Chronic Illness, Partnership Profiles

KGNU-FM in Boulder, CO worked together with Hospice of Boulder County educated the community about end-of-life care issues by discussing how to understand and accept death.

Mini-dramas, interviews, special events, and 60-second programs are all part of the Los Años Dorados (The Golden Years) initiative to provide health care information to Spanish-speaking seniors and their caregivers from KBBF and the Sonoma County Area Agency on Aging.

Discover how WNPR-FM Connecticut Public Radio in Hartford, CT and the Yale University School of Nursing collaborated on a series of news features that explored the quality of life for elderly people with chronic illness and their families.

Read about KLRE/KUAR in Little Rock, AR, and its partnership with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Their project began with a 13-week radio series on pertinent end-of-life issues and ended with a live call-in show.

The rate of diabetes among African Americans in Georgia is staggering. To educate African Americans about the disease and to help them change their lifestyles, WCLK and the Georgia Dept. of Community Health, Office of Minority Health produced Lifeline to Health: Managing Diabetes Among African Americans a series of 5-minute radio vignettes and a monthly news and call-in program. They also created an educational workshop package and trained health educators in its use.

Learn how WKMS-FM in Murray, KY and the Murray State University Department of Nursing produced a documentary on a range of topics regarding end-of-life issues.

Learn how Indiana Public Radio (WBST-FM) in Muncie, IN and its partner, Center for Gerontology at the Fisher Institute for Wellness at Ball State University, used steering committees to help shape their projects.

WEKU and the Pattie A. Clay Regional Medical Center partnered for Simple Changes: Fighting Chronic Illness in Appalachian Kentucky, a year- long project to improve the quality of care for the chronically ill in the Appalachian counties of Kentucky. Four first-person radio diaries showed how the chronically ill and caregivesr cope day to day. Additional programming included news reports, live call-ins and a documentary. The Medical Center provided screenings and a project Web site offered additional resources and access to all programming.

Learn how WNED-AM in Buffalo, NY and the Center for Hospice & Palliative Care produced an interactive panel discussion with medical, legal and spiritual professionals to address end-of-life issues.

Find out how KVMR-FM in Nevada City, CA and FREED, a disability advocacy group, created programming to educate their local community on the long-term care need of isolated elders in their community.