Hear Me Now Podcast

An online transcript is available �� On today's program, host Se��n Collins welcomes Dr. Steven Salloway, Dr. Rudy Tanzi, and David Shenk to discuss recent advances in Alzheimer's research and the possibility of early intervention and prevention. They highlight the significance of targeting amyloid plaques in the brain, but also emphasize the need for treatments that can be administered earlier an...

A transcript is available online �� Today, host Se��n Collins welcomes Dr. Nwando Anyaoku, Chief Health Equity and Clinical Innovation Officer for Providence. They ��discuss the importance of diversity and cultural understanding in healthcare.�� She shares a personal story about a patient from Liberia who felt understood and cared for because Dr. Anyaoku shared a similar background and experiences...

This episode includes discussion of suicidal ideation and planning. If you are thinking of harming yourself, please call or text, in English or Spanish, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. �� Help is available. �� Deaf & hard of hearing Este episodio incluye una discusi��n sobre la ideaci��n y la planificaci��n suicida. Si est�� pensando en hacerse da��o, llame o env��e un mensaje de tex...

A class of drugs called glucagon-like peptide agonists (GLP-1 agonists) is proving to be beneficial for people with chronic kidney disease and atherosclerotic heart disease. These medications are being called game changers because they not only help with weight loss but also provide organ protection and reduce the risk of dying and disease progression.�� These medications have the potential to rev...

Providence Hospice, Los Angeles County has launched a program to provide hospice care for homeless people. The program aims to support those experiencing homelessness and facing a terminal illness by providing them with the option of a safe and secure environment to receive holistic care.�� Homeless people face unique challenges and vulnerabilities, including an increased incidence of mental healt...

A transcript is available online We explore the kind and quality of healthcare available in rural hospitals in an age of growing technological and resource-heavy medicine. Do we risk a two-tiered system where the best care possible is only available in large cities near major medical centers? And are there options available for people who might have to travel hundreds of miles for specialist care?...

An online transcript is available Does it seem counter-intuitive to say that the future of person-centered healthcare is the use of more and more tools utilizing AI, artificial intelligence? Dr. Maulin Shah is Chief Medical Information Officer for Providence and VP of Informatics and Engineering. He talks with host Se��n Collins about AI and the ways innovative healthcare sytems will make use of i...

An online transcript is available �� At the end of last year, The New Yorker and ProPublica documented fraud and mistreatment in some for-profit hospices across the country. The expos�� shouted something that has been whispered for a long while in circles concerned with the care of the dying: hospice needs saving. Begun as a visionary mission run by charities, hospice care has morphed into a 22 bi...

A transcript is available online �� Addiction and overdose rates have reached historic levels in the last several years. And while fentanyl and synthetic opioids are responsible for much of the surge, cocaine and other stimulants such as methamphetamine are playing an increasingly common role. Addiction problems are not rare (it's estimated that 10% of the population has substance use disorder) an...

A transcript of this episode is available online ����� A list of mental health resources is available on our website "Everyone has anxiety and you can't really survive childhood without some anxiety," says psychiatrist Dr. Maureen Nash. "It is, at least theoretically, what prevents us from doing catastrophically negative things like walking off a cliff, or hugging the stove when it's red hot." The...

A transcript is available online America is obsessed with food. And it's killing us. It's estimated that half of all Americans will be obese within a decade. Overweight and obesity are directly tied to heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, joint disorders, erectile dysfunction, high blood pressure, stroke, and contribute to dementia and some cancers.�� On today's program we focus on how the object of ou...

A transcript is available online An alarming fact about childbirth in America is that after years of decline, the maternal mortality rate has risen for the past 10 years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that between 800 and 900 women die in the U.S. each year from complications of childbirth. Black women are up to four times more likely to die during or as a result of childb...

An online transcript is available For years, heart disease was thought of as "a man's disease." But the truth is quite different and quite sobering: one-in-three women in America dies of heart disease. Symptoms go unnoticed, warning signs are often ignored, and delays in seeking care make heart disease the #1 killer of women in the U.S. �� On today's program, we talk with Dr. Lori Tam, a cardiolog...

An online transcript is available Early in May 2023, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, announced an end to the COVID-19 Global Health Emergency. But Dr. Ghebreyesus was quick to add that thousands of people were still fighting for their lives in ICUs and many millions more were living with post-COVID health conditions. On today's program we explore life...

An online transcript is available. The book from which these reflections are drawn is available to download or read online . . On today's program, we are listening to nurses as they reflect on their experiences on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic. These are stories of uncertainty and fear, of anger and resilience, dedication, recovery, and camaraderie. But most of all these are stories...

A transcript is available online Sickle cell disease is an inherited disorder of the blood protein hemoglobin. It has multiple ways to impact the health of someone with the disease ��� with a hallmark symptom being excruciating chronic pain. The vast majority of people with sickle cell trait and sickle cell disease are Black. Until relatively recently, there has been only one drug to treat the dis...

A transcript is available online �� We all know how the classic 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz" ends: Dorothy taps her heals together and reminds herself that 'there's no place like home.' And that's true for many people in need of long-term care. On today's program, two conversations about some of the challenges faced by two different groups of people wanting to stay in their homes and receive neede...

A transcript is available online . The COVID pandemic showed us how critical the problem of professional fatigue is in healthcare. It has led to early retirement, reduced staffing, and increased costs throughout healthcare systems. But the syndrome that's commonly called "burnout" existed long before the pandemic and it will ��� undoubtedly ��� exist after it.�� �� Our guests today believe that he...

A transcript is available online One of the unforeseen consequences of the COVID pandemic has been increasing popular awareness of a nursing shortage that was already well in place. COVID just made it worse. Nurse turnover has cost healthcare organizations enormously ��� both in terms of dollars, but also in lost expertise and institutional memory.�� On today's program, host Se��n Collins talks wi...

Building on their longstanding efforts to meet the educational needs of refugee children, for the first time ever, in Ukraine, the people at Sesame Workshop are producing specialized content for children living in an active war zone.�� In this excerpt from this week's podcast, our host Se��n Collins speaks with Shanna Kohn, Director of International Education at Sesame. You can hear more about Ses...

CW: war fighting, sexual violence, genocide An online transcript is available . The latest iteration of Russia's war on Ukraine has entered its second year prompting us to examine the issue of war trauma ��� especially the toll war takes on civilians. Russia's indiscriminate targeting of civilian housing, schools, hospitals, and infrastructure has not only made civilians witnesses of war, but vict...

An online transcript is available More than 60 million Americans live with a disability and that number will grow as the baby boomers continue to age. But new research throws into question whether those people are receiving the best care possible.�� More than four out of five physicians say someone with a significant disability has a worse quality of life than someone without a disability. A minor...

An online transcript is available �� . There's growing evidence that the routine practice of meditation improves quality of life (including relief from anxiety, increased focus, and the mitigation of negative emotions) and that these benefits can be seen after as few as five sessions of meditation. But we didn't really need scientific journals to tell us that: Practitioners of mindfulness meditati...

An online transcript is available �� On the next episode of the HEAR ME NOW Podcast, we'll explore Mindfulness Meditation with three great people who have connections to the practice. �� Dr. Michael Posner is a brain researcher who has demonstrated changes in brain tissue of people who meditate AND shown changes in how they deal with stress and anxiety. Patricia Jones has been helping at-risk yout...

. A video of the episode that includes captioning & ASL interpretation is available online . A transcript is also available .�� . If you take only one fact away from this podcast today, it should be this: more than 30 years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, healthcare providers in the United States remain ill-equipped to meet the needs of deaf, deaf-blind, and hard of h...