PhotoLuminations

The misdirected debate on reforming health care gets bogged down on how much it will cost but overlooks the big picture. We should focus on the big pieces that waste the most--chronic diseases. This is where health reform can improve lives and save big money. Here's how.

Do you feel like the "man in the iron mask," a prisoner of your CPAP mask? Many people living with sleep apnea, regardless of the success of their treatment, wish they could be rid of the mask.

We need electronic health records, but we need to go beyond replacing traditional paper records.

I record memories and relationships, because that is what a good photographic portrait of an elder provides--affordably.

What are the prospects that electronic health records will improve care in chronic conditions such as diabetes or sleep apnea?

The California Center for Connected Health (CCCH) seeks to use telemedicine to provide "affordable, quality health care...in remote, rural, and underserved urban areas."

In healthcare, according to Tom Ferguson, a pioneer of patient Internet use, there are two complementary networks of connections: the medical, professional network and the patient network. A third network is needed--a network of health consumers working with healthcare providers.

Chronic conditions tend to travel together; the same person can have two or more conditions. How to manage them together?

You want to achieve wellness, a cure, or to manage a health condition.

Connected health--the use of technology to connect people to information, advice, and support-- can help consumers achieve wellness, and patients achieve better health.

What are the prospects today for enabling people living with a chronic health problem (like sleep apnea, COPD, or diabetes) to be empowered to manage their own health?

Economic meltdown? The government rushes to bail out investment banks, banking instututions, and investors in mortgages. What about people, for example elders and artists? Here are some thoughts about a new New Deal.

My appreciation of Salem MA has been confirmed. Salem's historic downtown has been recognized as one of the 10 best neighborhoods

What do you want to read in this newsletter? I welcome your ideas.

News about sleep apnea is welcome because it can encourage more people to seek treatment. Driving the news are reports of research that shows how dangerous sleep apnea really is, and findings that treatment does help. In addition, sleep can now be studied at home in addition to sleep centers, opening up the potential for treating many more people.

Here's an idea for action that can save you a lot of grief later in the event you lose your CPAP, or it is broken, or if you have any treatment problems.

I get along pretty well with most people. And most people love me because I bark.

A Path to Another Country Psychologists say that moving, divorce, and the death of a loved one are three of the most difficult life transitions. Have they measured the difficulty of moving to that other country, the land of the aged?

The Canaani Way To love, to serve, to protect, to hunt, to play

It is amazing to see the young male cat, Chunky, and the older Canaani female dog, Keren, living in harmony. Keren and Chunky have become real pals. Might this example of interspecies communication be a model for how humans of different cultures or identities could relate to each other?

Two Canaans with feisty reputations met and got along like normal Canaan dogs.

What is photography? A great question to fill many idle hours! You tell me you that you, as a new and enthusiastic photographer, are confused.