Author: Natasha Takyi-Micah (Natasha Takyi-Micah)

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Impact of the state budget on older adults and direct care workers
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Impact of the state budget on older adults and direct care workers

Now that fiscal year 2024-25 is underway, state departments are anticipating the funding commitments laid out in the state budget. Much of that funding will help Ohioans that need assistance in health, food, housing, etc. Agency allocations in the health and human services sector will be especially helpful for special populations like older adults and...

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Weathering ages and harms people of color

Activists like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. worked tirelessly to ensure marginalized individuals obtain civil rights but are often gone too soon to realize the impact they have made in society. Dr. King was assassinated at 39 years old, but when pathologists completed his autopsy, they reported that his heart looked like one of a...

Governor DeWine supports local bans on flavored tobacco products in the state budget
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Governor DeWine supports local bans on flavored tobacco products in the state budget

On July 4, 2023, Governor Mike DeWine vetoed numerous provisions from the state budget, including the preemptive language that would prevent local regulation on tobacco and alternative nicotine products. Originally, the Ohio Senate included the preemptive language about tobacco regulation and retail licensing in its version of the state budget along with other plans to...

Programs impacted by the House-passed budget (HB33) for older adults and people with disabilities
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Programs impacted by the House-passed budget (HB33) for older adults and people with disabilities

On April 26, 2023, the Ohio House of Representatives passed its version of the state budget, known as House Bill (HB) 33. The legislative language for HB33 is over 5000 pages long, but there are two documents prepared by the Legislative Service Commission which may be helpful to use when viewing changes to the programs:...

World Maternal Mental Health Day is May 3: resources to celebrate
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World Maternal Mental Health Day is May 3: resources to celebrate

You may have heard of awareness markers for mental health such as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, but did you know there is a World Maternal Mental Health Day? A day to raise awareness, change attitudes to reduce stigma, and influence policies about maternal mental health, World Maternal Mental Health Day takes place on May 3,...

Origins of self-care and why activists and advocates need to practice it
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Origins of self-care and why activists and advocates need to practice it

We live in a highly stressed society in the United States. According to a survey conducted by The Harris Poll, adults mainly cited violence and crime (75 percent), inflation (83 percent) and the political climate (66 percent) as major sources of stress. Another significant source of stress is the current racial climate (62 percent).  This...

New and existing home and community-based services initiatives proposed by the Ohio Department of Aging during the state budget season
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New and existing home and community-based services initiatives proposed by the Ohio Department of Aging during the state budget season

On February 23, 2023, Director Ursel J. McElroy of the Ohio Department of Aging (ODA) testified her department’s state budget requests. Coincidentally, the Ohio Legislative Service Commission released ODA’s redbook to the public on the same day. During her testimony, Director McElroy stated that Ohio is now the sixth state with the largest population of...

nicotine menthol and melanin
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Lung Cancer Awareness Month: Nicotine, Menthol, and Melanin

Lung Cancer Awareness Month ended in November reminding us how many people are still affected by the disease as it continues to impact marginalized populations, most notably African Americans. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, the death rate of lung cancer for African American men was 55.4...