Minneapolis hoop dancer giving life lessons 

If rich people need life insurance, poor people need it more. Here’s how millions of poor people are getting it – including people with AIDS.

"Songs in the Key of Free" is a program in a Pennsylvania prison brings together inmates to play music and write songs that they perform inside, while professional musicians also play the songs in venues outside prison. The program is just a year old and is based on a successful theater program in California that cut recidivism rates and helped decrease prison infractions. The founders of "Songs in the Key of Free" are creating an album of the work, but after that, future funding is unclear.

Research has found that physical movement, such as dance, can be an affective treatment and rehabilitation for people with Parkinson’s Disease. The Dance Well Initiative brings people with Parkinson’s, as well as community members, together to stage dance performances in gallery spaces as treatment and a creative response to the surrounding art.

In the town of Leupp, a Navajo community, the school and community members are working to educate kids to drink water rather than sugary drinks and sodas. Part of their effort includes increasing availability to water—and gently keeping each other on the right path.

Museums all over the country are trying to attract diverse audiences. One of those is the Frick museum in New York which has a program called the Ghetto Film School project. Twenty students from the Bronx are selected to attend a weekly discussion-based seminar. At the end, students must write a script. “The winning script is turned into a movie and filmed at the museum.” “People should feel they can go to museums, learn something, and improve their lives in doing so.”

An initiative in House schools that gives students access to the arts in the classroom has positively affected students' ability to concentrate, write, and even show compassion to one another. The initiative, known as the Houston Arts Access Initiative, encourages schools to provide exposure to dance, music, and visual arts to encourage creative and kind interaction.

The future of medical devices is beginning to heavily rely on the integration of technological advances including apps, robotic and 3-D printing. From increasing education around diabetes via an app to digital smart pills that treat mental illnesses, technology has become a crucial partner to not just those working in the health industry, but also to the consumers.

The Prison Arts Initiative program, jointly run by the Colorado prison system and University of Denver, puts personal expression through visual and performing arts at the heart of the prisons' mission to become less punitive and more rehabilitative. With exhibits like "Chained Voices," featuring paintings by incarcerated people, the program aims to give hope to people by making them feel seen and valued as fully human. Formerly incarcerated artists say they valued not only the personal growth they experienced, but also the knowledge that their art could change public perceptions of the people in prison.

Why do poorer countries like Russia have much lower rates of autoimmune diseases like Type 1 diabetes? Preventing autoimmune disorders may require emulating aspects of that “dirtier” world: safely bottling the kinds of microbes that protect the Russian kids, so we can give them to everyone and guide the “postmodern” immune system along a healthier path of development.

Diabetics require fresh food and produce to maintain their health, but doing so has become difficult during the pandemic, especially for people who are immunocomprised and therefore unable to frequently venture out to food banks. One food bank found a solution which involves bringing out food packages to cars so diabetics do not have to expose themselves to potential germs. This vulnerable population relies on their bi-weekly haul of fresh produce to stay healthy.