WFCR News Reports: Reports
by Karen Brown
Karen Brown covers health-related stories in the
Pioneer Valley, with a focus on Springfield, Massachusetts.
Topics may include how individuals cope with illness in the
family, how state budget cuts affect access to health care
in the region, or difficulties in getting mental health care
to the most vulnerable populations. She recently completed
a series on mental health issues facing refugees and immigrants
in Massachusetts, including a radio documentary, Trauma
and Recovery: A Cambodian Refugee Experience.
An expanded version of that program was broadcast on the
public radio program, The
Infinite Mind, and also on WFCR's Soundwaves.
Karen has been awarded the inaugural Daniel
Schorr Journalism Prize by WBUR and Boston
University, recognizing significant news work
by a young public radio journalist, for her documentary Trauma
and Recovery. The documentary has also received
an Associated Press award for
Excellence in Journalism and the first place
in the Documentary category of the Public Radio News
Directors Incorporated annual awards.
Click here for photos
from the Daniel Schorr Prize award ceremony.
You can contact Karen at kbrown@wfcr.org.
Listening to Karen's reports online requires Real
Player. For some hints on downloading and installing
Real Player, see our frequently
asked questions page.
  
- A national exhibit on the human cost of war is now touring
the Pioneer Valley. Eyes Wide Open began
Tuesday, August 3 on the Amherst common, with a striking
outdoor display. (For more information on Eyes Wide
Open, see Western Mass. AFSC.) (8/04/04)
- Summer marks the high point for many community gardens across
the region. Two quite different groups of young gardeners
from western Massachusetts have taken advantage of the
growing season to combine their talents, and get to know
each other. Karen Brown reports.
- A group calling itself "Psychiatric Survivors" is
trying to start a movement in western Massachusetts to
challenge the current mental health system—particularly
its focus on medication. They say they want to secure more
self-determination for persons diagnosed with mental illness.
But many mainstream advocates for the mentally ill caution
that the movement may discourage the use of well-proven
psychiatric treatments, and divide otherwise allied groups. Karen
Brown reports.
- In 2002, a provocative collection of essays by women
became a national bestseller. The Bitch in the House,
edited by Northampton-based writer Cathi Hanauer,
reflected the anger and guilt many professional women feel
as they juggle job, marriage, and motherhood. In many cases,
they claimed, men weren't living up to their end of the
modern bargain. So, with Fathers' Day just ahead, the men
are now dishing it out in a sequel called The Bastard
on the Couch, edited by Hanauer's husband, Daniel
Jones. Karen Brown reports.
- A western Massachusetts hospital now offers a new surgery
for people with severe-to-profound hearing loss. Baystate
Medical Center in Springfield is marking the first
year of its cochlear implant program. Karen Brown has
the story. (6/3/04)
- Most children can be volatile at some points in
their development, with no particular cause for worry.
But at what point do irritability, mood swings, and tantrums
constitute a serious mental illness? A growing number of
children are being diagnosed with bipolar disorder--a
condition usually associated with adults. Some in the medical
field are signaling their uneasiness with the spike in
childhood bipolar diagnoses. (6/1/04)
- Holyoke, Massachusetts pediatrician David Sigelman was
on a humanitarian mission to Peru earlier this month when
he died unexpectedly. As Karen Brown reports, the
58-year-old Sigelman was held in high esteem by his friends
and his community. (5/18/04)
- The Lower Liberty Heights neighborhood is one of the
poorest sections of Springfield. Children living there
are sometimes exposed to open-air drug dealing, gun violence,
and other byproducts of poverty. WFCR's Karen Brown reports
that one social service agency is trying to offer constructive
activities for youth in the community, but they are finding
it is not easy to bring in the crowds. (4/30/04)
- Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is considering
a number of new building projects that could affect western
Massachusetts. One of them is a proposed women's jail
in Chicopee. But advocates, corrections officials,
and local leaders are debating whether the project is in
the best interest of women, or the region at large. (4/16/04)
- Massachusetts is one of about 35 states with laws that
attempt to equalize the health benefits for mental illness and
physical illness. But those laws vary widely in strength
and scope, which is why many local and national activists
are pushing for a strong federal law. In the second of
a two-part series, WFCR's Karen Brown reports on
the national debate over mental health parity. (4/8/04)
- As more people recognize mental illness as a biologically-based
disorder, legislators are following suit—requiring
insurance companies to give the same benefits for mental
and physical illness. While the U.S. Congress works on
federal legislation, more than 35 states have passed their
own mental health parity laws. Massachusetts has
one of the more comprehensive ones, yet advocates and business
still debate whether it goes far enough. In the first of
a two-part series, Karen Brown looks at how the
state defines equality in health care. (4/7/04)
- In Springfield, Massachusetts, a District Attorney has
sent a sexual abuse case against retired Bishop Thomas
Dupre to a Grand Jury. Dupree has been accused of child
rape and concealment of documents. (3/5/04)
- Since March 2003, the city of Holyoke, Massachusetts has
owned prime real estate along the Connecticut River, opening
the possibility, for the first time, of public water access
and recreation for all city residents. However, slow negotiations
among the City Council, the Parks Department, and Holyoke
Rows, a nonprofit running the aquatic programs, have
left the river site under-utilized. (2/23/04)
- The health care field is going through lean times, as
local hospitals cut back on staff and make other adjustments
to compensate for lower reimbursements and higher expenses.
