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By Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, January 6, 2020 The purpose of this survey was to better understand the different experiences of Americans across all income groups. While income inequality increases, a survey done by NPR, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds that the life experiences of Americans differ drastically across income groups. Life Experiences and Income Inequality in the United...

By Jim Robbins, Yale Environment 360, January 9, 2020 How long does it take to get a dose of nature high enough to make people say they feel healthy and have a strong sense of well-being? Precisely 120 minutes. In a study of 20,000 people, a team led by Mathew White of the European Centre for Environment & Human Health at the University of Exeter, found that people who spent two hours a week in green spaces — local parks or other natural environments, either all at once or spaced over...

By Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker, January, 2020 Michael and Angela have just turned fifty-five. They know two people who have died in the past few years—one from cancer, another in a car accident. It occurs to them that they should make a plan for their kids. They have some money in the bank. Suppose they were both killed in a plane crash—what would happen to it? They have four children, who range in age from their late teens to their late twenties. Chloe, the oldest, is a math wiz with a...

By George Stockero, The Daily Mining Gazette, January 11, 2020 What is stress? We often think of stress as a negative construct, but some stress is normal and essential. Other stress can be tolerable. Toxic stress, however, can occur as a result of strong, frequent, or long lasting events and can cross into the realm of trauma. Trauma can actually cause impairment to brain functioning and our immune systems. When we experience trauma, our brains can divert energy from the higher level...

By Ghada Majadle, +972 Magazine, January 9, 2020 Fewer children from Gaza were separated from their parents when receiving treatment outside the strip in 2019 than in the previous year, according to statistics by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli military body responsible for administering the occupation and blockade. This appears to be an improvement, but what the data fails to show is the anxiety and trauma inflicted on these children and...

https://www.woodtv.com/news/michigan/human-trafficking-bills-proposed-amid-awareness-month/

By Michael Y. Ni, Xiaoxin I. Yao, Kathy S. M. Leung, et al., The Lancet, January 9, 2020 Background Hong Kong has been embroiled in increasingly violent social unrest since June, 2019. We examined the associated population mental health burden, risk factors, and health-care needs. Methods In a population-based prospective cohort, adult participants aged 18 years or older were assessed at nine timepoints from 2009. Probable depression was measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9...

By Krista Niemczyk, California Health Report, January 3, 2020 Survivors often tell us that they want to prevent anyone else from experiencing the pain they went through. “Bring in guest speakers to high schools on domestic violence,” one survivor requested, when asked about how we can move toward a future free from domestic violence. “Chances are, there are students, like my children, who are going through it with their mom and they don’t know what it is that they’re going through.” Domestic...

By Graison Dangor, National Public Radio, January 8, 2020 A new study suggests that raising the minimum wage might lower the suicide rate — especially when unemployment is high — and that doing so might have saved tens of thousands of people from dying by suicide in the last quarter century. The minimum federal minimum wage is $7.25, though many states have set it higher. Between 1990 and 2015, raising the minimum wage by $1 in each state might have saved more than 27,000 lives, according to...

By Donna Bryson, Denverite, January 6, 2020 Researchers who have mapped neighborhoods across Colorado where housing and health crises overlap hope an online tool they developed will help policy makers and advocates decide how best to use limited resources to support struggling communities. “The purpose of this study is really to be a conversation starter,” said Elysia Clemens, deputy director of the Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab at the University of Denver, which funded the study.

By Nancy Swezey, MedPage Today, January 5, 2020 A study from 2017 defined caregiver burden as, "the strain or load borne by a person who cares for a chronically ill, disabled, or elderly family member." Nurses are all too familiar with the instinctive concern for patients, and often equally so for the person sitting at the patient's side. Many caregivers give up proper sleep, nutrition, recreation, and financial resources to care for a family member with a disease that requires...

Dr. Erica Holmes has over 20 years of experience in the fields of psychotherapy and counseling, training and consultation, education, and research. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Sociology with a minor in Behavioral Science, as well as, a Master’s degree and Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from an APA Accredited Institution.