Lost Lives: Son’s Death Becomes A Mother’s Resolve To Stop Urban Gun Violence

Janet Rice’s home is filled with pictures of her son, Shane Oliver, a tall, gregarious man who never began a day without checking on his grandmother and never ended one without having a long talk with his mother. He was 20 when he was fatally shot, just a few minutes from the family’s Hartford home. “He was my only child and my best friend,” Rice said. Today Rice is the outreach coordinator for Fairfield-based Connecticut Against Gun Violence, work in which she believes her son shares. This summer has been a particularly difficult time to be working against gun violence in Connecticut.

Coping With Pandemic: Managing Fear

Fear of becoming infected with COVID-19 is reasonable – especially now with plans announced to start reopening Connecticut. There are things you can do to take precautions and be proactive and plan for your own safety. ConnHealthITeam · Coping With Pandemic: Manage Your Fear
C-HIT’s Colleen Shaddox talks with Rajita Sinha, Foundations Fund Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University and the founding director of the Yale Stress Center, about how to take control and manage fear during the pandemic.  

 

 

 

Coping With Pandemic: Resurgence Of Guilt

Placing loved ones in a nursing home is often fraught with emotions, and a common one is guilt.  Many are feeling a resurgence of guilt now, knowing that they are at higher risk during this pandemic. Coronavirus has swept through 150 of the state’s nursing homes and, as of April 29, 1,249 residents have died — representing about 55% of all COVID-19 deaths.  As of last Thursday, there were 4,814 cases in nursing facilities. ConnHealthITeam · Coping With Pandemic: Guilt
Dr. Kirsten Wilkins, an associate professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, talks with C-HIT’s Colleen Shaddox about strategies you can use to help your elderly relatives – and yourself – cope during the pandemic.

Coping With Pandemic: Are You Lonesome Tonight?

It’s important to practice physical distancing – but not social distancing. People need connection and belonging. There are ways to achieve that online through volunteering and using new platforms to connect with friends. Low-tech sources of meaning like poetry and prayer are helpful too. C-HIT’s Colleen Shaddox talks about ways to battle loneliness with Dr. Megan V. Smith, associate professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and the Yale Child Study Center at the Yale School of Medicine.

Lost Lives: A Mother’s Heart Attack, A Daughter’s Disrupted Adolescence

Gail Williams was 15 when her mother died of a heart attack.  “The world seemed like it got dimmer, a shade darker than it was,” said Williams, now 60, of New Haven. The death of Shirley Mae Burgess, Williams’ mother, at age 41 was a shock and a tragedy for her family. But it also is a story of how economic and social determinants of health shape lives. Even though deaths from heart disease have been falling, it is still the No. 1 killer for both men and women, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Coordinated Care Practices Help Keep HUSKY Members Out Of ERs

HUSKY members in a person-centered medical home (PCMH) practice are more likely to get recommended preventative health services and less likely to visit the emergency room, according to Department of Social Services (DSS) data. A PCMH is a medical practice that provides comprehensive and coordinated care. That can mean helping a child get an appointment with a behavioral health clinician; making sure a patient’s apartment is free of asthma triggers; and many other services hard to get in time-crunched primary care offices. Medical homes must also provide a high level of accessibility through measures like extended hours, electronic or telephone access or rapid appointment scheduling. The state instituted HUSKY PCMHs in 2012 with an eye toward improving care for patients with chronic conditions, according to Kate McEvoy, director of the Division of Health Services at DSS.

Stricter Rules For SNAP Would Hurt Those That Need It Most

Wanda Perez considers the price and nutritional value of everything she puts in her shopping cart, as the New Haven woman relies on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to buy groceries and is trying to eat healthy to manage multiple chronic illnesses. Just over 364,000 people receive SNAP benefits in the state, a number that has decreased about 4.7% in the past year. “I try to stay on top of everything that’s going on,” said Perez, a member of  Witness To Hunger, which organizes SNAP users to speak about food policy and poverty. Perez lives on just over $700 in disability assistance a month, plus $192 in SNAP. Though her SNAP benefits are safe for now, proposed federal rule changes could push other Connecticut users off SNAP.

Smoking Cessation Programs For People With Mental Illness Are Hard To Find

Betty Williams says giving up crack cocaine was easier than her ongoing struggle to quit cigarettes. “A cigarette is a friend,” said Williams, who lives with schizophrenia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. People with mental illness account for 44% of the cigarette purchases in the United States, and they are less likely to quit than other smokers. High smoking rates among people with mental illness contribute to poorer physical health and shorter lifespans, generally 13 to 30 years shorter than the population as a whole. About 37% of men and 30% of women with mental illness smoke.