out of bed if I have nothing planned.” – Illustration: Monika Jurczyk/The Guardian
by Paula Cocozza
“On Saturday morning, Peter got up and went to the supermarket. He carried his shopping home, and took care of his laundry and ironing. In the afternoon, he browsed a few record stores and later he cooked himself dinner; always something adventurous on a Saturday night. Afterwards, he hit Netflix. And in all those hours, in common with many of Peter’s Saturdays, not to mention his Sundays, he had no meaningful interaction with another human being. ‘The only person I spoke to,’ he says, ‘was the lady who came over to verify my bottles of beer at the supermarket self-checkout.’
“During the week, Peter, 62, is too busy to be lonely. His commute from Brighton to London means that his working life is ‘a tunnel’ he enters on a Monday and from which no daylight is glimpsed until Friday. But just when Peter re-emerges, he is stymied by an overwhelming sense of loneliness. Instead of providing respite from the stress of office life, a chance to reconnect with family and friends, the weekend looms as a vast emotional and social wilderness that must be traversed before work takes hold again.
“Peter dreads the weekend.”
Read this article in its entirety at The Guardian, click here.
“‘How long do I have?’ A website on cancer survival rates, from the co-founder of GoodRx, seeks to provide clarity” – STATNews
by Elizabeth Cooney
“Talking about cancer is hard. Talking about your chances of surviving cancer is even harder.
“Now one of the entrepreneurs behind the drug-pricing information site GoodRx wants to make conversations about cancer easier with a new site called CancerSurvivalRates.com. Launched this month, its mission is to make information about cancer prognoses more accessible to patients and families. The idea is to improve on what people can find on the internet or even sometimes in their doctors’ offices, co-founder and drug supply chain veteran Stephen Buck said.
“Oncologists may be leery of their patients’ relying on the web for cancer survival rates or estimates of how long a patient might live, particularly given how many factors come into play for any individual. But Buck, along with oncologists and other experts who have served as advisers on the project, say such information can be the basis for a deeper discussion with clinicians about what the future might hold.”
To continue reading this article, click here.
Visit the CancerSurvivorRates.com Website, click here.
“What Neurobiology Can Tell Us About Suicide” – The Scientist
“The biochemical mechanisms in the brain underlying suicidal behavior are beginning to come to light, and researchers hope they could one day lead to better treatment and prevention strategies.”
Source: CDC, 2017 data © ISTOCK.COM, LOFTYSTYLE
by Catherine Offord
“The first time Kees van Heeringen met Valerie, the 16-year-old girl had just jumped from a bridge. It was the 1980s and van Heeringen was working as a trainee psychiatrist at the physical rehabilitation unit at Ghent University Hospital in Belgium. As he got to know Valerie, who’d lost both legs in the jump and spent several months at the hospital, he pieced together the events leading up to the moment the teenager tried to end her life, including stressful interactions with people around her and a steady accumulation of depression symptoms.
“Van Heeringen, who would later describe the experience in his 2018 book The Neuroscience of Suicidal Behavior, says Valerie’s story left a permanent impression on him. ‘I found it very difficult to understand,’ he tells The Scientist. He asked himself why anyone would do ‘such a horrible thing,’ he recalls. ‘It was the first stimulus for me to start studying suicidal behavior.’”
Continue reading this article at The Scientist.
County Health Rankings & Roadmaps | building a culture of health, county by county.
How Healthy is Your Community?
Here’s a comparison of the counties in this Link Service Area – Berks- Lancaster – Lebanon.
“Prescription drug overload: Critics fighting to curb an epidemic of medication side effects” – The Boston Globe
by
“Are you taking too many meds?
“If you’re an older American, chances are your medicine cabinet is crammed with bottles of pills to reduce cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and treat everything from acid reflux to underactive thyroid.
“Forty-two percent of adults over 65 take five or more prescription drugs, and nearly 20 percent take 10 or more, according to the Lown Institute, a health care think tank in Brookline. The institute warns of a growing epidemic of overmedication that’s sent millions of seniors to hospitals and emergency rooms in the past decade with often serious side effects.
“Lown, which published a report on ‘medication overload” last year, will release a national action plan later this month alerting patients, caregivers, doctors, and pharmacists — as well as policy makers — to the perils of overprescribing. The plan was developed by a group of patient advocates, geriatricians, nurses, and health insurers concerned about the unintended consequences of the ‘pills for all ills’ mind-set.”
Continue reading this article at The Boston Globe, click here.
