Saddleback therapy: Horses help with healing on Ga. farm

To those driving out of Watkinsville along State Route 53, farms and horses are a common sight. But hidden behind a wooden privacy fence adorned with painted butterflies is a nine-acre farm that is home to eight uncommon horses. The horses at Butterfly Dreams Farm, a nonprofit therapeutic horseback-riding center, provide life-changing therapy to individuals…

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Report scolds Georgia on housing for people with mental illness

Georgia is not meeting its court-supervised obligations for creating housing for people with serious mental illness, according to a recently released report. State-run psychiatric hospitals, in fact, have discharged dozens of patients to homeless shelters, and many of them wind up being re-hospitalized, the report from an independent reviewer says. Thirty-four of these individuals had…

At Easter Seals, ‘every single life has potential’

This is the eighth in a series of articles about health care in Southwest Georgia, an area of the state that has great health needs and challenges, but also some innovative approaches to such problems. The series is the product of a collaboration between Georgia Health News and the health and medical journalism graduate program at UGA…

Georgia, feds reach deal on fixing 2010 agreement

State and federal officials have reached agreement on how Georgia can improve and expand services for people with developmental disabilities and mental illness, building on the terms of a landmark 2010 pact. The agreement, filed Wednesday in federal court, addresses compliance problems that the Department of Justice and an independent reviewer have pointed out since the…

Legislation to empower Georgians with disabilities gains steam

Pauline Shaw has her share of worries, but she also has hope. The worries are about her daughter Dakota’s future. Shaw, who lives in Rincon in east Georgia, says Dakota suffered a stroke while still in her womb. The child, now 12, has cerebral palsy, epilepsy and autism, and is blind in one eye. Under current…

Living with disability helps steer young doctor into fascinating specialty

Editor’s note: Five and a half years ago, Hammad Aslam started medical school in Athens, and his story appeared then in Georgia Health News. This is an update of his medical journey. A video is included below. Hammad Aslam has always wanted to be a doctor. He knew that medicine was the profession in which…

Feds cite deaths of developmentally disabled in push for improvements

Georgia has failed to ensure that developmentally disabled people discharged from state hospitals receive adequate services to remain safe and avoid harm, federal attorneys say in a recent court filing. The attorneys said that of the approximately 503 people with developmental disabilities discharged from state-run hospitals since 2010, 79 have died. “The available records indicated…

Judge slams state over slow pace on talks with Justice Department

Georgia and the U.S. Department of Justice remain at an impasse over improvements to the state’s services for people with mental illness and developmental disabilities, despite a federal judge’s push for quicker action to resolve their differences. Wednesday was the day set by U.S. District Court Judge Charles Pannell last month for attorneys for the…

Innovative partnership helps fund rides for those unable to drive

About two years ago, semi-retired business executive Bob Carr thought he’d spend some time driving for Uber, the innovative company that allows individuals to use their own vehicles to transport paying passengers. Little did Carr know that the journey would take him to a whole new career. One rider told Carr that she had a doctor’s…

Report criticizes state’s overdue patient transfers

Report criticizes state’s overdue patient transfers

Georgia continues to show a lack of progress in moving people with developmental disabilities out of state-run hospitals, an independent monitor says. The report by independent reviewer Elizabeth Jones, filed in federal court, said just four individuals with developmental disabilities have moved to community settings in the past year. “This is especially troubling because 266…