In Navajo County, Arizona, Manuel Ono and his wife, Lola, sat down with me last year to tell me about their lives, and how, in their remote and beautiful corner of northern Arizona, they stay connected to the world. The Onos, lifelong residents of Winslow, have been married for over 30 years and are now happily retired, spending many of their days looking after their grandkids. But like almost half of all adults in the U.S., Manuel has multiple chronic health conditions. He is diabetic and is also being treated for congestive heart failure.
Diabetes and heart failure are just two examples of the myriad of complex conditions that send people to the hospital, keep them from the comfort of their homes and loved ones and place a large strain on our country’s over-burdened, under-resourced health care system. Thankfully for the Onos and many others like them, important technological advances and innovative public-private collaborations are helping to combat this issue, enabling patients to easily take their health care into their own hands.
