Side Effects News

Series produced by Side Effects Public Media

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Image by: Jake Harper 

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

Our health journalism collaborative explores the impacts of place, policy and economics on Americans' health. We're exploring the root causes of community-wide health problems--from chronic disease, mental to behavioral health to infant mortality—and on new research and initiatives working to prevent and solve these problems.


50 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Missouri Integrates Mental and Physical Health Care, Saving Money, Improving Health
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
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Missouri pioneered a system for integrating physical and mental health care to help the mentally ill stave off chronic disease. Recent data showed ...

  • Added: Oct 22, 2015
  • Length: 03:29
Health Coverage Remains Out Of Reach For Many Low-Income Immigrants
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
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The uninsured rate in the US has dropped sharply down to 12 percent since the Affordable Care Act went into effect. But one group has been left out...

  • Added: Oct 23, 2015
  • Length: 03:16
To Address Domestic Violence, A Rural County Reaches Out To Teens Via Text
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
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People who work with victims of domestic violence think the best way to prevent violence is by teaching youth about healthy relationships. They hop...

Bought by KIDE Hoopa Tribal Radio 91.3fm and WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Oct 23, 2015
  • Length: 03:57
  • Purchases: 2
School Nurses Get Equipped To Reverse Overdoses
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Caption: Katie Serio, director of treatment and prevention at the Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse of Livingston County, N.Y., trains a group of school nurses to use the overdose antidote naloxone at Dansville High School., Credit: Michelle Faust
At the start of the year, some school districts are considering whether, they will stock a medication that can reverse an overdose. Since 2001, ove...

  • Added: Oct 26, 2015
  • Length: 03:14
One Rural County Leads the Way For Overdose Prevention in Missouri
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Caption: Pulaski County, Mo. officers take part in a training exercise , Credit: Rebecca Smith/ Side Effects Public Media
Over a year ago, Missouri legalized the use the heroin overdose antidote, naloxone, for use by law enforcement. Though police use of the drug has s...

  • Added: Oct 30, 2015
  • Length: 03:59
Study: A Few Miles Can Have A Drastic Effect On Life Expectancy
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
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According to a report by the Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, people in the northern part of...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio


  • Added: Oct 28, 2015
  • Length: 04:18
  • Purchases: 1
To Help Fight Addiction, New York Fights Health Insurers
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
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A 2008 federal law—the Mental Health Parity Act—requires insurers to cover mental health and addiction treatment as they would any other medical co...

Bought by Connecticut Public (WNPR)


  • Added: Nov 19, 2015
  • Length: 03:34
  • Purchases: 1
Sickened By Smells, Retired Farmer Looks To Challenge Indiana’s Right To Farm Law
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
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As large, confined feeding operations, known as a CAFOs, have become increasingly common in farming states, so have heated battles over their effec...

  • Added: Oct 28, 2015
  • Length: 03:13
EPA’s New Farmworker Pesticide Standards Leave Unanswered Questions
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
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The people who grow and harvest our food risk exposure to toxic pesticides in the fields. This month the EPA published its first update to pesticid...

  • Added: Nov 24, 2015
  • Length: 03:25
Federal Funding To Prevent Teen Pregnancy At Risk In Budget Battles
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
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Congress is fighting over another spending bill this week, and a grant program aimed at preventing teen pregnancy could lose its funding. A small...

  • Added: Dec 09, 2015
  • Length: 03:25
Amish and Mennonite Patients Push An Experiment In Health Care Price Transparency
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
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Uninsured by choice, Amish and Mennonite patients pay cash for health care and often will travel for the best price. One hospital in rural Missouri...

Bought by WABE


  • Added: Dec 10, 2015
  • Length: 03:29
  • Purchases: 1
Missouri Nursing Students Help Refugees Navigate America’s Healthcare System
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
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Nursing students at the University of Missouri are working with refugees in their community and acting as health care guides. This is to help the r...

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


  • Added: Dec 29, 2015
  • Length: 03:31
  • Purchases: 2
The Mental Health Overhaul That's Already Underway
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
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The rise in opioid drug abuse and gun violence have led to recent calls to overhaul the nation’s mental health care system. Meanwhile, the Excellen...

Bought by WABE


  • Added: Jan 27, 2016
  • Length: 03:24
  • Purchases: 1
Political Gridlock Leaves Missouri Without A Basic Tool For Fighting Drug Abuse
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
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As states try to combat the opioid drug abuse epidemic, most have created prescription drug monitoring databases used by doctors to help curtail ab...

  • Added: Mar 29, 2016
  • Length: 03:28
In Missouri, 300,000 Patients' Dental Care Is In Limbo As State Struggles To Fund Coverage
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
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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
When Cleaning Is A Matter Of Life And Death
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
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
Can Social Workers Lower The Country's Premature Birth Rate?
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
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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
A Dying Man’s Last Wish Ends In A Fight To Donate His Organs
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Caption: Dave Adox communicates about his commitment to be an organ donor through a machine that speaks for him., Credit: Karen Shakerdge
Every day about 22 Americans die while waiting for an organ transplant. One donor can save up to 8 lives. But despite this, one man living with ALS...

Bought by 90.1 WFYI Public Radio


  • Added: Jul 27, 2016
  • Length: 07:53
  • Purchases: 1
New York Mandates All Schools Test Water For Lead But Experts Say The Effort May Be Misplaced
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
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This year, in the wake of Flint, Michigan’s water crisis school districts around the country have been testing their tap water for lead contaminati...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio


  • Added: Sep 09, 2016
  • Length: 03:21
  • Purchases: 1
Insurance for Your Insurance? New Plans Offer to Fill the Gaps in High-Deductible Health Coverage
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Caption: Insurers like the Morgan White Group (whose advertisement is pictured above) offer 'gap insurance' plans to help cover the financial risk of high-deductible health insurance.
In the coming year, people insured under the Affordable Care Act may be facing, on average, about a 10 percent rise in the price of their health in...

  • Added: Sep 13, 2016
  • Length: 03:34