What many California seniors and older adults don’t realize is that California offers a respite for them when their parents or other family members become ill. A surprisingly low number of caregivers take advantage of the temporary relief, which is automatically deducted from employees’ paychecks.
The Chinatown Service Center is the largest community-based Chinese-American health and human service organization in Southern California, serving immigrants, refugees and others in need of assistance. The center, which largely serves those who have nowhere else to go, would not be a robust social or medical refuge if it were not for the Affordable Care Act.
As California’s Latino population ages, promatoras are increasingly seen as a way to boost senior health in a way that honors their culture.
A promotora typically receives specialized training to provide information to residents in the Latino communities in which they live. Promotoras make house calls, go to PTA meetings and offer informal presentations in school classrooms.
Adults are now allowed to possess and use up to an ounce of marijuana in California. But a remaining barrier to elders’ ability to use medical marijuana could be their living situation, particularly if they live in facilities, such as nursing homes that receive federal funding, as all marijuana use is illegal under federal law.
“It’s a beautiful thing when you’ve resuscitated someone and you get them back,” says paramedic Henry Ledo, “but if you can do anything for anyone in their life, it’s at least to respect their wishes.”
Californians voted to legalize adult use of marijuana last November, but the change in law has introduced a quandary for health educators who teach teens about drug use.
Esther Schiller, who suffers from extreme asthma, is a clean-air advocate of a particular kind—she crusades for smoke-free housing. Years ago, when cigarette smoke wafted into her classroom at Sun Valley Junior High School, the former teacher said it triggered a severe upper respiratory infection that caused a life-threatening reaction.
L.A. is on the road toward a transportation revolution. It’s been a slow start but with a new, well-utilized Expo Rail line extension stretching from Downtown L.A. to the beach and more lines under construction, many of L.A.’s famously car-loving citizens are navigating in new ways.
When Mikki del Monico, a 49-year-old filmmaker, walked into the just-opened Transgender Health Program more than two years ago, he knew exactly what he wanted because he’d been waiting for it his whole life—hormone replacement therapy, surgical referrals and a welcoming medical home. Two years later, post-testosterone treatments and breast-removal surgery, he is relieved and grateful.
When Olga Santana’s 7-year-old daughter, Emma, had trouble breathing during a serious asthma attack—something that would happen about every three weeks—she would take her to the emergency room for costly treatment. The visits to the hospital stopped, however, when Santana, a mother of six, made a few changes to her home that made a big difference to her daughter’s health.