Plan Ahead for Yellow Fever Vaccine Shortages
After manufacturing problems led to a yellow fever vaccine shortage, the number of clinics offering the vaccine plunged from 4,000 to 250. RiverStone Health is the only place in Montana that can administer the yellow fever vaccine, which makes it critical for travelers to plan ahead.
Medicine and Other Strategies Help Manage Chronic Pain
Managing chronic pain usually focuses on alleviating pain and increasing function, as Dr. Alexander Nutt, a resident physician with the Montana Family Medicine Residency at RiverStone Health, points out in this Billings Gazette column.
Tobacco Can Affect Pregnancy
In this Billings Gazette column, Eden Sowards, our Tobacco Prevention Health Specialist, tells why pregnancy and smoking don’t mix. Because tobacco use can harm both mother and unborn child, pregnant women can get special help quitting from the Montana Tobacco Quit Line.
Keep Children’s Vaccinations On Schedule
Immunization can protect infants from 14 serious childhood diseases before age 2. Keeping your child’s vaccinations current provides the best possible protection, as this Billings Gazette by Karmen Hammermeister points out.
HPV Vaccine Protects Against Cancer
Cervical cancer is almost always caused by the human papillomavirus, commonly called HPV. Only females can get cervical cancer, but both males and females can get HPV and spread it to others. In this Billings Gazette column, Shawna Coleman, a Health Prevention Specialist, offers even more reasons why all youngsters should get the HPV vaccine.
Let Others Know Your End-of-Life Wishes
You can’t predict what the future holds, but you can think about your values, your beliefs and what’s important to you, according to Linda Roers, a geriatric educator at RiverStone Health. Find out more about advance planning, which lets others know how you would like to be cared for at the end of your life.
Making a Difference During Public Health Week
Our Vice President of Public Health Services shares how you can make a difference in the health of your community.
Cancer Screening Can Save Lives
Only 62 percent of Montanans are up to date on their screenings for colorectal cancer. In an effort to increase screening rates and save lives, each patient over age 50 at RiverStone Health Clinic — no matter their insurance status or ability to pay — is offered a free FIT test during appointments. The yearly FIT test is a take-home screening test for colorectal cancer.
Resolving Workplace Conflicts
Understanding the causes of conflict, and learning how to communicate more effectively to resolve differences, can improve your overall job satisfaction. John Wessell, with our Behavioral Health Team, offers tips in this Billings Gazette column.
Curb the Suicide Crisis
More than 60 percent of Montana suicides are completed using firearms. The Suicide Prevention Coalition of Yellowstone Valley has embraced a campaign to encourage voluntary secure storage of firearms. You can find out more about the campaign, which is backed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, in this column written by Claire Oakley, our Director of Population Health Services.
