Kara Gavin
Research and Policy Media Relations Manager
Gavin draws on more than 25 years of experience in communicating about science, medicine and health policy. She focuses mainly on the health services research done by members of the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, who work to understand and improve the safety, quality, equity and affordability of health care. As part of the Michigan Medicine communication team, she has lead responsibility for primary care and mental health topics. Contact: [email protected]; Twitter: @Karag
Health Lab
New blood donation rules to know
Blood donation guidelines based on individual risk rather than broad bans increase the number of people eligible to give and save lives.
Health Lab
Higher blood sugar linked to faster loss of brain power in stroke survivors
Research finds higher blood sugar linked to faster loss of brain power in stroke survivors.
Health Lab
11 things to know now that COVID-19 isn’t an “emergency” anymore
The end of the public health emergency for COVID-19 brings changes, but does not change how individuals should protect themselves and others
Health Lab
COVID-19 linked to financial toll on patients
COVID-19 hospitalization is especially linked to an impact on patients’ financial health
Health Lab
Study: Treatment for opioid addiction lags despite policies designed to increase it
A Michigan Medicine study shows the rate of people starting on buprenorphine remained flat from 2019 through 2022, while the percentage of patients who stayed on buprenorphine for at least six months hovered at just over 20% from 2016 through 2022.
Health Lab
"Deprescribing" medicines for older adults: Patient-provider dialogue needed
Stopping or reducing doses of prescription medicine, also called deprescribing, is something many older adults would like to do, and some have already done without medical guidance. Medication reviews could help.
Health Lab
When pills and talk therapy aren’t enough, these options may help
Interventional psychiatric care involving brain stimulation and infused or inhaled medicine can offer different options for patients.
Health Lab
Education and peer support cut binge-drinking by National Guard members in half
Alcohol overuse by members of the National Guard was reduced by a targeted intervention of web-based education and phone-based peer support.
Health Lab
How one state beat national surgery opioid trends
Medication guidelines for post-surgical opioid prescribing were associated with a lower rate of long-term opioid use and much lower amounts of opioid prescription fills in Michigan compared with the rest of the U.S.
Health Lab
Loneliness is down, but still high, among older adults
Older adults are less likely to feel isolated now than at the height of the pandemic, but levels of loneliness are still high.
Health Lab
A ‘game changer’ for mental health
The MC3 program provides psychiatric expertise on-demand to primary care providers in Michigan as they manage mental health conditions in young or pregnant patients
Health Lab
1 in 8 Americans over 50 show signs of food addiction
Highly processed foods can act on the brain in ways that spark cravings, emotional reactions and signs of addiction, and a new poll shows how many older adults experience this.
Health Lab
Support from others in stressful times can ease impact of genetic depression risk
Stress can interact with genetic vulnerability to depression, and with added or lacking support from friends and family, to affect depressive symptoms.
Health Lab
ECMO offers sickest COVID patients a chance to survive, but a slimmer one than previously thought
ECMO life support can save the lives of about half of the critically ill COVID-19 patients who are placed on it by their ICU teams.
Health Lab
What happens when preventive care becomes free to patients?
Preventive services such as mammograms, birth control, immunizations and colonoscopy have no out-of-pocket costs under the Affordable Care Act.
