Health
Paid to Sleep: NY Cracks Down on Napping Health Workers
MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — By day, Tanya Lemon was a 35-year-old single mother who took care of her four children. By night, she worked 12-hour shifts as a nurse at a state group home in suburban Syracuse, paid to watch over vulnerable residents as they slept.
That’s also when she got her own sleep, prosecutors say — a routine that led to felony charges when Dennis Dattalo, a 25-year-old disabled man who couldn’t speak, ran low on oxygen while on her watch and later died.
The case has brought renewed attention in New York to the problem of fatigue among health care workers — and in particular highlights the low-paid nurses, aides and others who care for vulnerable people at night, when sleeping can all too often become part of the job.
Nurse Barbara Parsons worked with Lemon at the Briarwood Lane home in DeWitt, making $34,000 a year. Some staff, she said, signed up for extra shifts to get overtime pay and would shave a half-hour off second shifts to avoid rules limiting work hours. Sleeping on night shifts was common knowledge.
“She wasn’t the only one,” Parsons said. “Everybody knew it.”
While health workers who willfully sleep on the job — as opposed to nodding off or making errors because of fatigue — are more often disciplined or terminated, Lemon’s case last spring fired up prosecutors and invigorated a push by regulators in New York.
New York’s Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs, established in mid-2013 with oversight of six state agencies responsible for more than a million people in direct state care or state-funded nonprofits, identified 458 reports alleging abuse or neglect from its first year that cited sleeping on the job. An additional 64 were classified as “significant incidents,” with potential to harm someone’s health, safety or welfare.
The center in December issued guidance to agencies, caregivers and families statewide in the effort to detect and deter the problem.
Statistics on the number of prosecutions of sleeping health workers are scant; several states contacted by The Associated Press said they don’t track such cases. But judging by the number of cases of sleeping in New York and Ohio, the problem is fairly widespread.
In Ohio Last year, the Department of Developmental Disabilities substantiated 88 instances in which paid caregivers slept on the job. Many happened on overnight shifts, when individuals in their care were asleep. No harm came about, and no law enforcement action was taken.
New York’s guidance on the fatigue problem cited five specific cases of developmentally disabled, mentally ill, drug-addicted and juvenile clients in state homes, all considered vulnerable and needing supervision. One had an unattended seizure. Another, with a tendency to choke, was eating alone at night. Others helped themselves to unlocked medications. One ran away. Six were in a vehicle when their caregiver fell asleep and crashed.
Patricia Gunning, the special prosecutor for New York’s Justice Center for disabled people, led the case against Lemon. She draws a sharp distinction between fatigue or nodding off and deliberate sleeping.
“Willful sleeping on the job is something that rises to criminal conduct,” Gunning said. Her office is investigating another possible criminal case. If they can prove supervisors knew about sleeping and looked the other way, at the Briarwood Lane home or any others, they’ll also be prosecuted, she said.
According to authorities, Lemon was supposed to check on Dattalo every two hours to ensure he was getting enough supplemental oxygen from a mask and to keep his airway clear. For eight hours he wasn’t checked, suffered brain damage from oxygen deprivation and was taken to a hospital, where he died 14 days later.
Lemon pleaded guilty to felony endangerment of a disabled person, was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years’ probation, lost her nursing license, and is barred from working with individuals New York considers vulnerable.
Advocates for health workers like Lemon note that they work a tough job at a trying schedule for low pay, and have called for raises for what they say is important and underappreciated work caring for people who can’t care for themselves.
Lemon’s attorney, Jeffrey DeRoberts, said she has taken responsibility and is returning to school to learn to drive a truck, and he also noted case information indicated napping on overnight shifts was “not unusual” at Briarwood Lane.
“She was doing the best she could,” he said.
___
Online:
Report from New York’s Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs:
http://on.ny.gov/1F9rs4H
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Advertorial
When children struggle emotionally, it can affect every part of their lives — at home, in school, with friends, and even their physical health. In many Black families, we’re taught to be strong and push through. But our kids don’t have to struggle alone. Medi-Cal provides mental health care for children and youth, with no referral or diagnosis required.