There's one area, however, that even struggling hospitals
have targeted for major investment: cancer care.
Two major hospitals in Springfield, Massachusetts, Baystate
Medical Center and Mercy
Medical Center, have recently opened cancer treatment
centers: the Sr.
Caritas Cancer Center at Mercy, and the Center
for Cancer Care at BHS. The investments are in
line with a state and national trend. (2/17/04)
- Massachusetts' sluggish economy has increased pressure
on cities and towns. Springfield, for example, is on the
brink of receivership, and Northampton mayor Clare Higgins
plans to ask for a property tax override. WFCR's Karen
Brown spoke with two mayors, one Republican and one
Democrat, who left their towns—Chicopee and Holyoke—in
the black. (1/23/04)
- On January 9, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney spent
a few hours in Holyoke speaking to students
and educators about the city's struggling school district.
Many young students said that, though they appreciated
his time, they are concerned that Holyoke has been unfairly
denigrated by state school officials. (1/12/04)
- This past summer, five Somali refugee families arrived
in Springfield, Massachusetts to start new lives. WFCR's Karen
Brown reports that the families have settled in
well, defying the expectations of some in Western Massachusetts
who didn't want them to come. (12/29/03)
- Autism is a childhood neurological disorder, characterized
in part by severe social withdrawal and sensory intolerance.
The number of children diagnosed with autism has risen
from a rate of one in 10,000 thirty years ago to more than
one in 1,000. WFCR's Karen Brown presents a two-part
examination of autism, the possibility of making an early
diagnosis, and some of the methods of treatment. (12/17 & 18/03)
- Click
one of the logos at right to listen to Part I
- Click
one of the logos at right to listen to Part II
Online resources for information about autism and
the treatment methods in the story:
- Cathi Hanauer is the editor of a national bestseller
of essays by successful but stressed-out working mothers, The
Bitch in the House. WFCR's Karen Brown spoke
with Hanauer, and with her husband, Daniel Jones,
with whom she is working on a sequel. (10/30/03)
- Springfield,
Massachusetts has received national attention
as the first city in the nation to buy prescription
drugs from Canada. WFCR's Karen Brown reports
on the program, other cities and states considering
doing the same, and efforts by the Food
and Drug Administration to stop it. (9/26/03)
- One of the few programs in Holyoke for teen mothers or
those at risk for pregnancy that has survived budget cuts
is one which reaches out to these women through poetry.
WFCR's Karen Brown reports on the program. (9/12/03)
- All of the following poems are included in Nautilus
II, a collection of poetry and art by Teen Mothers
from The Care Center in Holyoke. The 82-page journal
is available at Food
for Thought Books in Amherst and at The
Care Center, 247 Cabot St. in Holyoke
-
Baystate
Medical Center in Springfield treats many
high-risk pregnancies, and has developed a pediatric
bereavement program to help families deal with the
intense grief and disappointment after loss of a
baby. WFCR's Karen Brown reports on the program.
(8/19/03)
- State Bowl in Springfield,
Massachusetts closed its doors on August 20.
