The Checkup: How Fact Checking Fights Misinformation
Chicago Health and Caregiving have always prioritized fact checking. Our writers appreciate the verification, and our sources share that they do too. And today, with so much health mis- and disinformation flying around, fact checking is absolutely crucial. Here’s a look behind-the-scenes at our process, and discussion around why we value fact checking and what […]
The Checkup: Caregiver Burnout
Prolonged stress from caregiving can show up in a variety of ways: as headaches, body aches, insomnia, moodiness. It can lead to a lack of interest in activities you previously enjoyed, and create feelings of loneliness and isolation. About 63 million Americans are currently serving as family caregivers, which equates to about 1 in […]
The Checkup: The Composting Hospital
Episode 4 – The Composting Hospital How does composting impact human health? Well, it cuts methane emissions — a greenhouse gas — from landfills. And it improves soil health, which improves the health of the food we grow in that soil. Composting also saves water because using compost in agriculture helps the soil retain more […]
The Checkup: A Chicago Health Podcast
Here, we’ll go in-depth with Chicago-area medical pros and community leaders you can trust. Hear directly from the doctors, researchers, and healthcare workers who make Chicago a medical leader, in conversation with Chicago Health’s editorial team. You’ll hear from cardiologists on longevity, researchers on news overload, and our own editors and journalists on why we […]
Recipe for Diabetic Health
Centering education in diabetes care Fact checked by Shannon Sparks If left untreated, diabetes can lead to serious complications, including heart disease, vision loss, kidney disease, nerve damage, and stroke. That’s a harsh reality for the 1 in 10 Americans — nearly 38 million people — who have diabetes. But those complications don’t happen overnight. […]
How to Stay Calm in a Stressful News Cycle
Fact checked by Derick Wilder It’s easy to get sucked into the news cycle’s doom and gloom. There’s no shortage of strife: bird flu, upheaval at the major health agencies, measles outbreaks. Just to name a few. There’s also no limit on how we can access the news: newspapers, TV, magazines, podcasts, and the endless […]
How to Cut Through the Noise
Where to turn for sound health information Fact checked by Jim Lacy If you think it’s harder these days to discern which information to use to make health decisions, you may be right. Normally, there is alignment between the federal health agencies — such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institutes […]
Our Top 10 Stories of 2024
One of the best things about the new year is reviewing our most-read articles from the previous year. This exercise gives us an opportunity to find out what our readers most wanted to read, to remind ourselves of the health events that unfolded, and to review our breadth of coverage and our writers’ talents. […]
How to Talk About Guns
Tough discussions with friends and family around gun safety Fact checked by Shannon Sparks When Bob Kristie’s daughter, Nell, would go to a friend’s house for a play date, there were three things he would always ask the other parent. “I’d say, ‘Let me see your smoke detectors, your carbon monoxide detectors, and where […]
Pedal to the Metal
Comparing the health benefits of standard bikes and e-bikes Fact checked by Derick Wilder Whether it’s older adults, work commuters, or kids behind the handlebars, there’s no doubt that e-bikes have taken the country by storm. Between 2019 and 2022, the e-bike market in the United States grew by 269%; as of 2023, the […]
Read Our 2023 Award-Winning Stories
Caregiving and Chicago Health magazines’ editorial and design teams once again received many honors for their outstanding work. This isn’t just a bragging point. To us, this type of recognition fortifies our efforts to tell engaging, impactful stories that reflect our communities. Congratulations to all, and please enjoy reading through our honored entries. Oh, […]
To Vaccinate or Not?
Researcher Caitlin Fields explores how people decide whether to get the Covid-19 vaccine. When the Covid-19 vaccine first became available, Caitlin Fields was puzzled. After a series of lockdowns, social distancing and masking, and hundreds of thousands of deaths from Covid, she struggled to understand why there was so much hesitancy and debate about getting […]