In the heart of Los Angeles, the storytelling capital of the world, Paul Irving is busy changing the narrative of aging. Irving had already spent several years as head of The Milken Institute, a Los Angeles think tank shepherding dialogue on topics ranging from job creation to health and the global economy.
Having just bought a dozen or so quart-bottles of sports drinks – a riot of reds, yellows and blues wedged in the front of his shopping cart — Luis Gregorio Ruiz almost made it out of an Anaheim grocery store on a recent morning. But not quite. Maureen Villasenor, a physician in a white coat with a friendly manner, hustled over to Ruiz and introduced herself to him to chat about healthy drink choices.
Only a quarter of young children enrolled in California’s low-income health program receive preventative dental care — a statistic that state officials and advocates are urgently trying to change.