Trusera, a new social-networking website centered on health, has officially launched. The site features online communities and personalized health information, and allows members to endorse one another's contributions as a way to identify reliable sources of information. Trusera focuses on social networking and storytelling in an effort to foster communities in which users can learn from one another's experiences and seek out knowledgeable advice.
A growing number of people are turning to the Internet for mental-health counseling via instant messaging, e-mail exchanges or videoconferencing. Proponents of the trend cite convenience and anonymity as driving factors, but some mental-health professionals say the lack of face-to-face contact undermines meaningful therapy.
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto, CA, uses the Packard Kids Connection Web site to prepare children for their stays at the facility. Nurses at Packard say the high-tech tool is invaluable when it comes to giving kids a sense of control and allaying their fears about the mysteries of surgery. The nurses also see the benefits of the Web site among teen patients, who they say seem more prone to worry and fearing worst-case scenarios.
Low socioeconomic status increases a cancer patient's risk of dying, according to researchers at the University of Colorado Denver. The study found that cancer patients with low socioeconomic status had more advanced cancers at time of diagnosis, received less aggressive treatment, and had a higher risk of dying within five years of diagnosis. Researchers analyzed data on almost 14,000 breast, prostate and colorectal patients in seven states.
Longtime ranchers and conservationists Jay B. and Marsha Starkey have pledged $1-million to the expansion of Morton Plant North Bay Hospital in New Port Richey, FL. The gift is the largest so far to the $49-million project, which will double the size of the hospital campus. The hospital expansion includes construction of a three-story doctors' office building, an expanded sleep disorders unit, outpatient rehabilitation services, a three-story patient wing, a walk-in clinic, and renovations to the emergency room. Construction is scheduled for completion in 2010.
Directors of the Marrero, LA-based West Jefferson Medical Center pulled back the veil on their decision-making after the board drew criticism from several Jefferson Parish Council members for conducting the bulk of its meetings behind closed doors. The group conducted eight out of 21 agenda items in public view at its most recent meeting, although it still saved the bulk of the board's business for a closed session. The Marrero hospital board has gradually relented on a philosophy of restricting access that it tested earlier this year.