Missouri

Veterinary staff in masks and blue surgical scrubs perform surgery around in an operating room seen through a glass window. On the table, a patient is draped and out of sight from the viewer. One staff member wearing a clear scrub cap and a teal apron prepares surgical devices, and other staff members wearing patterned scrub caps insert instruments into the animal. A staff member with a black mask and blue scrub cap sits at the head of the operating table.

Mental health is an issue in the veterinary field. But misconceptions can cloud the narrative

Anna Spidel

Being a veterinarian and helping animals can bring a lot of joy. But the job also comes with a host of stressors that can affect veterinarians’ mental health, and the field is starting to have more conversations about it.

Willie Frazier used to self- harm at night when his family wasn’t awake to know about it. Now, he wants people to know that no matter what time it is, people are never alone and can always seek help.

How much is the economic loss of untreated mental illness? One state did the math

Elizabeth Gabriel

Untreated mental health cost Indiana $4.2 billion in 2019. The state has adopted a new law in an attempt to make it more accessible. But many people still endure barriers to seeking treatment.

The drop in appointments at the Wyandotte County Health Department immunization clinic from before COVID-19 to now is as stark a contrast as Charlotte Square has seen in her nearly two decades with the department.

Public health workers say they are fighting an uphill battle since COVID. The lackluster funding isn't helping

Noah Taborda

Across the Kansas City metro, departments are making strategic efforts to rebuild since COVID and prepare for future health emergencies. But they are fighting uphill battles against lackluster funding, a mass exodus of employees and public perception.

Public Health

Nitrate levels in water are often higher in the rural Midwest. How does this affect health?

Natalie Krebs

Water sources in agricultural areas across much of the Midwest often show high levels of nitrate. Federal standards require drinking water to stay below 10 parts per million, but a growing number of studies suggest lower levels of nitrate could also be tied to serious health issues.

Seniors shopping for Medicare coverage this fall will still see an avalanche of advertising, but the promotional materials will be subject to new, stricter federal regulations.

Access to Care

Scammy Medicare ads and unsolicited calls bombard seniors shopping for health insurance. Will federal efforts help them?

Leslie Walker

New regulations designed to crack down on misleading marketing of Medicare insurance plans face their first big test when seniors begin shopping for coverage on Oct. 15.

Jesse Zilberstein and her family have taken annual trips to the Selah Carefarm for the past seven years since the death of her youngest son, Gidi.

Mental Health

Farm-based activities can support mental wellness. Why aren't there more care farms in the U.S.?

Elizabeth Gabriel

Care farms are agricultural places for people with physical or mental health challenges to process their emotions, while performing farming tasks and working with animals. It’s a popular concept in Europe that hasn’t gained as much traction in the United States yet. But a new national network hopes to change that.

Twelve million of the country’s most vulnerable patients are stuck navigating two separate insurance programs — Medicare and Medicaid — to get the care they need.

Access to Care

How millions of the country's poorest, sickest patients get trapped between Medicare and Medicaid

Leslie Walker

A bipartisan group of lawmakers agree: Medicare and Medicaid are failing 12 million of the country's most vulnerable patients.

Local artist Adrienne Luther Johnson said talking about 988 in a colorful and playful way, through art, is an important part of destigmatizing asking for help. “I feel like as a millennial, I feel like we were raised through this evolution of the erasure of the stigma with suicide talk, like any sort of mental health discussion," she said.

Mental Health

Suicide and crisis prevention line 988 adds American Sign Language for Deaf people

Rebecca Smith

A new service added to the 988 Lifeline will offer suicide prevention and mental health crisis counseling through American Sign Language for people who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing without the need for an interpreter.

Amanda Oliver (left) and Gladys Tandy pose for a photo after a line dancing class in September. The two women have known each other for three years since they were connected through a hospital program for patients who are at risk for loneliness and social isolation.

Mental Health

Loneliness and social isolation are at crisis levels. One hospital is doing something about it

Alex Li

Recent surveys suggest that half of U.S. adults experience loneliness –– and the impact is not equal based on age and demographics. As more attention has been brought to the impact of loneliness and social isolation on people’s mental and physical health, some researchers, congregations and health organizations are taking steps to address it as part of preventative care.

Dr. Rahul Gupta speaks to faculty, students, and community members at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. on Sep.15, 2023.

Addiction and Drug Use

The region is in the thick of “a synthetic drug crisis”

Alex Li

State departments of health across the region have taken some action and issued advisories as the synthetic drug-involved overdose death toll has risen in recent years.