Insights

You learn a lot when you spend months reporting on a given issue or community, as our fellows can attest. Whether you’re embarking on a big new story or seeking to go deeper on a given issue, it pays to learn from those who’ve already put in the shoe leather and crunched the data. In these essays and columns, our community of journalists steps back from the notebooks and tape to reflect on key lessons, highlight urgent themes, and offer sage advice on the essential health stories of the day. 

Author(s)
By William Heisel

The CDC has used cutting-edge DNA tests to place valley fever firmly in Washington state. That means the fungus is likely to show up in other western states. A more complete map of valley fever’s true range should soon emerge as the testing effort expands.

Author(s)
By William Heisel

Advocates for healthier eating often take inspiration from the struggle to regulate tobacco. But food is a much more complicated challenge for health policy strategists. Ideas floated at the recent EAT Stockholm Food Forum ranged from fax taxes to guerrilla gardening.

Author(s)
By Kellie Schmitt

A recent report finds California's safety-net hospitals could face huge funding shortfalls by decade's end, as federal payments for uncompensated care are cut. Meanwhile, rising medical costs and the remaining uninsured will put added pressures on the system's solvency.

Author(s)
By Sue Luttner

An innocent verdict in Yolo County last month has me reflecting on a few of the people I know who are in prison on the basis of medical opinion that short pediatric falls are seldom if ever fatal and that the symptoms of a serious infant head injury will be immediately obvious.

Author(s)
By Ryan White

The media cycle seems perpetually filled with reports of violence perpetrated against or by young people. But there are some encouraging trends in the data on violence and abuse against young people. Researchers just aren't sure how to explain the gains.

Author(s)
By Mona Gable

In 2010, I was confronted with a deep predicament when my dying brother was suddenly diagnosed with Huntington’s disease. His diagnosis raised the question: Do I take the blood test that could predict my fate or choose the uncertainty of not knowing?

Author(s)
By Robert Ogilvie

In the Sterling neighborhood of Greenville, South Carolina, residents are taking on gentrification by forming a community land trust. The trust has successfully launched an urban farm and has big plans for more community-led redevelopment, but funding is a challenge.