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Beginning
February 2003, Spokane Public Radio launches a series exploring
children’s health and health care in the Inland Northwest. Growing
Up Healthy is a partnership with The Pacific Northwest Inlander
and the Spokane Regional Health District, funded in part by a grant
from Sound Partners.
Statistics indicate that there are significant shortcomings in children’s
health throughout Eastern Washington. Among the topics explored
during the series are the effects of poverty on proper health care,
and Spokane’s unusually high number of injuries and suicides due
to mental health problems.
The Growing Up Healthy partners plan to get parents, kids, health
care professionals, and community leaders involved in improving
the state of health care for children. Each month will focus on
a different age group and some of the unique problems they face,
starting with infant and toddler care.
Spokane Public Radio will produce regular news reports exploring
the issues under discussion, along with commentaries, portraits,
and profiles of children, parents, and health care professionals.
KPBX and KSFC will also produce several live call-in programs. Recordings
of all material produced will be distributed to health centers throughout
the region and archived online.
The Inlander will provide similar coverage of the topic each week,
and will publish a final report of children’s health and health
care problems that can be better addressed within the community.
Listeners and readers are invited to join in the live roundtable
discussion hosted by the Health District at the end of the project.
Featuring political and community leaders, the discussion will draw
further attention, and seek response, for some of the region’s most
pressing health concerns.
Sound Partners, the organization that provided the grant, is a program
of the Benton Foundation, and is supported by The Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation.
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