Side Effects Public Media

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We're a health news initiative exploring the impacts of place, policy and economics on America's health. Our reporting sheds light on root causes of community-wide health problems—from chronic disease, to mental health and addiction, to infant mortality—and on new efforts to solve them.

We are headquartered at WFYI Public Media in Indianapolis, and work in partnership with KBIA in Columbia, Missouri; St. Louis Public Radio; Illinois Public Media in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois; WNIN in Evansville, Indiana; and WOSU Public Media, in Columbus, Ohio. We also work with contributing reporters from other public radio stations around the Midwest and Great Lakes regions. We're intent on telling stories from under-covered communities and hidden-away places.

Series

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3 Pieces

In rural America, older people face more health issues, like chronic illness, mental illness and complications from loneliness and isolation. This series looks into those issues in rural Kentucky.

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0 Pieces

An unusual court in Columbus, Ohio, offers a therapeutic approach instead of a punitive one to sex workers. In this two-part series, we hear the story of Stephanie Rollins' recovery from two decades of addiction and sex work, and the judge who offered her a new path for her life.

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4 Pieces

This series explores the health needs and concerns of foster children.

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2 Pieces

In 2007, 12,000 inmates with mental illness sued the Illinois Department of Corrections, alleging the agency punishes inmates with mental illness instead of properly treating them. A settlement was reached in 2016, when the state agreed to revamp mental health care and provide better treatment. But a federal judge has ruled that care remains “grossly insufficient” and “extremely poor.”

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4 Pieces

In the grips of an opioid addiction epidemic, many communities are increasing efforts to prevent overdose or stem the easy access to drugs. Meanwhile, long-term recovery for many people struggling with drug or alcohol addiction remains elusive. Despite advances, addiction has strikingly high relapse rates. This series explores obstacles that hold people back from treatment and new approaches to care that can help people stay well in the long term

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3 Pieces

Sick is a podcast about the things that can happen to our bodies—and how we respond.

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50 Pieces

Our health journalism collaborative explores the impacts of place, policy and economics on Americans' health.

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5 Pieces

Personal experiences of people in recovery shared at a live storytelling event in Indianapolis.


Pieces

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Indiana governor Mike Pence is in the spotlight this week as the man Donald Trump has chosen as his running mate. In his three years running the Ho...

Bought by KCUR, WILL, and WNIN


  • Added: Jul 20, 2016
  • Length: 03:08
  • Purchases: 3
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Premature birth can lead to long-term health and development problems and is one of the main reasons parents lose their babies. To prevent this, OB...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio, WAMC Northeast Public Radio, WNIN, and WILL


  • Added: Jun 06, 2016
  • Length: 03:29
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Environmental services worker Jeanna Hibbert scrubs the hospital room to get rid of C-diff bacteria., Credit: Michelle Faust/ Side Effects
The dreaded bacteria C. difficile has a way of spreading through a local health system, causing debilitating diarrhea and thousands of deaths a yea...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio, WNIN, and WABE


  • Added: Jun 02, 2016
  • Length: 03:41
  • Purchases: 3
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As a result of their backgrounds of abuse and neglect, many foster children have developmental delays in early childhood. A curriculum-based day ca...

Bought by KSFR and WABE


  • Added: May 04, 2016
  • Length: 03:28
  • Purchases: 2
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For the first time in 11 years, Missouri Medicaid was going to pay for dental coverage. Now, that funding is in jeopardy as Missouri’s Medicaid ag...

  • Added: Apr 29, 2016
  • Length: 03:31
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Lisa De Bode got curious about how homeless women deal with menstruation, so she wrote a story on it. Then, things started to change. Plus, Jake l...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio


  • Added: Apr 28, 2016
  • Length: 16:50
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Brenda Davis schedules medical appointments for her foster son Daryl., Credit: Michelle Faust/Side Effects Public Media
Kids aging out of foster care can also stay on Medicaid. But having coverage is not the same thing as accessing health care, and without parents to...

Bought by KSFR and WABE


  • Added: Apr 28, 2016
  • Length: 03:19
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Daniel Atkinson gets an shot at Starlight Pediatrics in Rochester, NY., Credit: Michelle Faust/Side Effects Public Media
Because of their backgrounds which often include neglect and abuse, many of the kids in foster care around the country have significant health need...

Bought by KSFR, KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio, and WMMT


  • Added: Apr 28, 2016
  • Length: 03:30
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Nya has grown into a healthy 4-year-old despite some challenges in her first year of life., Credit: Michelle Faust/Side Effects Public Media
Foster children receive support from the health system and the child welfare system. But the most important piece in their development and recovery...

Bought by KSFR and WMMT


  • Added: Apr 28, 2016
  • Length: 03:45
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Tom Davis, 62, starts his tour of Crown Hill Cemetery at the Before I Die Wall. Davis suffered a heart attack on March 22., Credit: Jake Harper/Side Effects
The original Before I Die Festival was held in Cardiff, Wales in 2013, and the idea has since spread to the U.K. and now, Indianapolis. The purpos...

Bought by New Hampshire Public Radio, WABE, and WNIN


  • Added: Apr 27, 2016
  • Length: 03:37
  • Purchases: 3