When a person becomes a patient, their sense of innate humanity has a way of being negated—their clothes are replaced with a hospital gown, they are placed in a patient room, and all of the subtle intricacies that make up their personhood pale in comparison to their illness and identity as a patient. They are their illness. Introducing spirituality in healthcare is a way to humanize an otherwise sterile and foreign experience within the context of a person’s values and beliefs. We know spirituality is valued in healthcare: hospital chaplains and multi-faith chapels pepper ...

Children are absolutely essential to the success of COVID-19 vaccination efforts, as children aged 0-15 years compose nearly 20% of the United ...

A recent study of British dental patients found that men are more likely than women to be hospitalized due to severe dental disease. Why? Because men delay seeking help at earlier disease stages when their condition would be easier to treat. While it’s a myth to assume that all or even most men do not use, or largely avoid, primary care, there is nevertheless good evidence that services are under-utilized by many. In one Australian study,

Ms. B sits alone at home day after day, grieving. Ever since one of her loved ones died last fall in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. B has found herself struggling with feelings of depression and loneliness. Recently retired and isolated from her nearby family due to pandemic precautions, she has no one to talk to, no one to share her grief with. Ms. B tearfully ...

I am a young Arab American, born and raised in New York, yet this is the first year I am celebrating National Arab American Heritage Month (NAAHM). In fact, for as long as I have been alive, Arab American advocacy groups like the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and the Arab American Institute have been pushing for April to be named

As of January 31, 2021, Pacific Islanders in Hawai‘i had the highest age-adjusted mortality rate in the United States at 319.6 deaths per 100,000 persons. In comparison, the United States mortality rate during the same period was 153 deaths per 100,000, and Hawai‘i as a whole had the lowest mortality rate in ...

Globally, over 800 million women, girls, and gender non-binary persons are menstruating while simultaneously coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. For many, the ability to safely manage their menstrual health and hygiene remains a widely

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged communities across the globe to organize and collaborate for effective public health communications, and the rapidly evolving science around the COVID-19 crisis requires a coherent and cross-functional response to allow for up-to-date messaging. Vaccines for COVID-19 also present challenges as they have been developed at a precarious time in the midst of many challenges, conspiracy theories, and ...

Criminalizing survival Rachel stayed. She stayed to survive, and for that the criminal legal system labeled her a “frequent flyer.” When she called 911, she was lucky if she got a couple hours reprieve from her long-time partner’s life-threatening abuse before he returned home. He would often return home bragging about the arresting officer making a pit stop for him at a nearby ATM to make his bond—a common ...