Lydia McFarlane

1 week ago | vpm.org | Lydia McFarlane

Rob Kennedy mingled with about a dozen other people in a community space in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. The room, decorated with an under-the-sea theme, had a balloon arch decked out with streamers meant to look like jellyfish and a cloud of clear balloons mimicking ocean bubbles. Kennedy comes to this memory cafe twice a month since being diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease in his late 50s. Everyone here has a degree of memory loss or is a caregiver for someone with memory loss.

1 week ago | wvia.org | Lydia McFarlane

Kyle Makavensky took psychiatric medications for 15 years. At most, he was on nine different prescriptions at once. He said he experienced negative side effects, to which his doctors would respond by upping his doses or prescribing another pill. “It's just been hell. They had me thinking that the medicine took the hell away, but I think it brought it,” Makavensky said. At 39, he decided to make a change.

2 weeks ago | wvia.org | Lydia McFarlane

Scranton will soon become home to the state’s first Older Adult Advocacy Center. Pennsylvania Aging Secretary Jason Kavulich joined Lackawanna County Area Agency on Aging executive director Sara McDonald, Telespond Senior Services, Inc. president and CEO Helen Schmid and the center’s director Cliff Miller for a ribbon cutting ceremony at the site of the brand new center on Friday. The center should be fully operational by the end of this month, officials said.

3 weeks ago | wvia.org | Lydia McFarlane

Pennsylvania's Department of Health says it is assessing cancer rates in the area surrounding a former Lackawanna County manufacturing facility. The Olyphant plant changed hands over the years, being known as Specialty Records, WEA Manufacturing and Cinram prior to its closure seven years ago.

1 month ago | labmonline.co.uk | Lydia McFarlane

A ceremony on April 25th marked a key milestone at a new diagnostics centre in Thurrock, Essex, with Jen Craft MP and James McMurdock MP laying the final bricks in the project’s construction. Thurrock Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC), which is due to open in the summer, will provide a wide range of essential diagnostic services to the local community. This will speed up access to vital healthcare capabilities while reducing waiting times and leading to faster diagnosis for patients.