Through California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM), the state is transforming how care is delivered. Services are now easier to access and better connected across mental health, physical health, and family support systems. CalAIM brings care into schools, homes, and communities, removing barriers and helping children get support early, before challenges escalate.
Help is Available, and it’s Covered
Under Medi-Cal, every child and teen under age 19 has the right to mental health care. This includes screenings, therapy, medication support, crisis stabilization, and help coordinating services. Parents, caregivers, and children age 12 or older can request a screening at any time, with no diagnosis or referral required.
Medi-Cal’s Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Program
For children and youth with more serious mental health needs, including those in foster care or involved in the justice system, Medi-Cal offers expanded support, including:
- Family-centered and community-based therapy to address trauma, behavior challenges, or system involvement.
- Wraparound care teams that help keep children safely at home or with relatives.
- Activity funds that support healing through sports, art, music, and therapeutic camps.
- Initial joint behavioral health visits, where a mental health provider and child welfare worker meet with the family early in a case.
- Child welfare liaisons in Medi-Cal health plans who help caregivers and social workers get services for children faster
Keeping Kids Safe from Opioids and Harmful Drugs
DHCS is also working to keep young people safe as California faces rising risks from opioids and counterfeit pills. Programs like Elevate Youth California and Friday Night Live give teens mentorship, leadership opportunities, and positive outlets that strengthen mental well-being.
Through the California Youth Opioid Response, families can learn how to avoid dangerous substances and get treatment when needed. Song for Charlie provides parents and teens with facts and tools to talk honestly about mental health and counterfeit pills.
DHCS also supports groups like Young People in Recovery, which helps youth build skills for long-term healing, and the Youth Peer Mentor Program, which trains teens with lived experience to support others. These efforts are part of California’s strategy to protect young people, prevent overdoses, and help them make healthier choices.
Support for Parents and Caregivers
Children thrive when their caregivers are supported. Through CalAIM’s vision of whole-person care, Medi-Cal now covers dyadic services, visits where a child and caregiver meet together with a provider to strengthen bonding, manage stress, and address behavior challenges.
These visits may include screening the caregiver for depression or anxiety and connecting them to food, housing, or other health-related social needs, aligning with CalAIM’s Community Supports framework. Notably, only the child must be enrolled in Medi-Cal to receive dyadic care.
Family therapy is also covered and can take place in clinics, schools, homes, or via telehealth, reflecting CalAIM’s commitment to flexible, community-based care delivery.
Additionally, BrightLife Kids offers free tools, resources, and virtual coaching for caregivers and children ages 0–12. Families can sign up online or through the BrightLife Kids app. No insurance, diagnosis, or referral is required.
For teens and young adults ages 13–25, California offers Soluna, a free mental health app where young people can chat with coaches, learn coping skills, journal, or join supportive community circles. Soluna is free, confidential, available in app stores, and does not require insurance.
CalHOPE also provides free emotional support to all Californians through a 24/7 support line at (833) 317-HOPE (4673), online chat, and culturally responsive resources.
Support at School — Where Kids Already Are
Schools are often the first place where emotional stress is noticed. Through the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI), public schools, community colleges, and universities can offer therapy, counseling, crisis support, and referrals at no cost to families.
Services are available during school breaks and delivered on campus, by phone or video, or at community sites. There are no copayments, deductibles, or bills.
Medi-Cal Still Covers Everyday Care
Medi-Cal continues to cover everyday mental health care, including therapy for stress, anxiety, depression, or trauma; medication support; crisis stabilization; hospital care when needed; and referrals to community programs through county mental health plans and Medi-Cal health plans.
How to Get Help
- Talk to your child’s teacher, school counselor, or doctor.
- In Alameda County call 510-272-3663 or the toll-free number 1-800-698-1118 and in San Francisco call 855-355-5757 to contact your county mental health plan to request an assessment or services.
- If your child is not enrolled in Medi-Cal, you can apply at com or my.medi-cal.ca.gov.
- In a mental health emergency, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Every child deserves to grow up healthy and supported. Medi-Cal is working to transform care so it’s accessible, equitable, and responsive to the needs of every family.
