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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The Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday they will take steps to crack down on the sale of e-cigarette products to children and teenagers...

  • Added: Apr 25, 2018
  • Length: :46
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Earlier this month, the U.S. Surgeon General, Jerome Adams, issued an advisory. More people, he says, should carry naloxone, the opioid overdose an...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio and WRST-FM Oshkosh


  • Added: Apr 24, 2018
  • Length: 03:33
  • Purchases: 2
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Nearly 1 in 3 Americans lives with chronic pain - for which there is simply no quick fix. But pain experts generally agree that a low-tech approach...

Bought by WAMC Northeast Public Radio, WRST-FM Oshkosh, and WYSO


  • Added: Apr 04, 2018
  • Length: 03:40
  • Purchases: 3
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When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issues a report on the number of overdoses in the U.S., it’s only as good as the data states se...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio, WHCP-LP Cambridge, WRST-FM Oshkosh, and WYSO


  • Added: Mar 21, 2018
  • Length: 03:39
  • Purchases: 4
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An analysis released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides further links between syringe services programs and preve...

  • Added: Mar 09, 2018
  • Length: 01:10
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In Columbus, law enforcement and anti-human trafficking advocates are seeing an increase in the number of women who are trafficked due to an opioid...

Bought by WRST-FM Oshkosh


  • Added: Feb 23, 2018
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 1
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In central Ohio, law enforcement have seen an increase in sex trafficking, likely due to the opioid epidemic. The demand for this work is driven by...

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


  • Added: Feb 22, 2018
  • Length: 04:43
  • Purchases: 3
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Across the country, states that are desperate to prevent opioid addiction are considering medical cannabis as a solution. But some fear the policy ...

Bought by KSFR


  • Added: Feb 13, 2018
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Last Friday, Kentucky became the first state with federal approval to implement a so-called work requirement for Medicaid recipients. The commonwea...

  • Added: Jan 15, 2018
  • Length: 01:12
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Addiction to heroin can trap women in a life of sex work and often leave them at risk of exploitation by human traffickers. One national hotline ha...

Bought by WYSO and WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Jan 10, 2018
  • Length: 03:41
  • Purchases: 2