Clik here to view.
Opening more 24-hour hospital clinics
According to Health Trends in Hawaii, there were over 361,000 emergency room visits in 2008. That’s over 900 emergency visits every day (though significantly fewer visits than the rest of the U.S.)....
View ArticleClik here to view.
7 ways to stop mindless eating
“The best diet is the one you don’t know you’re on” (page 11), declares marketing and nutritional science professor Brian Wansink in “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think” (2006). In the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Three more ways to encourage healthy living
The single most important thing we can do to encourage healthy living is change the health care insurance model. We need to take personal responsibility for our health, and we need health insurance...
View ArticleClik here to view.
5 ways to take 5 on Lei Day
May 1 is Lei Day in Hawaii, a symbol of aloha and hospitality. It can also be a reminder to slow down and smell the plumeria. Here are five small ways that you can “take 5” for yourself on Lei Day, and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Respect the ocean: National Safe Boating Week
My husband is a fisherman, and before he leaves, I always ask him who he is fishing with, where he is headed, and when to expect him back. Since he has an iPhone, I can check up on him, looking for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Healthful foods from the plantation
My husband is a fantastic cook, and we’ve collected a lot of cookbooks over the years. Every now and then I browse the pages of a cookbook, looking for a recipe that I, with my limited skills and my...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Practical mnemonics for wellness
Mnemonics are memory aides that help us remember information. Our society is acronym-happy; there’s an acronym (a word formed by taking the first letter in a name or phrase) for almost everything, from...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sun safe and skin wise
Living in Hawaii, it’s hard to avoid the sun. When I was young, I didn’t worry about getting sunburned – aside from my annoying habit to burn and peel. Then my mom told me that damage from the sun is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A hospital ship for Hawaii
In Hawaii, providing timely and affordable healthcare is made even more challenging by our remote location. We are about 2,400 miles away from California, over 3,800 miles away from Japan, and over...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sun safe and skin wise
Living in Hawaii, it’s hard to avoid the sun. When I was young, I didn’t worry about getting sunburned – aside from my annoying habit to burn and peel. Then my mom told me that damage from the sun is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A hospital ship for Hawaii
In Hawaii, providing timely and affordable healthcare is made even more challenging by our remote location. We are about 2,400 miles away from California, over 3,800 miles away from Japan, and over...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sun safe and skin wise
Living in Hawaii, it’s hard to avoid the sun. When I was young, I didn’t worry about getting sunburned – aside from my annoying habit to burn and peel. Then my mom told me that damage from the sun is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A hospital ship for Hawaii
In Hawaii, providing timely and affordable healthcare is made even more challenging by our remote location. We are about 2,400 miles away from California, over 3,800 miles away from Japan, and over...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gambling with our health in 2016
Last month, I received a renewal letter for our 2016 health insurance coverage, and I was shocked to read that our monthly premium is going up over $200 – an increase of 34%. To be able to afford...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Summer reflections: 3 commitments and 4 doors
Recently, I’ve been over-scheduling myself – taking on more responsibilities at work, while keeping family and friends a priority, and trying to fit in the hobbies I enjoy in the margins. I sometimes...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Vaccines, voting and vigilance
On the day of the Hawaii primary election, there were longer lines to get the Hepatitis A vaccine than there was at our neighborhood polling place. The Honolulu clinic was professional and organized....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Health care blues
It seems that there are no cost-savings to being healthy anymore. Last year, we received a health insurance packet with our 2017 monthly premium. It jumped 19% — over $100 per month for our family of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Full circle about single-payer health insurance
I never understood why there is so much support for a national, single-payer healthcare system – until I started working in a small medical office. Just last year, I believed that commercial health...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Health insurance hunter
I work for a small nonprofit organization in Hawaii, and it was eye-opening to enter the mysterious world of health insurance coding and billing. Every medical procedure is reduced to numbers:...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Communicating is critical to first aid
One afternoon, a client came into the office. He said he just wanted to rest. He sat in a chair, and then did a controlled slide to the floor. He stretched out on the carpet and fell asleep. I could...
View Article
