Gary Schwitzer Notes Some Gems in Health News Reporting

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA In my post from Tuesday, June 15, 2010, “Digging Deep: The 411 Behind Medical News Headlines,” Gary Schwitzer, publisher at HealthNewsReview.org offers vital information for health consumers to help them identify accurate and balanced news reporting. Subsequent to publishing that post, Gary Schwitzer published his list of gems that shine among the rubble of daily health news. Gary admires the individuals, teams and news organizations responsible for these stories….

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Digging Deep: The 411 Behind Medical News Headlines

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Let’s face it, health and medical news reported by mainstream media can be misleading. In attempts to capture the attention of the public with alluring headlines, the substance of a news story may be imbalanced and inaccurate. Consumers ought to be skeptical when reading a health story or listening to a segment on their favorite morning show or nightly news program. How do consumers know what questions to ask…

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Happiness: 3 Tips for a Spectacular YOU

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Posted in Healthy Living Thank you to all the Huffingtonpost readers for retweeting my latest post on Huffingtonpost, “3 Tips for a Spectacular YOU, Oh Really?” (published in the “Happiness” section) on Twitter 348 times.  I greatly appreciate your readership. You know that person you work with, the one that always seems to be in a bad mood, the one that never smiles, the one that never has a…

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CDC Finds 1 in 5 High School Students Abuse Prescription Drugs

By Barbara Ficarra RN, BSN, MPA Latest News Update A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that one in five U.S. high school students have taken a prescription drug that they didn’t get from their doctor. According to the 2009 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) that was released today from the CDC, the survey asked more than 16,000 high school students if they have ever taken  a prescription…

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Active Healthy Kids and Outdoor Play- Preparing for Life’s Little Mishaps

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Preparing for Life’s Little Mishaps While Engaging Your Kids in Outdoor Play “Play, Incorporating Animistic and Magical Thinking Is Important Because It: Fosters the healthy, creative and emotional growth of a child; Forms the best foundation for later intellectual growth. Provides a way in which children get to know the world and creates possibilities for different ways of responding to it. Fosters empathy and wonder.”  – Rachel Carson, “A…

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