This edition of InHealthNW is all about creating a space where you and your family can thrive and grow. There’s no shortage of attention to creating a beautiful space — a fact that HGTV exploits 24/7. But how can your home environment improve your health and safety? From the air you breathe to the water you drink, our special section on Healthy Homes looks at ways to make sure your dwelling is safe and sound.
Can your home also be a place for healing after injury or disease takes a toll on you or someone you love? Nicholas DeShais has a report on efforts by a local home health agency to help with a nationwide effort to improve the effectiveness of recuperating at home. Not only can it be more pleasant for patients, it saves us all a lot of money.
And as for getting fit at home, in Alt Medicine Blair Tellers looks into those funky new shoes designed to give you a workout, no matter what you’re doing.
Not too long ago, a friend of mine took her child to the doctor with a run-of-the-mill injury that occurred in their backyard. She says she felt a distinct disdain from her doctor when she “confessed” she had let her child play in the yard, unsupervised. Yet a recent study in the United Kingdom showed that while an 8-year-old girl might have been allowed to roam a quarter mile or more from home in 1970, today’s kids barely get out the front door. Where’s the balance? Lisa Fairbanks-Rossi looks into the issue of hovering parents in our Parenting section.
And don’t miss our May-June issue, when our special focus will also be on kids and making them as healthy as possible.

To your health!