Activism
Essay: Intentional Self Care and Community Connections Can Improve Our Wellbeing
At the deepest and also most expansive level of reality, we are all part of the same being, our bodies made from the minerals of the earth, our spirits infused by the spiritual breath that animates the universe. Willingness to move more deeply into fear and pain is the first step toward moving into a larger consciousness. Willingness to move beyond the delusion of our separateness can show us new ways of working and living together.
By Dr. Lorraine Bonner, Special to California Black Media Partners
I went to a medical school that was steeped in the principles of classical Western medicine. However, I also learned mindfulness meditation during that time, which opened me to the multifaceted relationship between illnesses and the interconnecting environmental, mental and emotional realities that can impact an individual’s health.
Therefore, when I began to practice medicine, I also pursued training in hypnosis, relaxation techniques, meditation, and guided imagery, to bring a mind-body focus to my work in medical care and prevention.
The people I saw in my practice had a mix of problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and a variety of pain issues. I taught almost everyone relaxation breathing and made some general relaxation tapes. To anyone willing, I offered guided imagery.
“My work embraced an approach to wellness I call “Liberatory Health” — one that not only addresses the treatment and management of disease symptoms but also seeks to dismantle the conditions that make people sick in the first place.”
From my perspective, illness is only the outermost manifestation of our efforts to cope, often fueled by addictions such as sugar, tobacco, or alcohol, shackled by an individualistic cult belief that we have only ourselves to blame for our suffering.
At the deepest and also most expansive level of reality, we are all part of the same being, our bodies made from the minerals of the earth, our spirits infused by the spiritual breath that animates the universe. Willingness to move more deeply into fear and pain is the first step toward moving into a larger consciousness. Willingness to move beyond the delusion of our separateness can show us new ways of working and living together.
To put these ideas into practical form, I would quote the immortal Mr. Rogers: “Find the helpers.” There are already people in every community working for liberation. Some of them are running for office, others are giving food to those who need it. Some are volunteering in schools, libraries or hospitals. Some are studying liberation movements, or are working in urban or community gardens, or learning to practice restorative and transformative justice, or creating liberation art, music, dance, theater or writing. Some are mentoring high schoolers or apprenticing young people in a trade. There are many places where compassionate humans are finding other humans and working together for a better world.
A more compassionate world is possible, one in which we will all enjoy better health. Creating it will make us healthier, too.
In community, we are strong. Recognizing denial and overcoming the fragmenting effects of spiritual disorder offer us a path to liberation and true health.
Good health and well-being are the collective rights of all people!
About the Author
Dr. Lorraine Bonner is a retired physician. She is also a sculptor who works in clay, exploring issues of trust, trustworthiness and exploitation, as well as visions of a better world.
Activism
Prescribing Prevention: Doctors Turn to Lifestyle, Herbs and Veggies to Protect Against Chronic Illness in Black Californians
By Charlene Muhammad, California Black Media
Leibo Glover received his diabetes diagnosis at the same time he found out he needed a below-the-knee amputation.
“Minor,” thought the 63-year-old.
Glover had been self-medicating a toe injury before seeing the doctor.
But while driving from South Los Angeles to Miami on a family trip, an infection set in.
“I had it but didn’t know,” said Glover. “I was just going to come back to California, but they told me if I had left, I would have come home as a corpse,” Glover told California Black Media (CBM).
A majority of the nearly 3.5 million Californians diagnosed with diabetes have preventable Type 2 diabetes, according to researchers at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
In 2023, diabetes was diagnosed in 1 in 6 adults with the lowest incomes (16.7% at 0–99% of the federal poverty line), compared to 1 in 11 adults with the highest incomes (8.9% at 300% or more of the federal poverty line). Age is a factor, too: more than 1 in 5 older adults age 65 and over (22.3%) had diabetes, about twice the rate of adults age 18–64 (8.6%).
Another study by Health Economics and Evaluation Research (HEER) mapped patients with diabetes in California who had amputations. Researchers found that patients living in low-income ZIP codes were far more likely to have had lower-limb amputations than those in higher-income ZIP codes, essentially identifying amputation “hot spots.”
