In the scramble to vaccinate as many as possible, thousands of homebound adults are being left behind if they can’t travel to a vaccine clinic. Agencies that support seniors suggest a few changes that may help.
Ted Roelofs
Ted Roelofs of Kentwood, has written extensively on healthcare as well as prison and juvenile justice reform. Roelofs spent nearly three decades at the Grand Rapids Press where he covered politics, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, rural poverty and mental illness among the homeless. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. Reach Ted at ted.roelofs@gmail.com
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan gears up for the next COVID-19 fight: vaccine passports
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration has sidestepped questions on whether the state would back vaccination mandates. Republican lawmakers see it as the next front in the cultural wars, while commerce groups want to leave such decisions to individual businesses.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Local transit systems in Michigan take lead on COVID vaccines for homebound
Systems in Lansing and in several counties have already quietly started on-demand service for seniors, the disabled and other vulnerable groups that might include picking up people at their homes, waiting at vaccine centers and then driving them home to make vaccine distribution more equitable.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan’s plan to get more Republicans to take COVID vaccine
Public health officials across the state are thinking about how to ease vaccine skepticism among many conservatives as COVID-19 surges once more through Michigan.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
For these five Michigan residents, getting a COVID vaccine is ‘a hard no’
They are generally wary of the government or politicians, and questioned the process that yielded U.S. vaccines. Most are Trump supporters, with their own theories on the virus and why it was unlikely to harm them. Misinformation was not rare.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Black residents lag on COVID vaccines. Kent County offers one solution.
With white residents overrepresented at the county’s first vaccination sites, county officials and Spectrum Health partnered to open clinics specifically geared to advantage Black and Hispanic residents in those areas.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Recreational pot is nestling comfortably into small-town Michigan
Town managers say the businesses are poised to boost strained budgets. And school and law enforcement officials contend there is little evidence to date the marijuana economy is bringing more crime or drug abuse to main street.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan can’t fill mental health jobs amid COVID. These ideas could help.
From psychiatrists to counselors to direct care workers, health agencies are unable to fill jobs as depression and substance abuse cases increase. Some state and federal programs could help nudge more doctors and therapists to underserved regions of the state.
Posted inQuality of Life
As Michigan ages, a shortage in health care workers explodes into a crisis
Michigan is getting older, and there aren’t enough workers to care for seniors and those with disabilities. The coronavirus pandemic has worsened the situation, as few are willing to risk their health for menial pay.
Posted inQuality of Life
Innovation, bonuses may help curb Michigan’s home health care shortage
Home health agencies are becoming creative to maintain health workers. Michigan agencies are boosting pay, while a New York City cooperative owned by workers could provide a model to a crisis that is deepening.