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Menstrual Equity in US Prisons and Jails: A Gender-Based Analysis and Policy Responses

07.18.22

Summary Across the United States, many incarcerated people have inadequate access to menstrual products. Because policies that surround requiring access to menstrual products vary from state to state, incarcerated menstruators are denied “menstrual equity,” or sufficient access to menstrual products regardless of their circumstances.[1] One reason for the lack of inclusive policies regarding menstruation is […]

Expanding Postpartum Medicaid Coverage: A Racial and Gender Justice Imperative

07.11.22

American society was not built for birthing people to thrive—or at times even to survive. The United States lacks paid parental leave and universal childcare policies and has the highest rate of maternal mortality among all industrialized countries. There are stark racial disparities in the maternal mortality rate in the United States: Black mothers die […]

Data Sharing in the Age of COVID-19: Why EHR Vendors Need a Closer Look

05.6.22

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, insufficient health data sharing among electronic health record (EHR) systems in the U.S. has hindered our efforts to track the virus, contain its spread, and treat our most vulnerable patients. An effective COVID-19 response requires timely and coordinated information sharing across all layers of the health care system. Although medical […]

COVID-19: Making Visible the Invisible Survivor

06.2.20

  The COVID-19 pandemic has left more than half of humanity confined to their homes. Governments have asked and, in some cases, enforced that individuals stay home based on the assumption that their citizens face the fewest health risks there. This is not always the case. Many governments have forgotten an already vulnerable group – […]

It’s Time to Make Masks Mandatory in Boston

05.1.20

A hand-written sign on the front door of Bell’s Market, a small South Boston grocer, asks patrons to cover their mouth and nose while shopping. But the store’s owner, my father, says they have had trouble with compliance. “Ninety percent of the people are great, but five to ten percent give us a hard time. […]

Coronavirus is not just a Global Crisis – it’s also a Women’s Issue

04.3.20

The conversation about coronavirus covers the impact on the economy and healthcare system. What is absent from this conversation is the impact on those most burdened by COVID-19’s global disruption – women.  Coronavirus coverage is starting to feel like a wall of noise – a hum of threat, change, and fear that is hard to […]

Public Charge: A Threat to Public Health and the American Dream

10.29.19

For over a century, the Statue of Liberty stood as a powerful symbol of the United States’ promise to welcome immigrants to a new land of safety and opportunity. However, a recent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposal to expand the definition of the “public charge” rule threatens to tarnish that legacy. The proposed changes […]

When Trauma-Informed Pedagogy Is Not Enough: The Need for Increased School-Based Mental Health Services in Public Schools

10.8.19

BY PRACHI NAIK   “Where I live, people don’t call the police.” There’s a palpable stillness in the room. Thirty-five pairs of adolescent eyes are fixed on Mariely[1] as she quietly, bravely describes witnessing a man get stabbed in front of her house, feeling unable to call the cops for help. Some students silently gesture […]

Dear Opioid Czar, Start Here. Sincerely, Physicians.

12.27.17

BY DR. ALISTER MARTIN The knocks came in three shrill taps on the screen door to her apartment in Everett, Massachusetts. An hour before Cheryl, whose name was changed for this story, had sent a text to her dealer telling him to delete her phone number. She had two young children and her prescription pain […]

Designing Opioid Strategies in Rhode Island

09.1.17

BY MAGGIE SALINGER The morning seemed like any other in the Rhode Island State House until my team received a chilling email. It was a note from a local father, whom I’ll call John, still reeling from the loss of his son. Days before his son died of an opioid overdose, John had dragged him […]

Let’s Change the Way We Talk About Climate Change: It’s a Public Health Issue

07.26.17

BY JEAN-BAPTISTE LE MAROIS Most climate change awareness campaigns feature stranded polar bears on drifting ice sheets, or sea levels creeping over the island of Manhattan. But are these strategies convincing? The “protect the planet” approach has proven to be too weak of a public narrative to mobilize voters. Instead, imagine opening the newspaper to […]

Understanding the Ebola Narrative

07.24.17

BY CLAIRE CHAUMONT “From now on it can be said that plague was the concern of all of us.” The Plague, A. Camus, 1947[1] On 24 January 2014, the head of Meliandou health post, a sparsely populated village in Guinea, West Africa, informed district health officials of five cases of an unknown infectious disease characterized […]

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