Health

When you think about New Hampshire’s opioid crisis, Manchester and Nashua tend to come to mind. That’s because they’ve been getting most of the attention…and resources.

But as NHPR’s Paige Sutherland reports, smaller towns in the Northern part of the state are battling this crisis too…and struggling to do so.

A lot of people assume that if a hospital is in their insurance network, the doctors who treat them there will be, too. But that’s not always the case — and it can leave patients on the hook for thousands of dollars in unexpected charges. 

NHPR’s Casey McDermott took a look at how this is playing out in New Hampshire, and what lawmakers are trying to do to address it.

One of the biggest selling points New Hampshire uses to promote ATV riding is that it’s something the whole family can enjoy. But as the sport grows in popularity, health and safety officials are growing concerned – saying the state’s laws are ignoring the serious danger these machines pose to kids.

The organ donation system is complex, and often misunderstood -  with a waiting list that is long, and constantly shifting. But living donations, high-risk donors, and new scientific developments in tissue growth are making new strides in addressing the need.

This show originally aired on April 17, 2017. 

Work requirements under the federal health insurance program Medicaid are based on a simple premise: If you want to receive government assistance for your healthcare and you’re able to work, you should work.

On today's show:

• Civics 101: Political Speechwriting
• "George Carlin: Class Clown" from producer Devon Strolovitch. You can listen to this story again at PRX.org.
• Feather is the complicated, feisty central character in a new YA novel called Wishbones, the third novel by Virginia MacGregor, who now lives in New Hampshire. You can join her for the Wishbones launch party on May 23rd at Gibson's Bookstore.
• "Swimmers" from producer Michelle Macklem. You can listen to this story again at PRX.org. 
• Jessamyn Stanley has documented her own yoga practice for the past several years for her three-hundred thousand Instagram followers. She's now turned her internet celebrity into a book, Every Body Yoga, a practical introduction to yoga that isn't restricted by body type or background.

On today's show: 

• Jessamyn Stanley has documented her own yoga practice for the past several years for her three-hundred thousand Instagram followers. She's now turned her internet celebrity into a book, Every Body Yoga, a practical introduction to yoga that isn't restricted by body type or background.
• "Endless Winter" from producer Gregory Warner. You can listen to this story again at PRX.org. 
• Damon Young's book is called How To Think About Exercise and is part of the “School Of Life” series. It won’t offer you tips for getting perfect abs or teach you how to run a five-minute mile – but it might just help your resolutions stick.
• "Wide Receiver" by Mark Halliday. You can listen to this poem again at PRX.org. 
• The Bookshelf: Social Media, Intimacy, and Jessica Park's '180 Seconds'

Every day, an email goes out to leaders in New Hampshire’s mental health system. It gives an updated count on the number of people in immediate need of inpatient psychiatric care, but are being denied that care because of a shortage of beds in New Hampshire hospitals.

On February 20th of this year, that email contained a staggering number: 68 adults and children were being housed in hospital emergency rooms and hallways because of a lack of available beds. It was a new high.

On today's show:

• Civics 101: Gerrymandering
• "George Jones: He Stopped Loving Her Today" from producers Ben Manilla and Devon Strolovitch. Listen again at PRX.org.
• Sushma Subramanian wrote about the legacy left behind in Guatemala, 70 years after American researchers infected locals with syphilis and gonorrhea in her article "Worse Than Tuskegee". 
• "AKA Leo" from Nate DiMeo and The Memory Palace. Listen again at PRX.org.

On today's show: 

• This Popular Donate Life Ad Was Made for Free - with Tony Case, Executive Editor of AdWeek
• Curate - Listen to this story again at PRX.org
• Why Fat Shaming Doesn't Work and Makes Losing Weight Harder with Alex Orlov from Mic.com
• The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan

Even with all the angst about mid-life crises, and birthday cards calling you over the hill, the author says the middle years are most often about renewal. Today we're talking with former NPR correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty on what she discovered about middle age in America.

The term “apprentice” may conjure up thoughts of reality television and a certain President-elect, but actual apprenticeships--where workers learn skills on the job--are on the rise nationally. And in New Hampshire's health care industry, apprentices are being used as a way to fill a gap in the workforce.