The Greene family has owned the 34-lane candlepin
bowling alley for more than forty years. But this week, MassMutual
Financial is expected to buy the building.
WFCR's Karen Brown talked to some of the bowling
old-timers who are saying goodbye to one of their favorite
haunts. (8/20/03)
-
Most people who find themselves in a hospital will see
their personal physician once or twice a day during rounds.
But that pattern is changing as a new specialist begins
to take over hospital duties. The "Hospitalist
System" is meant to be efficient and accessible,
but not all family practitioners are ready to give up
their hospital privileges. WFCR's Karen Brown reports.
(7/25/03)
- Deryk Patterson, a furniture maker in Westhampton,
Massachusetts, has an unsettling memento brought back from
Viet Nam by his stepfather in 1967. WFCR's Karen Brown reports
that Patterson wants to repatriate it. Aired July 10,
2003
- Once considered a last resort for dealing with obesity,
gastric surgery has now become more common. WFCR's Karen
Brown reports on a new facility at Mercy
Medical Center, Springfield for overweight patients,
and the concerns raised by its use. Aired May 28, 2003
-
The George Walter Vincent Smith Museum in Springfield
has drawn many visitors to its Ancient Egypt exhibit,
featuring a replica of a temple and tomb, and the mummy Padihershef.
WFCR's Karen Brown toured the exhibit.
-
In the second in a five-part series
on longtime family businesses in Springfield,
WFCR's Karen Brown profiles Frigo's Deli.
(4/22/03)
-
In the third of Karen Brown's series on Springfield
institutions, we visit a downtown German restaurant where
politicians and business people have enjoyed their favorite
cutlets and schnitzel menu items over seventy years and
several generations. While other establishments modernize
with the times, the owners of The
Student Prince have stuck with what they know
works. (4/23/03)
-
The fourth of Karen Brown's series on Springfield
institutions takes us to Kavanagh's Furniture,
one of the oldest furniture stores in the country, which
opened its first shop shortly after the end of the Civil
War. (4/24/03)
-
In the final installment of Karen Brown's series
on Springfield institutions, Karen profiles Alfonso Sarno
("Al the Barber"). (4/25/03)
- For almost two decades, school-based health clinics in
Massachusetts have given primary care to students who might
not otherwise see a doctor. But the Governor's latest round
of budget cuts has put those programs in jeopardy. WFCR's Karen
Brown visits a school clinic in Holyoke - one of the
state's poorest cities. Aired April 14, 2003
- Karen Brown reports on a program that gives incarcerated
youth in Western Massachusetts a musical education based
on their own experience, which their teachers hope will
inspire a healthier way of life. The "Renaissance Program" run
by the Community
Music School of Springfield offers participants
a chance to express themselves in the hip hop idiom. Aired
February 13, 2003
- Listen to the music performed by participants in
the program:
- Western Massachusetts' two major health systems have
long been at odds over market share. At the center of the
controversy is Health New England, an HMO owned
by Baystate Health System. The HMO has not allowed its
members to access services at Sisters of Providence
Health System, prompting an investigation by the state
Attorney General into fair business practices. Yesterday,
Health New England and Sisters of Providence announced
their first contract agreement. According to the principals,
the contract marks the beginning of a long-term relationship. Aired
January 9, 2003
- Richard Hendrick is a social worker in Springfield,
Massachusetts who specializes in helping homeless people
with schizophrenia. Amir Robinson is one of his
regular clients. For the past year, they've been on what
they call "a journey together." WFCR's Karen Brown spoke
to the men about their clinical work, friendship, and hopes
for the future. Aired January 8, 2003
- The high cost of liablity insurance is causing many phsycians
in Massachusetts to leave the field of obstetrics. WFCR's Karen
Brown reports that this crisis may hit Western Massachusetts
especially hard. Aired December 30, 2002
- The Moscow Ballet gives a benefit performance
of The
Great Russian Nutcracker December
16 at the UMass
Fine Arts Center. WFCR's Karen Brown reports
on the need for child mental health services and the Child
and Adolescent Psychiatric program at Holyoke's Providence
Hospital which will benefit from the performance. Aired
December 16, 2002
- Healthcare activists in Massachusetts are regrouping
following the latest elections, starting with a rally in
Boston on December 4. They anticipate the economic and
political climate across the state and country could mean
scaling back their goals for universal healthcare coverage.