At the time of Glover’s 2018 diagnosis, he was experiencing housing instability and going through financial hardships. Now, he has more stable housing and he has improved his health through lifestyle changes like eating healthier and getting more sleep.
“If the equipment is right, I can stand on my leg for hours. I can actually run, jump, dance and all of that,” said Glover, who got his diabetes under control, in part, by avoiding carbohydrates and sugars.
As chronic illnesses continue to disproportionately impact Black Californians — often leading to preventable amputations and premature deaths — a growing number of doctors and advocates are expanding their care from just treatment to including prevention. From promoting diet and lifestyle changes to cultivating community farms focused on prevention and wellness like Dr. Bill Releford’s Bloom Ranch in Acton.
Releford, a podiatrist based in Los Angeles started the 250-acre Bloom Ranch in 2023 as part of his strategy for preventive care.
“This is my assignment,” said Releford.
“Bloom Ranch has been a perfect backdrop for me to be creative and to find avant-garde ways to make fresh fruits and vegetables more accessible to food deserts in Los Angeles County,” he stated.
California produces nearly half of the nation’s fruits and vegetables, yet more than 1 in 5 Californians — about 8.8 million people — currently struggle with food insecurity, according to the California Association of Food Banks.
“Studies have shown that 75% of amputations are preventable. And African Americans have the highest amputation rate in the nation,” Releford said.
As such, Releford continued, the mortality rate associated with high-level amputation is 50%, which means “if we had 10 people that all had high level amputations, five of those would be deceased in three years.”
Monday, June 28, 2025. Leibo Glover at his home in Los Angeles, California. The security professional’s leg was amputated below the knee.
Releford’s ranch is the largest Black-owned farm in L.A. County. He plans to partner with UCLA and the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science to develop prescriptive vegetable boxes.
“Certain vegetables and herbs can lower blood pressure naturally, like beets, turnips, dill, basil, garlic and others,” said Releford.
“Hopefully, this will inspire other farmers to take this model and replicate it across other urban areas,” Releford added.
“A lot of studies have shown that gardening has so many health benefits – being in the sun, Vitamin D,” said Releford. “The dirt has a lot of microbes that are good for your immune system. Studies have shown that people who work in the dirt have strong immune systems.”
Gardening can potentially decrease the risk of dementia, enhance cognition, reduce stress, and boost immunity, indicates research by Genoa Barrow of the University of Southern California Center for Health Journalism as part of the 2024 Ethnic Media Collaborative, Healing California.
During a recent picturesque day at Bloom Ranch, families, school children, farmers and members of The Ultimate Book Club 1998, founded by Alina Anderson, sampled and purchased fresh produce while taking photographs.
“This is huge. “All of us have families that could use this information,” said Anderson.
Doctors like Releford, who are committed to tackling the most chronic diseases impacting all their patients utilize peer-to-peer support programs with self-management training led by individuals living with chronic conditions to provide role models and support for patients, according to a recent study by the California Health Care Foundation.
“The unifying feature of these programs is that they seek to build on the strengths, knowledge, and experience that peers can offer,” the report states.
Liz Helms, CEO of the California Chronic Care Coalition, addressed state-backed prevention policy and initiatives.
“It’s in horrible shape. It needs to get so much better, especially in underserved areas, where the Black population has a whole set of different needs,” she said.
Helms, who started advocacy after being denied access to care in the early 1990s, applauded new developments in telehealth. The opportunity to choose between visiting a doctor’s office or placing a phone call makes a difference, especially if there are transportation or distance issues, or if one is too sick, she said.
Fear is one thing people, especially in the Black community, must overcome, emphasized Helms.
“I had to get over my fear of going to the doctor, of not speaking up,” continued Helms, urging patients to “understand the baseline” of their health.
“Don’t let anyone stigmatize you or tell you that you’re not good enough to get care or look down on you. Everyone has a right to good, quality, affordable, timely health care,” said Helms.
