COVID-19 Pandemic COVID-19 Pandemic Healthcare News Uncategorized

Coronavirus Strains Safety Net for People With Disabilities

About one in four Americans has some form of disability, making them more vulnerable to Covid-19 BY ELIZABETH KOH, STAFF WRITER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (Published: April 20, 2020) Damian Gregory worries about the things that have quickly become normal to worry about in the coronavirus era: Is there Clorox at the grocery store this […]

Karen Clay operates a medical ventilator to help her son Michael Phillips, 36, breathe. Michael has spinal muscular atrophy and is confined to his bed. He can breathe only with the aid of a machine. Here, they are photographed at their Tampa home July 19, 2017. ALESSANDRA DA PRA Tampa Bay Times
Advocacy Healthcare News Social Services

‘Medicaid is a lifeline, but the Medicaid waiver is life.’ People fear losing benefits.

By ELIZABETH KOH, HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU (Published September 24, 2019) For almost every waking hour of his day, 33-year-old Jason Hahr needs someone else to do what his own body cannot. Hahr has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, which means he needs a personal care assistant to physically help him perform the basic activities of daily […]

Courts Healthcare Immigration Mental Health

Trump administration sued over poor medical care in immigration centers

Detainees with medical and mental health conditions and those with disabilities face settings so brutal, including delays and denials of medical care, overuse of solitary confinement and lack of disability accommodations, they have led to permanent harm and 24 deaths in the last two years, according to a portion of the 200-page complaint shared with […]

Healthcare Mental Health Opinion

In Trump’s world, it’s easier to regulate the bodies of disabled people than to limit deadly weapons

Opinion By DAVID PERRY, CNN.com (August 16, 2019)–On his way to a rally in New Hampshire on Thursday, Donald Trump unveiled his latest musing — to incarcerate the vulnerable. This time, he’s coming for people with mental illness, suggesting that the United States build more mental institutions because of mass shooters. Worse, it’s all too […]

Healthcare News Social Services

Nebraskans with developmental disabilities wait for services

By MARTHA STODDARD, OMAHA WORLD-HERALD (August 10, 2019)–Erin Phillips has made great strides in the three years since moving out of her parents’ home. The 31-year-old has learned how to do her laundry entirely on her own. She takes showers with only a little nudging. She cleans her own bedroom and bathroom. That’s on top […]

Healthcare Inclusion Vote 2020

The Candidates’ Silence on Disability Rights During the Debates Is Nothing New

It is just one of many ways 2020 Democratic candidates have disregarded disability issues. By ROBYN POWELL REWIRE.NEWS Over two nights of debates, not a single Democratic presidential hopeful explicitly mentioned a traditionally overlooked voting bloc: people with disabilities. This failure to recognize disabled people is just one of the many ways 2020 candidates have […]

Healthcare News

Rights group suing ranch: Advocates want to freely question patients

By MARK REAGAN, Staff Writer, THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD A first-of-its-kind mental health jail diversion program between Cameron County and a private healthcare group is the subject of a federal lawsuit a little more than four months after receiving its first residents. Disability Rights Texas filed the lawsuit against Inspired Behavioral Health, the parent company of […]

Nate Guidry/Post-Gazette
Healthcare

As spina bifida patients become adults, their needs and care are changing

By JILL DALY, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Services for adults with spina bifida are ramping up as people live longer with the condition they were born with. New guidelines that incorporate the latest research and treatments are now being distributed to health care providers to help their patients. Taking a leadership role in the guidelines’ development was […]

Healthcare Technology Teens

More Screen Time For Teens Linked To ADHD Symptoms

By RHITU CHATTERJEE, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO Most teens today own a smartphone and go online every day, and about a quarter of them use the internet “almost constantly,” according to a 2015 report by the Pew Research Center. Now a study published Tuesday in JAMA suggests that such frequent use of digital media by adolescents […]

Healthcare News

Turnover rate for those aiding disabled clients rivals retail, fast-food industries

By RITA PRICE, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Although their chronically low wages showed modest gains last year, frontline workers who provide support and care to Ohioans with disabilities still left their jobs in droves. A new survey by the Ohio Provider Resource Association found that employee turnover in 2017 climbed to 61 percent — a staggering […]