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

Caption: Joe Morris and Sean O'Hara both say that without the Direct Primary Care clinic in their town, they could not afford to get medical care. , Credit: Rebecca Smith
An alternative medical model called Direct Primary Care is helping some rural Missourians access at least basic medical care.

Bought by 90.1 WFYI Public Radio and KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio


  • Added: Jan 31, 2017
  • Length: 03:28
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Allen Wilson, 59, says he has debt collectors calling him over bills that should have been paid by Anthem, his former HIP 2.0 insurer., Credit: Jake Harper / Side Effects
Expanding Medicaid to cover more low-income Americans was a major component of the Affordable Care Act, and under then-Governor Mike Pence, Seema V...

Bought by WNIN


  • Added: Jan 10, 2017
  • Length: 03:38
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: A Rochester native sits on his porch right before going to a name and gender change legal clinic hosted by the Empire Justice Center., Credit: Karen Shakerdge
Ahead of a new Trump administration, many transgender people worry about policy changes affecting their ability to legally change name and gender, ...

Bought by WAMC Northeast Public Radio, 90.1 WFYI Public Radio, and KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio


  • Added: Dec 14, 2016
  • Length: 03:39
  • Purchases: 3
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A mumps outbreak at the University of Missouri and throughout the state of Arkansas has some public health officials asking questions about the eff...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio and 90.1 WFYI Public Radio


  • Added: Dec 13, 2016
  • Length: 03:25
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: David Hutchinson, 52, got health insurance for the first time in his life about a year ago.
New Yorkers may not be affected by some of these anticipated federal changes because of policies in place at the state level. In some ways, the Aff...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio


  • Added: Dec 07, 2016
  • Length: 03:45
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: A 100 ml bottle of pasteurized, donated breast milk at the new non-profit milk bank in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY. These cost $15 each., Credit: Karen Shakerdge
There's a reason donor milk is called "liquid gold" -- the fluid can make a big difference to premature babies with underdeveloped digestive system...

Bought by WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Nov 04, 2016
  • Length: 06:24
  • Purchases: 1
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A ballot initiative asks voters to support an income tax increase to fund more frequent bus service, which proponents argue will get more people ri...

Bought by WNIN and WBST


  • Added: Nov 03, 2016
  • Length: 03:16
  • Purchases: 2
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Nationally, the rate of food allergies in school children went up 50 percent between 1997 and 2011. But in some states, like Missouri, the document...

Bought by 90.1 WFYI Public Radio, KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio, and WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Oct 25, 2016
  • Length: 03:26
  • Purchases: 3
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Kratom, an herbal supplement used by some to manage pain and opioid withdrawal, is expected to be made a schedule 1 drug by the DEA at the end of S...

Bought by 90.1 WFYI Public Radio and WXXI Rochester


  • Added: Sep 28, 2016
  • Length: 03:36
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Bob Topmiller, chief of toxicology at the Hamilton County Coroner's Office, holds a small vial containing carfentanil extracted from a sample of blood., Credit: Jake Harper/Side Effects
Heroin isn't new in Cincinnati, but the recent surge in overdoses is being blamed on an even more potent drug called carfentanil. It's 100 times st...

Bought by 90.1 WFYI Public Radio


  • Added: Sep 27, 2016
  • Length: 03:42
  • Purchases: 1