It seems that we’ve pushed the COVID-19 pandemic into the collective “memory hole” — a place where those thoughts, feelings and traumas can be dropped, comfortably out of sight. But remembering is vital to processing grief and readying countermeasures for a future outbreak.
Category: Health
Posted inBay Area, California, Health, Immigration
California Program Trains Undocumented Residents to Become Therapists and Serve Those in the Shadows
The future is uncertain for California Proposition 1, which looks like it might pass by a razor-thin margin and would expand the state’s mental health and substance abuse treatment infrastructure. As votes are still being tallied, we bring you this story from news outlet MindSite News about a San Francisco organization that is filling a glaring void in the health care system.
Posted inCoronavirus, Health, History, HIV & AIDS
Reporter’s Notebook: The Epidemic She Didn’t Expect to See
Mel Baker shares an excerpt of an interview with Dr. Monica Gandhi in which they discuss the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gandhi is a professor of medicine and associate division chief of HIV, infectious diseases, and global medicine at UCSF and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and author of “Endemic: A Post Pandemic Playbook.”
Posted inHealth, Law & Justice, Overdose Crisis, Public Safety, Social Services
Proveedores de Servicios Exigen Acceso a Reclusos Latinos
La falta de programación en español es un problema crecientemente grave ya que el encarcelamiento de latinos ha aumentado desde el lanzamiento el junio pasado de una ofensiva policial contra las drogas en los vecindarios de Tenderloin y sur de Market. • Read in English: https://www.sfpublicpress.org/service-providers-demand-access-to-latinx-jail-inmates
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Elections, Government & Politics, Health, Law & Justice, Overdose Crisis, Social Services
Drug Policy, Addictions Specialists Oppose Prop F Tying Welfare to Drug Tests
Numerous drug policy experts and addictions specialists from across the country — as close as UCSF and as far away as Rhode Island — publicly oppose a San Francisco ballot measure that would compel adult welfare recipients to undergo drug screening before collecting cash benefits.
And efforts to publicize the measure have brought practitioners who don’t always agree about addiction treatment practices to the same side of the debate.
Posted inHealth, Law & Justice, Overdose Crisis, Public Safety, Social Services
Service Providers Demand Access to Latinx Jail Inmates
Spanish-language programming at San Francisco’s County Jail has since become virtually non-existent as routine lockdowns caused by staff shortages have made it practically impossible to hold classes. Even while deputies work mandatory 16-hour shifts, there aren’t enough of them to escort people who administer rehabilitation sessions and other training programs into the jails.
On Feb. 2, numerous social service providers for the Latinx incarcerated population implored the Sheriff’s Department Oversight Board during its monthly meeting to help them gain access to the jail.
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Health, San Francisco March 2024 Election Guide, Social Services
Proposition F — Illegal Substance Dependence Screening and Treatment for Recipients of City Public Assistance
Proposition F asks voters whether the city should be allowed to screen single adult welfare recipients for drug dependency and require those identified as suffering from substance use disorder to enter treatment to continue receiving cash assistance through the County Adult Assistance Program.
Posted inCity Hall, Health, Homelessness, Overdose Crisis
2023 Is San Francisco’s Deadliest Year on Record for Drug Overdoses
Last Thursday San Francisco’s chief medical examiner released the city’s updated overdose death count — 752 so far — making 2023 the worst year on record for drug-related fatalities. One-third of those people were listed as having no fixed address. Later that day, a crowd gathered at Civic Center Plaza to remember more than 420 who died in the city while experiencing homelessness this year.
Posted inAging, Climate Change, Environment, Health, Social Services
Protecting Chinatown’s Older Adults From Climate Disasters Requires More Funding, Nonprofits Say
Community organizations say the systems in Chinatown to protect older populations during extreme weather are not enough to meet the needs that could arise. Without sufficient financial backing, the health of many older residents in the neighborhood could be threatened during extreme weather disasters. Similar scenarios could transpire in San Francisco’s other climate-vulnerable areas.
Posted inAging, Climate Change, Health, Housing, Social Services
For Chinatown’s Older Residents in SROs, Climate Disasters Pose Greater Risks
Chinatown faces higher threats during periods of extreme weather due to a range of socio-economic factors as well as the built environment. Within the neighborhood, older adults living in single-room occupancy buildings are among the populations at heightened risk. Reasons for this include physiological changes related to aging and financial barriers associated with making climate-resiliency adaptations to older buildings.