Health & Wellness
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
NO/AIDS Task Force to open center on St. Claude Avenue
Posted by Alex Woodward on Tue, May 8, 2012 at 6:00 PM
The NO/AIDS Task force, a longtime presence in the fight against HIV/AIDS in southeast Louisiana, will open a new HIV prevention office, funded through a five-year, $1.6 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dubbed The Movement (4005 St. Claude Ave.), the community center will feature HIV prevention activities for young black gay/bisexual men between the ages of 13 and 29. It also will offer on- and off-site HIV counseling, testing and referrals, a young gay/bisexual men’s social networking program, one-on-one counseling, a "drop in safe space" and a Youth Advisory Board that oversees the center's development.
According to the task force, African-Americans in Louisiana account for 74 percent of all new HIV cases and 78 percent of all new AIDS cases. In 2010, of the new HIV diagnoses among African Americans in Louisiana, 47 precent are men who have sex with men — and within New Orleans, the rate is 57 percent. The state is the fourth highest in estimated state AIDS case rates (at 20 per 100,000).
Tour de Lis cancer fundraiser this Saturday
Posted by Clancy DuBos on Tue, May 8, 2012 at 2:10 PM
The annual Tour de Lis cycling fundraiser for local cancer survivors is this Saturday, May 12, starting with a walk/run at 8 a.m. at Popp Fountain in City Park, followed by the bike ride at 9:15 a.m. and then music, free food, beverages and festivities. It’s a wonderful event for a very worthy cause.
Best of all, you don’t have to be a cyclist to participate — you can walk, run, ride, donate or just come out and cheer — and pass a good time.
For more information and to register, go HERE.
Proceeds from Tour de Lis benefit 501(c)(3) organizations headquartered in the Greater New Orleans area that have developed innovative ways to raise cancer awareness and/or provide support to survivors and their loved ones. Tour de Lis additionally supports its national beneficiary, the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Second Harvest 'ducks' hunger
Posted by Kandace Graves on Thu, May 3, 2012 at 12:42 PM
- Photo by Barry Baugher
- The Rubber Duck Derby is May 20 on Bayou St. John.
Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana is trying to make up for a 46 percent drop — or about 2.5 million fewer meals — in the USDA commodities it receives to prepare for an increase in demand for food when children are out of school for the summer. Rubber ducks are going to help.
“Last year we distributed roughly 22 million meals across the 23 parishes we serve,” says Leslie Doles, communications and public relations director at Second Harvest. “In the area we serve, about half the population is in poverty. While people think of the food bank during the holidays, we have a real need in the summer. You see a lot of people struggling to make sure their kids are fed during the summer when they aren’t in school.”
To optimize its ability to serve more hungry people, Second Harvest is using two refrigerated trucks recently donated by Walmart as mobile pantries, and it has several events planned to raise money and increase food collections. One event is a rubber duck race on Bayou St. John during Bayou Boogaloo (May 20), for which the group hopes to "adopt out" 15,000 rubber ducks. (See details below the jump.)
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Veggie Fest: Living la vida vegan
Posted by Ian McNulty on Wed, May 2, 2012 at 11:13 AM
- Ian McNulty
- The Healing Center, pictured during its grand opening last fall, is the site for this year's Veggie Fest.
Those who choose the vegetarian or vegan lifestyle have long found the going a bit bumpier in New Orleans. From waitresses suggesting crab cakes as a meatless option to “vegetable soup” starring big hunks of beef to innocent-sounding side dishes richly imbued with ham hocks or chicken stock, the ardent vegetarian may indeed feel like some New Orleans cooks are out to get them.
It must be a welcome change for some, then, to see the New Orleans Veggie Fest appear on the calendar, coming up May 12-13 this year. Planned by the Humane Society of Louisiana, the event is a showcase for the vegan lifestyle. Now in its fourth year, it will be held this time around at the Healing Center, the multi-purpose complex in the Faubourg Marigny that’s also home to the New Orleans Food Co-Op.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Public Transit Tuesdays: Metairie Road
Posted by Megan Braden-Perry on Tue, May 1, 2012 at 10:00 PM
At first, I wasn't excited about riding the Metairie Road bus. Last week, after shopping for the Mother's Day Gift Guide, I cried while waiting on RTA's Kenner Loop (the Stop ID signs are inaccurate and the automated system can't locate the stops along the route) and JET's Veterans bus (after the 6:14 p.m. bus, it doesn't come again until 7:47 p.m.) and I promised myself I'd hold off on non-New Orleans routes for a few weeks. After all, it was my birthday and I wanted to relax a bit while I had the chance. I also wanted to avoid racial tension, since friends of mine had a bit of a race riot on my Facebook page on Saturday. However, a Twitter conversation with a friend and a productive editorial meeting gave me a smidgen of hope.
Interview with an intuitive business consultant
Posted by Missy Wilkinson on Tue, May 1, 2012 at 10:59 AM
New Orleans native Monique Guild is an international business consultant who has worked with Showtime Networks, MacLaine Enterprises and clients ranging from politicians to athletes. However, she's not your run-of-the-mill life coach: Guild uses her highly developed intuitive side to receive "blocks of information" about a client, which she then addresses when helping formulate a business plan. Here, she discusses her unique consulting style — and what she'd like to see the city of New Orleans do in order to move forward and create a bright future.
