health outcomes

Kansas has one of the highest rates of Parkinson’s disease diagnoses. Groups there are helping people slow the progression of the disease through activities including exercise and art classes. Plus: Nipple tattoos are an option for the many American women who survive breast cancer and end their treatment looking for a way to reconnect with themselves and their bodies.

The Kauffman Foundation recently gave its first “Uncommon Leader” award, along with a $150,000 prize, to a nurse practitioner from Swope Health Services who has been delivering heath care to homeless individuals for more than a decade. The committee cited the way Dr. Rachel Melson focuses on restoring dignity to the treatment of unhoused residents.

Missouri's health department found that the vast majority of maternal deaths were preventable, and resulted from a lack of care in the months after birth. Cardiologist Dr. Anna Grodzinsky navigated her own high-risk pregnancies, and she explains what our medical system is missing.

Free Wheels For Kids provides bikes, lessons on how to ride and how to fix bikes. The founder is a one-person operation but has been partnering with Kansas City-area physical education classes so he can expand the reach of the program.

The number of adults with dementia is growing — and so is the number of family members who step in to help. A St. Louis-based nonprofit is trying to meet their needs.

Triple negative breast cancer is aggressive and hard to treat. It also disproportionately affects Black women. A University of Kansas medical researcher is working to find out why and expand treatment options.

The Trump administration canceled more than $12 billion in public health grants last month. Local public health departments are worried about what that will mean for Kansas Citians.

Missouri and Kansas lawmakers are trying to eliminate junk food purchases from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps. But food accessadvocates worry that restricting SNAP will make it harder for recipients.

Health plans often limit physical therapy to 20 or 30 sessions, even for people who may need months of treatment, multiple times a week, after severe accidents or health conditions. They're stuck paying out of pocket for the rest of the sessions they need to return to work or caring for kids.

Black Kansans die at higher rates of seven of nine leading causes of death than all other Kansans. Advocates say now is an important time to focus on these disparities.

Planned Parenthood clinics in Missouri have resumed elective abortions for the first time since Amendment 3 passed in November — years after the state banned the practice following the end of Roe v. Wade. But some Republican lawmakers are vowing to get abortion back on the ballot.

Wyandotte County is experiencing one of the largest outbreaks of tuberculosis in recent U.S. history. But emails obtained by the Kanas News Service show tension between the state and county health department officials that may have made the response more difficult.