Into the void left by a health care system that doesn’t offer sufficient translation services and an economy that demands grueling labor from low-wage workers, Punjabi residents in Fresno have created an organization to help each other.
A team of five community health workers visit Sikh temples and Punjabi-populated neighborhoods to assist in accessing health care.
The recalls have shaken parents whose children depend on ventilators due to health conditions that affect their breathing.
Doctors and children’s advocates are asking federal officials to better track the health of patients exposed to the recalled ventilators. They also want stronger oversight of medical devices in general.
California has a severe shortage of pediatric specialist doctors. The state has only one pediatric medical toxicologist for all 8.7 million children in California, for example, and one child abuse specialist for every 258,000 children.
The shortfall puts medically fragile children at risk for worsening health and missed opportunities for life-changing treatment and support. Many families wait months — and in some cases a year or more — to get appointments.
California has a variety of programs aimed at supporting the health care needs of children with complex disabilities. But accessing and utilizing these programs is complicated and time consuming.
The California Health Report spoke with several experts and disability advocates about what can be done to ease the burden on families and ensure children with disabilities get the care they need.
The California Health Report spoke with disability rights experts and parent advocates about what families who speak a language other than English need to know about their rights when accessing health care and special education services, and tips on how to advocate for themselves.
Almost half of California residents speak a language other than English at home, most often Spanish.
Family Justice Centers are designed to provide one-stop support for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, child abuse and human trafficking.
The goal is to make it easy for violence survivors and their children to get all of their needs taken care of in one place, and to spare them from having to visit multiple locations and retell their stories repeatedly.
In 1996, a group of 10 Asian American families founded a support network for people with disabilities and their caregivers. The organization eventually became a nonprofit called Friends of Children with Special Needs.
Today it serves over 1,500 Bay Area families, about half of them Chinese American, and offers a variety of programs across three locations.
Caring for children with special needs is demanding work. Without adequate support or rest, parents can end up feeling depleted and alone.
The solution, according to experts and parents who have faced these challenges, is to reach out for help, connect with other families of children with disabilities, and prioritize self-care.
A new benefit called Enhanced Care Management offered under California’s Medi-Cal program could help parents who are caring for children with complex physical, behavioral and social needs.
However, the program — which launched July 1 — has been slow to help most families who qualify.
Domestic violence survivors often need mental health care. Like veterans of wars, these survivors have often been subjected to prolonged periods of extreme stress and fear for their safety.
Mental health care can be hard to access, but solutions exist.