It strikes me that embarrassment is a huge barrier to participation in physical activity for aging people, and it’s not even the most substantial one. Other obstacles include lack of money or transportation to attend an age-appropriate exercise class. In some cases, older adults are hobbled by arthritis or are wheelchair-bound. And sometimes taking a walk isn’t a viable option when a neighborhood doesn’t feel safe or the sidewalk is cracked and pitted.
Every year, an estimated 1 or more million patients venture from California to Mexico to obtain medical treatments and medicines, and a large contingent of these are aging people.
Cost is the main reason to make the trip for 60 to 70 percent of patients, said Arturo Vargas Bustamante, a professor in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
The most popular treatments among older patients who cross the border are dental services.
I’m one of many people who are increasingly living longer with or past cancer. In the 1970s, only 49 percent of patients survived five years after their illness, but that rate has risen to 70 percent. Doctors now commonly talk about cancer as a chronic disease which can be managed.
But even as older cancer patients receive the gift of extra time, greater longevity brings its own challenges.
Imagine knowing exactly what you want to say, but the words don’t make it from your brain to your lips. You know how you want to move, but your body fails to comply.
This is the reality of living with something called full-body apraxia, a term I hadn’t heard until recently, despite my 30 years of being diagnosed with this and or that disorder. Many treatment providers fail to recognize how these motor and sensory differences might manifest.
Shari Horne spends much of her day caring for her husband Hal in their sunny apartment in Orange County’s Laguna Woods, where she was once mayor.
I’m sharing the Hornes’ story in my inaugural column for the California Health Report. Over the next year, I’ll write about health equity and aging, drawing on my personal experiences, as well as those of the people I interview.
I spent three summers providing emergency services as part of Yosemite National Park’s Search and Rescue team, working hard on more than 100 rescue missions.
Emergency medical services look different in every park, but one thing is now the same: The systems that NPS visitors, residents and employees have come to rely on are on shaky ground.
When President Trump first announced tariffs on most foreign imports, Jennifer McLelland checked the packaging on her son’s medical supplies.
As a parent of a child with complex medical needs, McLelland argues for tariff exemptions on medical supplies that cannot be purchased from U.S. manufacturers.
My son is able to live at home with our family, attend school and interact with the world because we live in a nation where disabled people have civil rights.
When I hear President Trump talk about eliminating diversity, equality, inclusion and accessibility, he’s not just attacking civil rights for disabled people — he’s sending a message to kids like my son that they don’t belong.
Health care and disability rights advocates are gearing up to make sure politicians understand that there is no way to cut Medicaid without hurting people who need care. Sharing real people’s stories will be key to that effort.
California Health Report’s disability rights columnist Jennifer McLelland offers her tips on how to tell your family’s story.
For many people, the holidays are an opportunity to come together with family and foster connections and belonging. However, for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, it can be a time of increased abuse, reliving traumatic past events, and not receiving the appropriate supports for safety.
But there are solutions that can help survivors feel supported, as Carolina Morales explains.