With the new school year and flu season soon to arrive, caregivers are looking for ways to support their children for positive immunization experiences. As child life specialists, it is our job to help children and families cope with scary, painful and potentially traumatic experiences—especially at the hospital or clinic.
There are many ways that families can partner with the medical team to assist with anxiety about pokes. (more…)
As summer wanes and signs of fall arrive, my attention turns to how I can honor the bounty of summer’s harvest and preserve it for the winter months ahead.
I did not grow up with this tradition, though I vaguely recall an awareness that some people in rural Tennessee, where I was born, spent time canning, preserving and “putting up” food for the winter. I have chosen to learn these skills in recent years as a way to align my family’s lifestyle with our values of respect for the earth, reducing food waste (and packaging and food costs), having more connection to our food and eating as locally as possible for as much of the year as possible. (more…)
Going back to school after summer break can be a very difficult time for teens. Even though they’ve done this many times before, each new school year can bring new anxiety and other challenges for your teen. As their parent, you play a key role in supporting them through the transition to ensure they have the best year possible. Here are some helpful tips to consider as you plan for back-to-school season: (more…)
This fall, Hennepin Healthcare is offering a Group Medical Visit (GMV) for people who suffer from chronic headaches: “Easing Pain Holistically: Headaches.”
This eight-week series of visits will be a potentially life-changing experience for people who experience chronic headaches and the other symptoms that may come with them (fatigue, difficulty concentrating, sleep disturbances, etc). The series will focus on providing experiences, skills, and tools to retrain the nervous system, reduce inflammation, and improve pain and mobility. Each weekly visit will occur with a group of patients, a physician, and various integrative health instructors and movement specialists. (more…)
Two weeks ago, two members of our Hennepin Healthcare team – Lindsey King and her mother Laura King (shown 1st and 2nd above along with Governor Evers, Brian and Patty Brunette and Lindsey’s son Matthew Marzolf) —took a walk with the governor of Wisconsin across sacred land that had been torn from their ancestors and that Lindsey’s great-grandfather spent his life fighting to reclaim. It was the end of a long journey, more than 100 years in the making, to return sacred burial grounds to the Anishinaabe people. (more…)
When Joe Skinner takes a break from his job as a surgery aide at Hennepin Healthcare, he’s often headed to a coastal city—but not for a restful beach vacation. Instead he’s flying straight toward a hurricane. (more…)
Being a teenager can be very challenging – for both the teen and the parent. Parenting your teenager might feel easy at times and extremely difficult at others. Though it may feel impossible, the way you raise your teen plays a key role in the way they live their life as an adult and the relationship they have with you. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you navigate parenting your teen. (more…)
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many felt disconnected from family, friends, and the activities that brought them joy. For Michelle Jones, this was the launchpad to hone a new skill and find her voice during a troubling time.
Michelle, who recently celebrated eight years at Hennepin Healthcare, is a Senior Revenue Cycle Management Representative. Her work includes billing follow up and denials for government-based programs. Although she has spent much of her career in healthcare, Michelle has always pursued creative hobbies. Before the pandemic, this included working as a makeup artist. (more…)