To engage Bloom Ranch for preventive care focused on wellbeing and healthy living, call (323) 388-4828 or sign up at Bloomranchofacton.com
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Health
Paid to Sleep: NY Cracks Down on Napping Health Workers
MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — By day, Tanya Lemon was a 35-year-old single mother who took care of her four children. By night, she worked 12-hour shifts as a nurse at a state group home in suburban Syracuse, paid to watch over vulnerable residents as they slept.
That’s also when she got her own sleep, prosecutors say — a routine that led to felony charges when Dennis Dattalo, a 25-year-old disabled man who couldn’t speak, ran low on oxygen while on her watch and later died.
The case has brought renewed attention in New York to the problem of fatigue among health care workers — and in particular highlights the low-paid nurses, aides and others who care for vulnerable people at night, when sleeping can all too often become part of the job.
Nurse Barbara Parsons worked with Lemon at the Briarwood Lane home in DeWitt, making $34,000 a year. Some staff, she said, signed up for extra shifts to get overtime pay and would shave a half-hour off second shifts to avoid rules limiting work hours. Sleeping on night shifts was common knowledge.
“She wasn’t the only one,” Parsons said. “Everybody knew it.”
While health workers who willfully sleep on the job — as opposed to nodding off or making errors because of fatigue — are more often disciplined or terminated, Lemon’s case last spring fired up prosecutors and invigorated a push by regulators in New York.
New York’s Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs, established in mid-2013 with oversight of six state agencies responsible for more than a million people in direct state care or state-funded nonprofits, identified 458 reports alleging abuse or neglect from its first year that cited sleeping on the job. An additional 64 were classified as “significant incidents,” with potential to harm someone’s health, safety or welfare.
The center in December issued guidance to agencies, caregivers and families statewide in the effort to detect and deter the problem.
Statistics on the number of prosecutions of sleeping health workers are scant; several states contacted by The Associated Press said they don’t track such cases. But judging by the number of cases of sleeping in New York and Ohio, the problem is fairly widespread.
In Ohio Last year, the Department of Developmental Disabilities substantiated 88 instances in which paid caregivers slept on the job. Many happened on overnight shifts, when individuals in their care were asleep. No harm came about, and no law enforcement action was taken.
New York’s guidance on the fatigue problem cited five specific cases of developmentally disabled, mentally ill, drug-addicted and juvenile clients in state homes, all considered vulnerable and needing supervision. One had an unattended seizure. Another, with a tendency to choke, was eating alone at night. Others helped themselves to unlocked medications. One ran away. Six were in a vehicle when their caregiver fell asleep and crashed.
Patricia Gunning, the special prosecutor for New York’s Justice Center for disabled people, led the case against Lemon. She draws a sharp distinction between fatigue or nodding off and deliberate sleeping.
“Willful sleeping on the job is something that rises to criminal conduct,” Gunning said. Her office is investigating another possible criminal case. If they can prove supervisors knew about sleeping and looked the other way, at the Briarwood Lane home or any others, they’ll also be prosecuted, she said.
According to authorities, Lemon was supposed to check on Dattalo every two hours to ensure he was getting enough supplemental oxygen from a mask and to keep his airway clear. For eight hours he wasn’t checked, suffered brain damage from oxygen deprivation and was taken to a hospital, where he died 14 days later.
Lemon pleaded guilty to felony endangerment of a disabled person, was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years’ probation, lost her nursing license, and is barred from working with individuals New York considers vulnerable.
Advocates for health workers like Lemon note that they work a tough job at a trying schedule for low pay, and have called for raises for what they say is important and underappreciated work caring for people who can’t care for themselves.
Lemon’s attorney, Jeffrey DeRoberts, said she has taken responsibility and is returning to school to learn to drive a truck, and he also noted case information indicated napping on overnight shifts was “not unusual” at Briarwood Lane.
“She was doing the best she could,” he said.
___
Online:
Report from New York’s Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs:
http://on.ny.gov/1F9rs4H
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Advertorial
When children struggle emotionally, it can affect every part of their lives — at home, in school, with friends, and even their physical health. In many Black families, we’re taught to be strong and push through. But our kids don’t have to struggle alone. Medi-Cal provides mental health care for children and youth, with no referral or diagnosis required.
