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American health-care spending, measured in trillions of dollars, boggles the mind. Last year, we spent $3.2 trillion on health care -- a number so large that it can be difficult to grasp its scale. A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reveals what patients and their insurers are spending that money on, breaking it down by 155 diseases, patient age and category -- such as pharmaceuticals or hospitalizations. Among its findings: Chronic -- and often...

Without deep listening and gentle loving speech it is very difficult to move towards peace. Peace will only become a reality, says Thich Nhat Hanh, when world leaders come to negotiations with the ability to hear the suffering at the root of all conflicts. All violence is injustice. We should not inflict that injustice on ourselves or on other people. Historians and teachers as well as politicians should look deeply at the suffering caused by wars, not just at the justifications that...

Research suggests that people who overcome a series of small adverse events as children grow into resilient adults. In fact, researchers have developed several tools to measure an individual’s resilience. One of them is the Resilience Factor Inventory, a 60-item questionnaire that is based on well-known resilience studies.

They began with a song and ended with a poem. In-between, there were photographs and giant graphic renderings, movement exercises and a “human pulse” formed when 90 people stood in a circle and squeezed each other’s hands. At a June summit in Whatcom County, Washington, titled “Our Resilient Community: A Community Conversation on Resilience and Equity,” the arts played a starring role. Kristi Slette, executive director of the Whatcom Family and Community Network, one of two Washington sites...

Sleeping soon after a traumatic event can help some people cope, a new Swiss study suggests. Two groups of volunteers were shown a video with traumatic images. One group slept for the night after seeing the video. The other group stayed awake. Participants recorded their memories of the images for several days. "Our results reveal that people who slept after the film had fewer and less distressing recurring emotional memories than those who were awake," said study author Birgit Kleim. She is...

The private prison industry may end up being one of the winners under the incoming Trump administration, though it’s not clear how or when the new administration will act. Stocks of for-profit prison operators tumbled after the U.S. Department of Justice announced in August that it would no longer house federal inmates in private lockups. But they rebounded after the Electoral College upset in November by Donald Trump, who campaigned on pledges to crack down on crime and step up deportations...

David B. Cohen, a veteran English teacher at Palo Alto High and columnist for Education Week, spent a year crisscrossing California observing some of the state’s best teachers. The result was Capturing the Spark: Inspired Teachers, Thriving Schools, an insightful look at talented teachers, effective practices and promising schools, from Arcata to El Centro. Some interviewees were California Teachers of the Year or, like Cohen, have their national board certification, a distinguished...

Over the last few months Clare and I have been traveling across the nation to visit the Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC) sites. One thing we've consistently heard from members of the ACE and resilience networks we've met is what they have learned about prioritizing what many refer to as "self-care for staff." In Kansas City, Patricia Davis' (LCSW) full-time job is to integrate trauma-informed practice at Children's Mercy Kansas City Hospital (how great is that!). Davis...

Dear Doctor: A Letter from a Survivor of Sexual Trauma to all Medical Professionals Dear Doctor, As a medical professional you have taken an oath to do no harm, but there are ways in which you can hurt your patients without even recognizing you are doing so. What seems to you as a simple exam may cause injury to those who have been victimized by someone's touch. This is a subject that we, survivors of sexual violence, have been meaning to discuss with you for some time now, but your...

2017 is here, and it’s the season when most of us consider New Year’s resolutions and even the most cynical among us dares to think that with a little will power we might do any number of things: lose weight, eat healthier, watch less TV, get that promotion, or repair damaged relationships. This year, I’d ask you to consider a resolution that will make the world a better place and will give you a sense of purpose in 2017: be an advocate. An advocate is someone who speaks on behalf of someone...

A small group of children with what researchers call “poor brain health” ended up accounting for a huge portion of social costs as adults, according to a new study from New Zealand. The idea of whether the events of childhood can predict or explain future events has gained traction in recent years thanks to the popularization of the Adverse Childhood Experiences study and other work that links lifelong health outcomes to experiences early in life. But researchers at Duke University and the...

Tacarra Morgan, 6, was sitting on her family’s Englewood porch when the shots were fired. It was a warm July day and Tacarra was outside as her grandfather repaired her bike. She and her cousins liked to play on the sidewalk, her grandpa, Arther Morris, would say later , but for the moment his “little sweet pea” was sitting with her grandparents and mom. Morris ducked inside the home. Moments later, there was gunfire on the streets. The family ran inside and went into the basement. There,...