Caring for a child with acute mental illness can be an overwhelming and isolating experience. And when youth become a threat to themselves or others, resources to keep them safe can be difficult to find. Kathleen Schock spoke with Katie Rice, former Fresno County Behavioral Health Board Vice Chair of …
Read More »In The Studio: Mental Health Advocates On Knowing The Signs, Introducing Teens To Wellness Careers
Last week we brought you a story about high schoolers in Merced asking for a mental health class, and getting one. This week, moderator Kathleen Schock digs deeper into youth and mental illness with Christina Valdez-Roup, executive director of the Fresno National Alliance on Mental Illness, and teacher Abraham Perez …
Read More »What One Man’s Brush With Death Reveals About Access To Health Care
About five years ago, Jesus Gomez spent a month in the hospital. As he pulls out his phone to show me photos, he stops and smiles. “They’ll scare you,” he jokes. Gomez scrolls through pictures of his head and torso covered in red splotches and thick brown scabs. “If they …
Read More »New Residential Facility To Address Gaps In Fresno’s Mental Health Treatment
Mental health care is a constant need here in the San Joaquin Valley, especially for those who can’t afford to go elsewhere—and for those whose symptoms are tough enough to require some treatment but not hospitalization. Last week, Fresno County opened a new crisis residential facility to house those who …
Read More »As November Approaches, Where Do Candidates For Governor Stand On Health?
As we approach the midterm elections, we wanted to examine the health platforms of some of California’s highest profile candidates: The two men running for governor. There’s Gavin Newsom, currently the state’s Democratic lieutenant governor and the former mayor of San Francisco, who’s favored to win the election. Then there’s …
Read More »Author Sarah Fawn Montgomery May Be “Quite Mad,” But Uses Her Story To Explore Mental Health
It can be hard to find the right kind of care for your physical health, and it can be just as challenging to find the right care for your mental health. One Fresno State alumna’s latest book is about facing that challenge herself. Sarah Fawn Montgomery is an author from …
Read More »Care4All Campaign Seeks to Address Health Care Costs And Accountability
Before we look ahead to the midterm elections, we’re taking a quick look back at some health care legislation passed at the end of the legislative session in September: Specifically, a campaign known as Care4All, aimed at universal health coverage that’s more affordable and accountable . Of around two dozen …
Read More »Valley Edition – September 18, 2018 – A Family From Yemen, Women Running For Office, Maternal Health
This week on Valley Edition: Many are saying it’s the “Year of the Woman.” We’ll look at female political hopefuls in the Central Valley, and its reputation for sending women into office. We also follow up with a local family from Yemen whose immigration case made national news in part …
Read More »To Change A Culture, Health Care Educators Say Best Practices Start With Students
It’s probably obvious that hospitals can be high stress environments, and it’s not just patients who can get agitated and upset. Sometimes it’s also co-workers. Last week, we heard about how some see tolerating violence in health care as part of the job. In the latest installment in our series …
Read More »For Health Care Employees, Workplace Violence Is More Common Than You Might Think
Over the course of three months in 2017, over two thousand incidents of workplace violence in health care were reported in California, which comes out to about an incident happening every other week. Some experts would say that number is probably low, because they suspect the issue is underreported, for …
Read More »Fresno County Launches $111 Million Mental Health Push For Children
We’re at the start of another school year. And that means more than just a focus on basic academic skills. In Fresno County there’s a new push to address mental health and wellbeing. It’s part of a five year, $ 111 million dollar campaign that’s called “All 4 Youth” that’s …
Read More »Valley Edition – August 14, 2018 – 1,2,3-TCP In Del Rey; Mental Health in Fresno County; Monsanto
This week on Valley Edition, we learn about how the rural Fresno County community of Del Rey is working to clean up its drinking water, which is now contaminated by an agricultural chemical. We also learn about the lawsuit over Monsanto’s popular herbicide Roundup, and about new efforts to expand …
Read More »“Building Healthy Communities” Highlighted In Book About Challenging Health Disparities
If you’re a regular Valley Public Radio listener, you probably already know that your health depends a lot on where you live. But just 10 years ago, that field of research was still emerging. One of the first journalists to tackle that issue in depth was Suzanne Bohan, at that …
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