This piece was originally published in Newsweek and can be found here. Children ages 5 to 11 will soon be getting vaccinated against COVID-19. As we celebrate that milestone, we must also acknowledge our collective blindness to the problem of needle pain. Our health care system does not prioritize simple accommodations that research shows are…
Category: Uncategorized
We need empathy to address needle phobia and reduce vaccine hesitancy
Let’s face it, just like people try to avoid getting stung by wasps, they also avoid getting shots. A large-scale study by the University of Oxford found that twenty-six percent of adults screened positive for injection phobia, with those in this group twice as likely to report hesitancy to get the Covid-19 vaccine. Rates of needle…
When the boys at school hit your son, what shield should he make?
“I need to make a shield to bring to school,” my 5-year-old son says in a matter-of-fact way as he drifts off to sleep at the end of a long weekend. “Why?” his dad asks. “The boys at school hit me, and I need to find a way to protect myself. I keep telling them…
Insomnia, my enemy
Sleep is one of life’s ultimate paradoxes. For those who have never had sleep problems, sleep is quite literally a dream. It arrives effortlessly, recharges the body, and replenishes the mind. After eight hours of sweet slumber, the mind can go from weary and haggard to refreshed and ready to dominate a new day. And…