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Social isolation arising from COVID-19 has sparked significant mental health issues, resulting in a jump from 1 in 10 adults reporting anxiety or depressive disorder symptoms before the pandemic to 1 in 3 adults more recently. But new research published today in JAMA Psychiatry shows that loneliness, depression, anxiety and overall mental health among older people can be improved through an empathy-focused telephone program.
Known as “Sunshine Calls,” the four-week program was conducted as a randomized controlled trial of 240 mostly homebound, older adults. Lay callers engaged in telephone conversations with program participants; about half lived alone, and all reported having at least one chronic health condition. Compared with those who didn’t receive calls, recipients reported an average improvement of more than 1 point out of a 7-point standard scale in their feelings of loneliness, equaling a 16% difference. The number of adults who were at least mildly anxious at
Food assistance still needed as Austin recovers from storm fox7austin.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from fox7austin.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
To Mierella Castillo, Nelson Toala is more than just her dad. He’s her hero.
She said that without him, she wouldn’t be who she is today. He made sacrifices for her so that she could succeed, and that she will never forget.
Castillo first came to the United States in 2003 accompanied by Toala with a goal of attending radiology school. Toala had been a pharmacist in Ecuador, but he gave up that job to help his daughter.
From Ecuador, the two moved to Lubbock on the recommendation of a family friend. He waited for her to get settled and then returned to Ecuador about four months later.
3 Austin charities part of famed philanthropist s $4 billion endowment MacKenzie Scott has donated billions to U.S. charities this year, including Meals on Wheels of Central Texas. Author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott (many know her as the former wife of Amazon CEO and billionaire Jeff Bezos) has donated more than $4 billion to charities across the nation including in Austin and Central Texas. In a post on Medium, Scott notes that she and her advisers have disbursed some $4,158,500,000 in gifts to 384 organizations across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. over the last four months. This is in effort to “accelerate my 2020 giving through immediate support to people suffering the economic effects of the crisis,” Scott writes.
Mackenzie Scott gifts historic $50 million to Houston-area university
Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images Prairie View A&M will receive $50 million.
Photo courtesy of Prairie View A&M Historically Black universities have traditionally been overshadowed and underfunded compared to their non-Black collegiate counterparts. But now, a major public figure’s game-changing gift has helped level the playing field for a beloved Houston-area school. Noted author and philanthropist
MacKenzie Scott (many know her as the former wife of Amazon CEO and billionaire Jeff Bezos) has donated a massive $50 million to
Prairie View A&M University, the institution announced on December 15. The gift is the largest one-time endowment in the school’s 144-year history.