Category: Health & COVID-19

“Starting With You:” your proactive journey to compassionate self-investment (NEW COLUMN)

Alex Kestrel
starting with you

My sister used to tell me I was “weird.” She’d make fun of me, and I’d go to our mom, in search of a solution. “Stop being so sensitive,” she’d respond. This would have been a perfect opportunity for my parents to teach me conflict resolution and communication skills, but that’s not what happened. My parents didn’t have their own skills of emotional regulation, so they weren’t capable of teaching those skills to me. In my family, good communication skills and emotional literacy were hard to come by. My parents…

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LGBTQ+ care now, transition care soon: TPQC expands support for health care equity

Christine Hawes
TPQC 4 17

QUAD CITIES — When Tyler Mitchell went to a general health care practitioner a few years ago, just as the groundbreaking HIV preventative treatment of PrEP was introduced, he was shocked at what he was not told. “I didn’t necessarily know a lot about PrEP at the time, so I didn’t attempt to engage about it,” said Mitchell, marketing and communications director for The Project of the Quad Cities. “But my provider was aware of the fact that I was a gay male and could be at an increased risk…

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Stealth agents, special agents: A lighter look at how COVID vaccines work

Heather Fudala
heather fudala cover

“As an ICU nurse, I’ve watched far too many die from COVID in the past year. I’m also painfully aware of the horrific atrocities historically inflicted on minority and marginalized humans in the name of ‘science.’ I understand the reluctance of some to accept the vaccine. We do have so much work to do in science and in society to repair and heal our communities. It’s my hope that this vaccine — and my fun little column below — is part of that process.” — author Heather Fudala When you got…

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COVID vaccine more accessible in Illinois, parts of Iowa; still unattainable for many

Christine Hawes
covid vax shot 1

New mass vaccination clinics for the Quad Cities, Springfield area, and the Siouxland, Iowa, area are among the steps the two states are taking as demand for COVID vaccinations continues to outpace supply. Meanwhile, demand in areas including Dubuque, Des Moines and Cedar Rapids remains so high that those who qualify under expanded eligiblity this week may still be waiting weeks for available appointments. Iowa and Illinois were already among the slowest states to vaccinate even before this week. Now that both states have expanded vaccine eligibility to adults under…

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Virtual ‘dog eat dog’ world of vaccine access calls for new tone, greater sensitivities (TRM Blog)

Christine Hawes
vax drama

We are now deep in the throes of pervasive vaccine inequity. No clearer illustration exists than a new suggestion floated to help boost the economy. “Restaurants and nightspots, hold an open night for the vaccinated!” suggested one heretofore trusted voice. “Entry allowed for anyone who can present proof of vaccination! Come on in, help restart the economy, show the world the benefits of getting vaccinated!” The rest of you? You are not invited. If you’re eligible to get an appointment and just can’t …. If your work schedule doesn’t allow…

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Progressive businesses across Iowa buck #COVIDKim, recommit to facial coverings

Christine Hawes
Iowa masks

IOWA — Progressive and LGBTQ-identified establishments across Iowa are making their distaste for “#COVIDKim” known by firmly reminding customers: masks and facial coverings, and other common-sense efforts to fight the still-raging coronavirus pandemic, will be followed with or without the governor’s leadership. Entities from Orange City to Des Moines to Iowa City to Davenport are using social media to defy Gov. Kim Reynolds’ decision late last week to end Iowa’s formal coronavirus prevention efforts as of Sunday. More than a dozen entities — many of them LGBTQ-identified bars — are…

Iowa masks
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“Kindness Queers,” “queerantine kits” brighten LGBTQIA youths’ lives during pandemic

Christine Hawes
kindness queers

CHAMPAIGN, ILL. — When Anna Peters and her business partner at the Art Coop began to think about how the pandemic might affect LGBTQIA children, they became worried. And then, inspired. Peters and co-owner Hilary Pope, along with Pope’s art teacher partner, realized they were already equipped to help with the arts resources all around them in the Coop, founded in 1971. The result, quickly, was 250 “queerantine kits” filled with art supplies out the door to “Kindness Queers,” who are LGBTQIA youngsters who may not have access to arts…

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Pet Wellness and patient health go hand in hand at The Project of the Quad Cities

Guest Writer
mary oliver max e1610271815700

QUAD CITIES — The pandemic has reminded us that having a pet can be important for one’s mental and physical health. It has also revealed that the financial burden of pet ownership is harder for many. The Project of the Quad Cities is tackling this challenge with a fundraising campaign for its Pet Wellness Program. This nonprofit organization, which advocates for health equity and provides health services to people living with HIV and sexually-transmitted diseases, aims to help more of its clients consider adopting a pet by helping with the…

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“I am not special:” a healthy 20-something Iowan’s tale of fighting COVID-19 (COLUMN)

Kate Crane
kate crane cover with

ANKENY, IA — I am not special. Actually, I’m like a lot of people today: a healthy 20- to 30-something with no significant past medical history — who will now be fighting this virus for a long time. In a world that doesn’t want to hear or believe that, it needs to be said. So, I’m sharing my story. A lot of the conversation out there will tell you that most people my age “recover” from COVID. You might hear that it’s “just like a cold” and you “shouldn’t worry.”…

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Reynolds, Iowa agencies failing seniors in COVID protection

Glenn Hurst, M.D.
seniors COVID

Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa officials lied to you this past week. They told you during a press conference that they were doing “everything we can” to fight the virus and obtain personal protective equipment (PPE) for Iowa’s besieged health care workers, especially those at long-term care spaces. But this simply isn’t true. Much like how Donald Trump tried to rewrite his inadequate response to COVID-19, so is Reynolds trying to rewrite hers. Here’s the truth she’s not telling you: In March of 2020, eight months ago, all Pottawattamie County…

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