Most people, at the time of their diagnosis with a sleep disorder, do not know a single other person with the same condition. Yet peer support is an effective aid to this group, just as it has been shown to help people navigating pregnancy, living with diabetes, recovering from organ transplant, and managing many other […]
peer-to-peer health care
Wow! How? In-your-face Expertise
This post is part of my LinkedIn series: Wow! How? Health. I welcome comments on either platform. Thirty-three years ago today, on September 5, 1991, activists unfurled a giant, inflatable condom over a U.S. Senator’s house. Don’t believe me? Watch a 30-second news clip or a 5-minute documentary about the action. It was a splashy way […]
Wow! How? Patient Memoirs
In his book, The Long Haul, Ryan Prior writes about his advocacy on behalf of people with ME/CFS: Though I had negotiated a fragile truce with the disease, my deeper fear was that it would eventually fully disable me, just as it had done for so many of my friends…At the edge of my every thought […]
Wow! How? Peer Support for Queer Youth
Today’s “wow” is unfortunately a troubling statistic: 49% of LGBTQ+ young people in the U.S. experience depressive symptoms, according to a survey conducted by Hopelab and Common Sense Media, compared with 24% of their straight and cisgender peers. But many Queer youth are meeting the challenge by accessing online therapy to a greater degree (44%, […]
Wow! How? Patient-led Biodesign
This post is part of my LinkedIn series: Wow! How? Health. Jules Sherman designs pediatric medical products, like a delayed cord-clamping cart and a special robe to help make neonatal skin-to-skin care safer. In 2016, she was called into a hospital room to observe a new mom using a device that Sherman had created to collect […]
Wow! How? Obesity Treatment
This post is part of my LinkedIn series: Wow! How? Health. Four in ten U.S. adults have obesity, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. That includes 9% of U.S. adults with severe obesity, which is defined as having a body mass index over 40. Shame and stigma compound their health problems. “You wear […]
Recent Comments