Through California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM), the state is transforming how care is delivered. Services are now easier to access and better connected across mental health, physical health, and family support systems. CalAIM brings care into schools, homes, and communities, removing barriers and helping children get support early, before challenges escalate.
Help is Available, and it’s Covered
Under Medi-Cal, every child and teen under age 19 has the right to mental health care. This includes screenings, therapy, medication support, crisis stabilization, and help coordinating services. Parents, caregivers, and children age 12 or older can request a screening at any time, with no diagnosis or referral required.
Medi-Cal’s Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Program
For children and youth with more serious mental health needs, including those in foster care or involved in the justice system, Medi-Cal offers expanded support, including:
- Family-centered and community-based therapy to address trauma, behavior challenges, or system involvement.
- Wraparound care teams that help keep children safely at home or with relatives.
- Activity funds that support healing through sports, art, music, and therapeutic camps.
- Initial joint behavioral health visits, where a mental health provider and child welfare worker meet with the family early in a case.
- Child welfare liaisons in Medi-Cal health plans who help caregivers and social workers get services for children faster
Keeping Kids Safe from Opioids and Harmful Drugs
DHCS is also working to keep young people safe as California faces rising risks from opioids and counterfeit pills. Programs like Elevate Youth California and Friday Night Live give teens mentorship, leadership opportunities, and positive outlets that strengthen mental well-being.
Through the California Youth Opioid Response, families can learn how to avoid dangerous substances and get treatment when needed. Song for Charlie provides parents and teens with facts and tools to talk honestly about mental health and counterfeit pills.
DHCS also supports groups like Young People in Recovery, which helps youth build skills for long-term healing, and the Youth Peer Mentor Program, which trains teens with lived experience to support others. These efforts are part of California’s strategy to protect young people, prevent overdoses, and help them make healthier choices.
Support for Parents and Caregivers
Children thrive when their caregivers are supported. Through CalAIM’s vision of whole-person care, Medi-Cal now covers dyadic services, visits where a child and caregiver meet together with a provider to strengthen bonding, manage stress, and address behavior challenges.
These visits may include screening the caregiver for depression or anxiety and connecting them to food, housing, or other health-related social needs, aligning with CalAIM’s Community Supports framework. Notably, only the child must be enrolled in Medi-Cal to receive dyadic care.
Family therapy is also covered and can take place in clinics, schools, homes, or via telehealth, reflecting CalAIM’s commitment to flexible, community-based care delivery.
Additionally, BrightLife Kids offers free tools, resources, and virtual coaching for caregivers and children ages 0–12. Families can sign up online or through the BrightLife Kids app. No insurance, diagnosis, or referral is required.
For teens and young adults ages 13–25, California offers Soluna, a free mental health app where young people can chat with coaches, learn coping skills, journal, or join supportive community circles. Soluna is free, confidential, available in app stores, and does not require insurance.
CalHOPE also provides free emotional support to all Californians through a 24/7 support line at (833) 317-HOPE (4673), online chat, and culturally responsive resources.
Support at School — Where Kids Already Are
Schools are often the first place where emotional stress is noticed. Through the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI), public schools, community colleges, and universities can offer therapy, counseling, crisis support, and referrals at no cost to families.
Services are available during school breaks and delivered on campus, by phone or video, or at community sites. There are no copayments, deductibles, or bills.
Medi-Cal Still Covers Everyday Care
Medi-Cal continues to cover everyday mental health care, including therapy for stress, anxiety, depression, or trauma; medication support; crisis stabilization; hospital care when needed; and referrals to community programs through county mental health plans and Medi-Cal health plans.
How to Get Help
- Talk to your child’s teacher, school counselor, or doctor.
- In Alameda County call 510-272-3663 or the toll-free number 1-800-698-1118 and in San Francisco call 855-355-5757 to contact your county mental health plan to request an assessment or services.
- If your child is not enrolled in Medi-Cal, you can apply at com or my.medi-cal.ca.gov.
- In a mental health emergency, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Every child deserves to grow up healthy and supported. Medi-Cal is working to transform care so it’s accessible, equitable, and responsive to the needs of every family.
