An exciting turn of the page for The St. Louis American’s award-winning Your Health Matters section begins with this issue. The long-time health special section insert published twice a month expands to a weekly section.
In response to the persistent health disparities among the American’s prime target audience, health coverage has been a priority in The St. Louis American for more than 20 years. The American will ramp up its health care disparities as well as feature positive outcomes in our community. This incremental coverage is enabled by the support of our funding partner Missouri Foundation for Health. Your Health Matters will now be a regular weekly section of the newspaper, and on stlamerican.com.
Health and wellness affects everything in your life. Individual and community health and wellness are so important that we want to continue to make the related issues that affect health and well-being of individuals, children and families as a priority.
Target topics will include obesity and efforts to reduce obesity; expanding health insurance coverage; healthy schools; efforts to reduce and eliminate smoking; oral health and initiatives to increase the healthy growth and development of infants and children. Additionally, these specific issues and barriers that indirectly affect well-being, such as housing, transportation and employment barriers, as well as efforts to reduce and eliminate these barriers, will find space in Your Health Matters.
Rather than focus on events and health awareness months, Your Health Matters will look at ongoing efforts in the health care partner community to improve the quality of life for those who live and work in St. Louis and Missouri.
You will continue to hear from experts you have come to depend on over the years. This includes Your Family Doctor, St. Louis American Health Accuracy Editor and SLUCare physician Denise Hooks Anderson, M.D., as well as other doctors who champion wellness and are working tirelessly to eliminate health disparities among minority populations. Moreover, I will talk to topic experts and to individuals who are taking charge of their own health and helping to create healthier homes and external environments for their families and communities. We will be sharing their stories with you.
We would love to hear about your experiences in these areas, and others. How did you achieve success? Â What works and what does not for you? If you have some great examples, share them with us. They are always welcome, as well as are your suggestions about health and wellness related coverage that you would like to read. Â Email us at YourHealthMatters@stlamerican.com.
