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CORRECTIONS, SIU MEDICINE PARTNER TO IMPROVE HEALTH CARE DELIVERY IN STATE FACILITIES by Lauren Crocks More than 76,000 Illinoisans live behind bars, and nearly 41,000 of those individuals call state prisons home. Like the more than 2.2 million justice-involved individuals in the United States, many suffer from a complex combination of anxiety, post-traumatic stress and a range of chronic health conditions, including hypertension and arthritis. In an effort to improve health care delivery in correctional facilities and meet its mission, SIU School of Medicine is partnering with the Illinois

Community health worker programs are improving lives in Illinois neighborhoods On a gray February afternoon, Tami Langford is interviewing a new client in a busy office space at the Third Presbyterian Church in Springfield. Verlon Melton had been released from prison the previous spring and is now working in retail and raising his 3-year-old daughter as a single parent. He’d hoped to move into an apartment in the Enos Park neighborhood, where Langford serves as one of SIU Medicine’s community health workers. The man politely answers questions on a range of subjects. Eventually, Langford asks,

4 ways to express your gratitude

"The purpose of life is ... to be compassionate, to have it make some difference ..." Ralph Waldo Emerson Instituted in 1995, Empathy Sessions were developed in response to an observation by a group of faculty that medical students seemed more compassionate than their physician peers. It appeared that the prolonged training period of a physician, with its emphasis on scientific knowledge, stamina, and independence contributed in a negative way to the “hidden curriculum” and resulted in a dispassionate, less caring physician. In an attempt to reverse this tendency, we created a voluntary small

For Litchfield native Ed Wernsing, the nickname Big Ed just came naturally. "In high school, I was 6'4, 240lbs, and all of the kids would call me Big Ed." The 75-year-old Litchfield owner of Wernsing’s Appliance shares. Big Ed has a big personality to match his towering height. However, Big Ed started to see changes in his health that took a toll on his mobility and go get 'em attitude. Big Ed’s health had begun to decline slowly. Once a formidable powerhouse of strength easily capable of moving refrigerators and ovens across his showroom floor, he began to lose his ability to walk while his

Dr. Tracey Smith finds happiness in teaching others how to be healthy Aspects Volume 39 No. 2 Written by Rebecca Budde • Photography by Jason Johnson NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP It’s hard to be unhappy sitting in Tracey Smith’s office at SIU’s Center for Family and Community Medicine. Her walls, window sills, shelves and desk display a sea of brightly colored plaques, mugs and picture frames bearing inspirational thoughts and stories. The canvas displaying the message above is the most prominent in the room, just as its meaning is in Tracey’s life. “So many things that we’re doing at SIU would