Activism
Essay: Intentional Self Care and Community Connections Can Improve Our Wellbeing
At the deepest and also most expansive level of reality, we are all part of the same being, our bodies made from the minerals of the earth, our spirits infused by the spiritual breath that animates the universe. Willingness to move more deeply into fear and pain is the first step toward moving into a larger consciousness. Willingness to move beyond the delusion of our separateness can show us new ways of working and living together.
By Dr. Lorraine Bonner, Special to California Black Media Partners
I went to a medical school that was steeped in the principles of classical Western medicine. However, I also learned mindfulness meditation during that time, which opened me to the multifaceted relationship between illnesses and the interconnecting environmental, mental and emotional realities that can impact an individual’s health.
Therefore, when I began to practice medicine, I also pursued training in hypnosis, relaxation techniques, meditation, and guided imagery, to bring a mind-body focus to my work in medical care and prevention.
The people I saw in my practice had a mix of problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and a variety of pain issues. I taught almost everyone relaxation breathing and made some general relaxation tapes. To anyone willing, I offered guided imagery.
“My work embraced an approach to wellness I call “Liberatory Health” — one that not only addresses the treatment and management of disease symptoms but also seeks to dismantle the conditions that make people sick in the first place.”
From my perspective, illness is only the outermost manifestation of our efforts to cope, often fueled by addictions such as sugar, tobacco, or alcohol, shackled by an individualistic cult belief that we have only ourselves to blame for our suffering.
At the deepest and also most expansive level of reality, we are all part of the same being, our bodies made from the minerals of the earth, our spirits infused by the spiritual breath that animates the universe. Willingness to move more deeply into fear and pain is the first step toward moving into a larger consciousness. Willingness to move beyond the delusion of our separateness can show us new ways of working and living together.
To put these ideas into practical form, I would quote the immortal Mr. Rogers: “Find the helpers.” There are already people in every community working for liberation. Some of them are running for office, others are giving food to those who need it. Some are volunteering in schools, libraries or hospitals. Some are studying liberation movements, or are working in urban or community gardens, or learning to practice restorative and transformative justice, or creating liberation art, music, dance, theater or writing. Some are mentoring high schoolers or apprenticing young people in a trade. There are many places where compassionate humans are finding other humans and working together for a better world.
A more compassionate world is possible, one in which we will all enjoy better health. Creating it will make us healthier, too.
In community, we are strong. Recognizing denial and overcoming the fragmenting effects of spiritual disorder offer us a path to liberation and true health.
Good health and well-being are the collective rights of all people!
About the Author
Dr. Lorraine Bonner is a retired physician. She is also a sculptor who works in clay, exploring issues of trust, trustworthiness and exploitation, as well as visions of a better world.
Activism
Prescribing Prevention: Doctors Turn to Lifestyle, Herbs and Veggies to Protect Against Chronic Illness in Black Californians
By Charlene Muhammad, California Black Media
Leibo Glover received his diabetes diagnosis at the same time he found out he needed a below-the-knee amputation.
“Minor,” thought the 63-year-old.
Glover had been self-medicating a toe injury before seeing the doctor.
But while driving from South Los Angeles to Miami on a family trip, an infection set in.
“I had it but didn’t know,” said Glover. “I was just going to come back to California, but they told me if I had left, I would have come home as a corpse,” Glover told California Black Media (CBM).
A majority of the nearly 3.5 million Californians diagnosed with diabetes have preventable Type 2 diabetes, according to researchers at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
In 2023, diabetes was diagnosed in 1 in 6 adults with the lowest incomes (16.7% at 0–99% of the federal poverty line), compared to 1 in 11 adults with the highest incomes (8.9% at 300% or more of the federal poverty line). Age is a factor, too: more than 1 in 5 older adults age 65 and over (22.3%) had diabetes, about twice the rate of adults age 18–64 (8.6%).
Another study by Health Economics and Evaluation Research (HEER) mapped patients with diabetes in California who had amputations. Researchers found that patients living in low-income ZIP codes were far more likely to have had lower-limb amputations than those in higher-income ZIP codes, essentially identifying amputation “hot spots.”
