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California looked to them to close health disparities, then it backpedaled

Fortina Hernández is called "the one who knows it all." For more than two decades, the community health worker has supported hundreds of families throughout southeast Los Angeles by helping them sign up for food assistance, sharing information about affordable health coverage, and managing medications for their chronic illnesses.

28 Jul 2025

Mind-body exercise best reduces frailty and boosts quality of life in older adults, study finds

A network meta-analysis of 35 RCTs found that mind-body training is the most effective exercise modality for reducing frailty and improving quality of life in older adults. Mind-body interventions outperformed aerobic, strength, and mixed training across diverse populations and settings.

20 Jul 2025

Many Americans turn to AI for health answers despite accuracy warnings

Traditionally, individuals asked health questions of their primary health care provider. Confidence in that provider as a source of trustworthy health information has been consistently high in recent years and was at 90% in April, according to survey data from the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania.

14 Jul 2025

In rush to satisfy Trump, GOP delivers blow to health industry

Doctors, hospitals, and health insurers for weeks issued dire warnings to Republican lawmakers that millions of people would lose health coverage and hospitals would close if they cut Medicaid funding to help pay for President Donald Trump's big tax and spending bill.

14 Jul 2025

Brain stimulation and coaching help older adults increase physical activity

A study published in The Journals of Gerontology: Series A reports that a novel combination of brain stimulation and personalized coaching significantly increased physical activity in older adults and held steady for months.

8 Jul 2025

Many older people embrace vaccines. Research is proving them right.

Kim Beckham, an insurance agent in Victoria, Texas, had seen friends suffer so badly from shingles that she wanted to receive the first approved shingles vaccine as soon as it became available, even if she had to pay for it out-of-pocket.

23 Jun 2025

Nurse practitioners critical in treating older adults as ranks of geriatricians shrink

On Fridays, Stephanie Johnson has a busy schedule, driving her navy-blue Jeep from one patient’s home to the next, seeing eight in all.

18 Jun 2025

Telehealth-based care program boosts function and mood in seniors with cancer

New research in the June 2025 issue of JNCCN-Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network found that older people with cancer had better daily functioning, improved mood, stronger illness understanding, and a higher quality of life if they participated in a telehealth-based care program called Geriatric Assessment-Guided Intervention-Supportive Care (GAIN-S).

12 Jun 2025

As cannabis users age, health risks appear to grow

Benjamin Han, a geriatrician and addiction medicine specialist at the University of California-San Diego, tells his students a cautionary tale about a 76-year-old patient who, like many older people, struggled with insomnia.

9 Jun 2025

Newsom’s push to block law could save California nursing homes over $1 billion

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to block a California law from taking effect next year that will require nursing homes to have a 96-hour backup power supply, potentially giving the industry a reprieve from having to spend over $1 billion in capital investments.

4 Jun 2025

Role reversal: Millions of kids are caregivers for elders. Why their numbers might grow.

High school senior Joshua Yang understands sacrifice. When he was midway through 10th grade, his mom survived a terrible car crash.

2 Jun 2025

Language service cutbacks raise fear of medical errors, misdiagnoses, deaths

Health nonprofits and medical interpreters warn that federal cuts have eliminated dozens of positions in California for community workers who help non-English speakers sign up for insurance coverage and navigate the health care system.

29 May 2025

Global study shows air pollution could triple heart disease cases by 2045

The study highlights air pollution's role in escalating heart disease, showing increased mortality and disability rates, especially among women and older adults.

28 May 2025

Targeting individual frailty traits may prevent falls among the elderly

A new research paper was published in Aging (Aging-US) Volume 17, Issue 4, on April 1, 2025, titled "Examining frailty phenotypes of community-dwelling older adults in Taiwan using the falls risk for older people in the community – Taiwan version (Tw-FROP-Com)."

23 May 2025

Trump’s team cited safety in limiting covid shots. patients, health advocates see more risk.

Larry Saltzman has blood cancer. He's also a retired doctor, so he knows getting covid-19 could be dangerous for him — his underlying illness puts him at high risk of serious complications and death.

23 May 2025

Culturally tailored program helps UK seniors sit less and move more

A UK study found that a 12-week intervention to reduce sedentary behavior was well accepted by ethnically diverse older adults. Participants perceived benefits and suggested culturally tailored, home-based approaches for future health programs.

21 May 2025

Trump exaggerates speed and certainty of prescription drug price reductions

President Donald Trump expressed high hopes for an executive order to reduce drug prices.

20 May 2025

Californians receiving in-home care fear Medicaid cuts will spell end to independent living

With a Starbucks coffee cup in her hand and a half gallon of milk under her arm, Florence Owens let herself into Carol Crooks' apartment on a Monday morning, announced herself with a cheery "hello," walked through the book-filled living room, and got to work in the kitchen.

16 May 2025

Newsom’s pitch as he seeks to pare down immigrant health care: ‘We have to adjust’

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday proposed that California roll back health care for immigrants without legal status, saying the state needed to cut benefits for some to maintain core services across the board.

15 May 2025

Hearing aids may help older adults combat social isolation

Providing hearing aids and advice on their use may preserve social connections that often wane as we age, a new study shows.

12 May 2025