The Rhode to Health: A Podcast from Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island

We are continuing our year-long celebration of 20 Years of the BlueAngel Community Health grants with a Rhode Island institution that has been awarded the grant three times: Farm Fresh Rhode Island.

Farm Fresh is also celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. In the past two decades, the organization has made it their mission to connect eaters with the locally and honestly produced foods and flavors  of our area. This work to make Rhode Island’s people and land healthier has required methods and actions that are at times both creative and surprising. 

We sat down with Farm Fresh’s Executive Director, Jesse Rye, and  talked about everything Farm Fresh is doing to cultivate the best possible farm to table experience.

Lear more about Farm Fresh RI at www.farmfreshri.org.

Be Healthy. Be Well. And keep your eyes on the Rhode.

May is mental health month and today’s episode was chosen by you, our listeners. We reached out on social media and you told us what you wanted to hear. So, we’re going to have an overview of the pediatric behavioral health crisis and how we’re responding. From Rosaly Cuevas, Manager of Behavioral Health Quality, Network and Policy; Sarah Fleury, Director of Behavioral Health; and back from the top of the show, Rena Sheehan, Vice President of Clinical Integration. 

We sit down for a round table discussion with Jenny Bautista-Ravreby, Amber Dicks, Shikenya Gough, Chante Foster, Marissa Rodrigues, and Scott Gowrie. Together, we talked about how their diverse backgrounds have played a significant role in how they each perceive the behavioral health space and how having these important conversations can shed light on the need for greater variety in approaches to care. 

Finally, we’ll talk with Dr. Eric B. Loucks, an Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Associate Professor of Medicine, and Associate Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the Brown University School of Public Health, on the effectiveness of mindfulness and meditation on your overall health. 

Be healthy. Be well. And keep your eyes on the Rhode. 

We’re reflecting upon a segment from last May’s Rhode to Mental Health episode in which we discussed the state of Rhode Island’s behavioral health landscape and how its youth are being affected. In honor of Mental Health Awareness month, we sat down with guest Laurie DeLuca, a Substance Abuse Counselor at the Jim Gillen Teen Center, to talk about the roles both she and the larger organization are playing in helping teens beat substance dependency.

For information about the Jim Gillen Teen Center, go to teenanchor.providencecenter.org.

Be healthy. Be well. And keep your eyes on the Rhode.

Today, we're breaking out our palettes and brushes as we paint a picture of creativity and the role it plays in your well-being. We sit down with an actor-turned-public servant, Joe Wilson Jr., Director of the Office of Art, Culture and Tourism for the city of Providence, to look into the future of a more well-creative capital. We talked to Mark Kravatz, interim Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Providence and East Bay, about a partnership with Habitat for Humanity to creatively build a new home. And we are visited by art therapy practitioners, Kristen Spencer and Maggie Veiga, from Lincoln's Social Sparks.

Read the "PVDx2031" plan: PVDx2031: A Cultural Plan For Cultural Shift

Learn more about Habitat for Humanity of Greater Providence and East Bay and ways you can volunteer here.

Find out more about Social Sparks.

Eden Casteel is a singer/songwriter, piano player, livestreamer, and voice coach based in Wakefield, RI. You can learn more at edencasteel.com.

Be heathy. Be well. And keep your eyes on the Rhode.

We’re continuing our celebration of 20 years of the Blue Angel Community Health Grant with a first-time grantee: Adoption RI. Adoption RI is a Providence-based organization whose services range from adoption and family support to counseling and adult services. But they don’t stop there. 

We sat down with Darlene Allen, CEO and Executive Director of Adoption RI, and discussed the future of Adoption RI, including the Copley Chambers project, a project that is being supported by the Blue Angel Community Health Grant. Developed by Marathon Construction and Development, Copley Chambers will provide affordable housing to young adults with past foster care experience who are facing homelessness or housing insecurity. In addition to that, these individuals will also have access to onsite supportive services provided by partners House of Hope and Providence Community Health Center.

Learn more about Adoption RI at www.adoptionri.org.

We’re revisiting a segment from April 2022 in which we celebrated Earth Day by taking a trip to Southside Community Land Trust’s City Farm. There, we sat down with guests Jazandra Barros and Jake Stanton to discuss how they’re transforming city blocks into farm space. 

SCLT’s annual Plant Sale features thousands of vegetable, herb and fruit plants grown from seed (without chemicals) in their greenhouse, as well as hundreds of sought-after perennials. It takes place Saturday and Sunday, May 20-21, 2023, from 10 am to 2 pm, at City Farm in South Providence.

Learn more here.

Be healthy. Be Well. And keep your eyes on the Rhode.

We're continuing our celebration of 20 years of the BlueAngel Community Health Grant with an organization that was a grantee back in 2002 and 2003: Youth In Action. Youth In Action is a Providence-based organization working to create opportunities for youth to become agents of change through transformative leadership opportunities.

Join us as we sit down with Youth In Action's Executive Director Elliot Rivera as well as a few team leaders as they discuss the organization's goal to not only mold its youth to be the leaders of tomorrow but also empower them to take charge of their environment today.

Learn more about Youth In Action and ways you can support their work here.

To learn more about the BlueAngel Community Health Grant go to https://www.bcbsri.com/about/blueangel.

Join us for more episodes in this series as we look back and forward on the impact of the BlueAngel Community Health Grant during a yearlong celebration.

It’s Women’s History month. As March comes to a close, we’ll be talking about the issues, challenges and triumphs that affect women and their health. And once again I’ve called on some co-hosts to help me navigate these waters. We’ll hear from Kelly Nevins, CEO of Women’s Fund of Rhode Island, an organization investing in women and gender equity; talk about efforts to promote access to women’s mental health through PCPs and OBGYNs with Lifespan’s Maggie Bublitz; and sit down with with Liz Duggan, founder and executive director at Amenity Aid, a non-profit organization protecting vulnerable Rhode Islanders' dignity and menstrual health.

You can learn more about Women's Fund of Rhode Island at wfri.org.
And explore the RI Women's Well-Being Index.

Find out more about Women's Medicine Collaborative .

Go to amenityaid.org to learn how to help this amazing organization.

You can find music and more information about the Candace Brooks Band at thecandacebrooksband.com.

Be heathy. Be well. And keep your eyes on the Rhode.

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. One in 23 men and one in 25 women will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer in their lifetime. It’s a cancer that often begins as a growth called a polyp. Finding and removing polyps can prevent colorectal cancer or catch it early, when it’s easier to treat. Yet, this seems to be a screening that many of us put off or avoid. And the statistics on who gets screened for colorectal cancer reveal some unsettling disparities.

But Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island is taking steps to change the trend of these numbers and we're making great strides. One of the folks making this their mission is Dr. Gonzalo Paz-Soldán. He is Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island’s senior medical director for clinical transformation. And he has a lot to say about this absolutely critical screening.

 Read more about colorectal screening on The Rhode Ahead here.

 Be healthy. Be well. And keep your eyes, on the Rhode.

 In last month's Rhode to Black Heath podcast one of the topics our Black Council at Blue discussed was stigma and how it can be a real barrier to folks accessing behavioral health services. So on this BACK RHODES episode we're going to explore the topic a little deeper with a discussion we had back in May with Dr Victor Pinkes. I started us off with a story that gets a little personal. 

The Rhode to Health is a podcast presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island. It’s produced and hosted  Mark Sheldon, and Mason Im is our sound engineer with additional support from Yasmin Diaz.

Be Heathy Be well. And keep your eyes on the Rhode.