WFCR's Karen Brown reports. Aired December 3,
2002
- Karen Brown reports on a program at Baystate
Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts
which gives participants a taste of medical school,
for those who are considering a career and those who
just want a little medical knowledge. Aired September
30, 2002
- WFCR's Karen Brown reports on psychological problems
among the Americanized children of Cambodian refugees who
are survivors of trauma. Karen's documentary Trauma
and Recovery in a New Land: The Cambodian Refugee Experience,
about the problems of the parents' generation, was rebroadcast
Sunday, August 4 at 7:00 PM on 88.5 WFCR. Aired August
2, 2002.
- WFCR's Karen Brown reviews the health care policy
positions of Robert Reich, Shannon O'Brien, Warren Tolman,
and Tom Birmingham--the Democratic contenders for governor
of Massachusetts. Each vows to tackle high insurance premiums,
rising drug prices, failing hospitals, and the growing
number of uninsured. Aired July 24, 2002
- Finding solace in writing is one of the many forms of
modern therapy. WFCR's Karen Brown reports on a
writing support group for women with cancer at Baystate
Medical Center in Springfield. Aired June 27,
2002
- In the second part of a two-part story WFCR's Karen
Brown reports on a health care program that residents
of Springfield homeless shelters have come to rely on.
It receives some federal funding, and its state funding
may be in jeopardy. Aired June 7, 2002
- Hundreds of people living on the streets and in homeless
shelters in Western Massachusetts have little or no access
to health care. In the first part of a two-part story WFCR's Karen
Brown reports on a group of nurses who bring health
services to the streets. Aired June 6, 2002
- Massachusetts' state assisted health program does little
to address the disparity in dental health services between
low-income and wealthy populations. A program in Springfield
aims to improve dental care for children in the city's
school system. WFCR's Karen Brown reports. The program
is highlighted on the web at www.healthprograms.org. Aired
April 25, 2002
- State budget cuts have resulted in elimination or reduction
of 100 HIV-AIDS programs in Massachusetts. Health officials
in Springfield say that education and prevention efforts
will take the biggest hit, and they worry that the effects
could ripple for years. Aired January 3, 2002.
- It is estimated that a quarter of the 2 million refugees
who have entered the United States since 1975 have experienced
torture. Governmental aid efforts have focused on their
basic needs for food, shelter and employment, but a new
program from the Office
of Refugee Resettlement is trying to meet the psychological
needs of torture survivors. WFCR's Karen Brown reports
on a treatment center at a community clinic in Springfield. Aired
December 18, 2001.
- The terrorist attacks of September 11 are bringing on
a psychological fallout that many Americans have never
experienced. But for war refugees, veterans and torture
survivors from other countries, the recent violence has
retriggered memoris of past traumas. While those populations
try to come to terms with renewed fears and flashbacks,
they are also being called on to help their American neighbors
learn to live with trauma. Aired September 20, 2001.
- Karen Brown reports on a new study of mental health among
Bosnian refugees, conducted by Massachusetts researchers
for the Journal of the American Medical Association. Aired
August 1, 2001.
- Massachusetts recently passed legislation to provide
interpreters to all hospital patients who don't speak English,
but Karen Brown reports that advocates worry there won't
be enough funding to make the law work. Aired April
26, 2001.
- In the second of a series, Karen Brown reports on mental
health among the local Russian immigrant population, many
of whom are religious refugees. Aired March 1, 2001.
- Refugees from war-torn regions are often the most likely
to suffer from mental health problems, but also the least
likely to seek help - for reasons of access, culture and
language barriers. In the first of a two-part series, Karen
Brown reports on mental health issues facing the South
East Asian population of Western Massachusetts. Aired
February 28, 2001.
- Domestic violence in refugee and immigrant families is
the target of a new program in Western Massachusetts. Immigrant
advocates and service agencies will share a $400,000 federal
grant for education and prevention efforts. Aired January
5, 2001.
Read about Karen Brown's documentary, Trauma
and Recovery in a New Land: The Cambodian Refugee Experience in
WFCR's newsletter, Of
Note (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).
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