So what exactly is an intuitive business consultant?
I'm a business consultant who has an extra ability: I'm highly intuitive. ... I have an ability in business, no matter what it is. I get information about what has caused that business to get stuck and what to do to turn it around. I work with anyone, from CEOs to diplomats. One of my clients is at the World Economic Forum in Geneva, which is the largest think tank in the world, where all the leaders go to make business decisions.
What does intuition have to do with business?
I believe we are all highly intuitive. ... Most people in business will say things like, "I listen to my gut." Any of these high-level executives go on their gut instincts. I teach people how to trust that gut instinct and be guided from the inside out, as opposed to the outside in. Many people live their lives having the outside world tell them what to do. Oftentimes, because of family situations or chaotic relationships, we can't hear how that inside self is guiding us. So I really help people clean that stuff up and get focused on what they want to create.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Press release: Mental health clinic faces closure, blames new Medicaid billing system
Posted by Charles Maldonado on Tue, Apr 3, 2012 at 2:55 PM
I interviewed Michael and Cecilia McNeil — CEO and COO/CFO, respectively, of the Guidance Center in Chalmette — a few weeks ago for our story about ongoing operating issues with Clinical Advisor. Clinical Advisor, you may remember, is the new web-based Medicaid database and claims processing software provided to mental health rehabilitation centers throughout Louisiana by state contractor Magellan Health Services, the company coordinating the Louisiana Behavioral Health Partnership.
The McNeils said that between an inability to process claims — for which they received an advance payment from the company — and new state rules prohibiting billing for phone services, they were losing money and having to cut back.
"As of last Saturday, we've cancelled paid time off, holiday pay, licensure supervision [paying for staff member licensure training]," he says. "And effective the end of this month, our health insurance and life insurance policies will be canceled. ..."The clients we serve now have a better safety net than our employees."
Today, they're informing us, they face imminent closure, which they claim is a direct result of the new Medicaid system. Read their press release after the jump.
Monday, March 26, 2012
The Advocate reports on mental health bed shortage in Baton Rouge
Posted by Charles Maldonado on Mon, Mar 26, 2012 at 12:49 PM
In our recent cover story on the mental health crisis in New Orleans, we spoke to Interim LSU Hospital's emergency director Dr. Peter DeBlieux, who said that the closure of a number of emergency beds as a result of LSU budget cuts:
"As we're having this conversation, I am down to 15 [emergency mental health beds]," DeBlieux says. "You know this is a misnomer. I've got a room with six chairs and I call them beds. So, just so that we're talking about the same thing, I have nine true beds, like you could sleep in them beds. And that's what I have right now. And that's what I will have going forward."What the cuts amount to, DeBlieux believes, is a loss of the city's safety net. ILH is the only inpatient public mental health provider in the metropolitan area, serving a population of more than 1 million people.
Today, The Advocate reports on similar problems in Baton Rouge, where the Earl K. Long Medical Center has lost 10 of its 20 emergency mental health beds :
The bed closures at the Mental Health Emergency Room Extension, or MHERE, come at a time of increased need as the number of those with behavioral health problems continue to climb, said Jan Kasofsky, executive director of the Capital Area Human Services District, called CAHSD.“We are seeing so many more people in crisis now than ever before. More people have lost insurance, are having emotional difficulties, anxiety with loss of jobs, the recession and how to handle their bills,” she said. “There’s a demand for psychiatric services.”
Hospital and mental health officials report patients with acute mental health problems are being delivered by family, police and others to hospital emergency rooms because of the drawback of facilities designed to specifically address mental health emergencies. The result is much longer waits for patients who need medical care at hospital emergency rooms, known as ERs.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Mitt, Bath and Beyond
Posted by Kevin Allman on Thu, Mar 22, 2012 at 10:46 AM
- MATT BORS
- From the cartoon "Awkward Voter Encounters With Mitt Romney."
For Romney fans, this will be a great chance to get a close-up look at the candidate; the Clearview Rooms are two modest meeting spaces that are normally the home of baby and bridal shows.
"Boasting an elegant feel with over 3,000 square feet in two meeting rooms,"
The rally is is scheduled to start at 9 a.m and is open to the public. Under the cut: A list of Louisiana politicos who are supporting or who have endorsed Romney, according to the campaign.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Pole dancing championship Saturday in New Orleans
Posted by Kandace Graves on Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 1:42 PM
It’s not what you think, exactly. This event is the Southern Regional Pole Dance Fitness Championships with competitors that include beauty queens and others who have adopted pole dancing as a fitness regimen. It’s a trend that is gaining traction, and organizers say there is a movement to make pole dancing an Olympic sport.
The event starts at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 24, at the Fine Arts Center (1733 Constantinople St.). In addition to the competition, vendors will display fitness-related wares. It is open to the public, and tickets are $25-$50 (other packages are available that include food and drinks). For ticket information, go here.
Competitors include 2011 Miss Georgia, Von Brianna, 2011 Miss Texas Jennifer Huff, 2010 Miss Georgia Nicki Shaw, 2011 Miss South Carolina Karri Mae Telford and 2011 Miss North Carolina Sabrina Woods. Matthew Sabella, a personal trainer at New Orleans Athletic Club, is among five judges.


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