Alex Smith
Alex Smith began working in radio as an intern at the National Association of Farm Broadcasters. A few years and a couple of radio jobs later, he became the assistant producer of KCUR's magazine show, KC Currents. In January 2014 he became KCUR's health reporter.
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Gun buying among African Americans is up in recent years, and so are suicide rates among young Black men.
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Gun buying among African Americans has soared in recent years. So have suicide rates among young black men. Gun safety efforts and suicide prevention need to address race and cultural differences. -
The environmental movement is doing more to address the psychological toll on activists and volunteers, encouraging resilience and self-care to counteract anxiety and grief over planetary damage.
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After her son's death, a mother in the Midwest promotes mental health for environmentalists. It's part of a larger push to address the burnout and psychological stress that can affect activists. -
Data collection for race and ethnicity vary among states, complicating efforts to distribute COVID-19 shots to all groups. In Missouri, health officials have questioned the data's usefulness. -
To avoid racial or ethnic disparities in vaccination rates, health officials are doing outreach. But demographic data quality varies between states. In Missouri, there are errors they can't quite fix.
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In Kansas City, hospitals are treating local COVID-19 patients as well as patients transferred from rural counties in Missouri and Kansas, where there's no mandate or culture for wearing masks. -
Missourians will vote Tuesday on whether to expand Medicaid to uninsured adults. The pandemic has raised the stakes for residents who have lost jobs and insurance coverage.
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New ADHD guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend children five or older take medication and get therapy as soon as they are diagnosed. Some experts say this is the wrong approach.
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A pediatrician is working to make sure every hospital in Kansas can give babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome the soft start they need, ideally right next to their mothers.