At the time of Glover’s 2018 diagnosis, he was experiencing housing instability and going through financial hardships. Now, he has more stable housing and he has improved his health through lifestyle changes like eating healthier and getting more sleep.
“If the equipment is right, I can stand on my leg for hours. I can actually run, jump, dance and all of that,” said Glover, who got his diabetes under control, in part, by avoiding carbohydrates and sugars.
As chronic illnesses continue to disproportionately impact Black Californians — often leading to preventable amputations and premature deaths — a growing number of doctors and advocates are expanding their care from just treatment to including prevention. From promoting diet and lifestyle changes to cultivating community farms focused on prevention and wellness like Dr. Bill Releford’s Bloom Ranch in Acton.
Releford, a podiatrist based in Los Angeles started the 250-acre Bloom Ranch in 2023 as part of his strategy for preventive care.
“This is my assignment,” said Releford.
“Bloom Ranch has been a perfect backdrop for me to be creative and to find avant-garde ways to make fresh fruits and vegetables more accessible to food deserts in Los Angeles County,” he stated.
California produces nearly half of the nation’s fruits and vegetables, yet more than 1 in 5 Californians — about 8.8 million people — currently struggle with food insecurity, according to the California Association of Food Banks.
“Studies have shown that 75% of amputations are preventable. And African Americans have the highest amputation rate in the nation,” Releford said.
As such, Releford continued, the mortality rate associated with high-level amputation is 50%, which means “if we had 10 people that all had high level amputations, five of those would be deceased in three years.”
Monday, June 28, 2025. Leibo Glover at his home in Los Angeles, California. The security professional’s leg was amputated below the knee.
Releford’s ranch is the largest Black-owned farm in L.A. County. He plans to partner with UCLA and the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science to develop prescriptive vegetable boxes.
“Certain vegetables and herbs can lower blood pressure naturally, like beets, turnips, dill, basil, garlic and others,” said Releford.
“Hopefully, this will inspire other farmers to take this model and replicate it across other urban areas,” Releford added.
“A lot of studies have shown that gardening has so many health benefits – being in the sun, Vitamin D,” said Releford. “The dirt has a lot of microbes that are good for your immune system. Studies have shown that people who work in the dirt have strong immune systems.”
Gardening can potentially decrease the risk of dementia, enhance cognition, reduce stress, and boost immunity, indicates research by Genoa Barrow of the University of Southern California Center for Health Journalism as part of the 2024 Ethnic Media Collaborative, Healing California.
During a recent picturesque day at Bloom Ranch, families, school children, farmers and members of The Ultimate Book Club 1998, founded by Alina Anderson, sampled and purchased fresh produce while taking photographs.
“This is huge. “All of us have families that could use this information,” said Anderson.
Doctors like Releford, who are committed to tackling the most chronic diseases impacting all their patients utilize peer-to-peer support programs with self-management training led by individuals living with chronic conditions to provide role models and support for patients, according to a recent study by the California Health Care Foundation.
“The unifying feature of these programs is that they seek to build on the strengths, knowledge, and experience that peers can offer,” the report states.
Liz Helms, CEO of the California Chronic Care Coalition, addressed state-backed prevention policy and initiatives.
“It’s in horrible shape. It needs to get so much better, especially in underserved areas, where the Black population has a whole set of different needs,” she said.
Helms, who started advocacy after being denied access to care in the early 1990s, applauded new developments in telehealth. The opportunity to choose between visiting a doctor’s office or placing a phone call makes a difference, especially if there are transportation or distance issues, or if one is too sick, she said.
Fear is one thing people, especially in the Black community, must overcome, emphasized Helms.
“I had to get over my fear of going to the doctor, of not speaking up,” continued Helms, urging patients to “understand the baseline” of their health.
“Don’t let anyone stigmatize you or tell you that you’re not good enough to get care or look down on you. Everyone has a right to good, quality, affordable, timely health care,” said Helms.
To engage Bloom Ranch for preventive care focused on wellbeing and healthy living, call (323) 388-4828 or sign up at Bloomranchofacton.com
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