# data[].attributes.body
These four guides are based on essays I wrote for an English class. Because all four should have value for a wide variety of people, I have reworked them into guides for living in the 21st century. The subjects are teaching people to walk again, social media and friends, telemedicine, and solving the housing crisis. The first three are interrelated through my own experiences, and I am interested in ways to solve the housing crisis because both my parents are real estate agents.

It fascinates me how much has changed in just the last six years in the procedures used in teaching people, me among them, to walk again after health conditions have left them with limited or no mobility. Social media became my link to the world during my own bout with paralysis because that is how I kept in touch with my existing friends and how I made new friends. Telemedicine, the ability to interact with medical professionals by phone and email, then, and now by video conferencing - without having to go to the doctor’s office - was how I kept in touch with my doctors while I was learning to walk again. And the lack of affordable housing in our local area keeps me, and many of my friends, living still with parents.

We need this guide for the 21st century because each of these four sections has information for a variety of individuals, and because technology is changing so many aspects of our lives, more and more rapidly, making conventional wisdom outdated even while we still are relying on it.

# data[].attributes.body
Conventional wisdom has it that when you’re sick you need to make an appointment to see a doctor. But, in recent discussions of technology, a controversial issue has been whether telemedicine can both lower costs and increase access to medical care. Telemedicine is the means to have contact with a doctor without an in-person visit. It can be by telephone, email, text, or video. I believe that telemedicine is an important development because in-person doctor visits are expensive, whether to the patient or their insurance company, doctors are not always available where and when you need them and quality is important.

# data[].attributes.body
Hello! name is Elena, and I am 29 years old. Just have two more months before I turn 30. I have had various health issues since, beginning my sophomore year of high school, so I still live with my parents. The issues I write about here telemedicine, social media friends, solving the housing crisis, and learning to walk again are ones that I have been much involved with for many years. In addition, I have done a lot of research recently on these topics and have learned a lot more, beyond my personal experience. I hope you find these guides both interesting and informative.

# data[].attributes.body
If you have been looking for a new place to live in California, you know that housing demand far exceeds supply, causing prices to skyrocket. This lack of supply will reach 3.5 million units by 2025. . I contend that we need to make it easier to build more units quickly by reducing local regulatory barriers that increase construction costs and delays.

# data[].attributes.body
How did this come about? To put it concisely, there are local regulatory barriers that have increased the cost and slowed the process of building housing. As Jonathan Woezel, lead author of the noted McKinsey Report asserted, in  the article, "5 Ways To Solve California’s Housing Crisis",“The Challenge is to overcome current barriers -whether regulatory, political, economic or cultural – to unlock supply and actually build these much-needed homes.” Local regulatory barriers include the slowness of the permitting process and the high permit fees. The McKinsey report calculated that by shortening the approval process by just 4 months it is likely to cut housing costs up to $12 billion. In addition, government fees usually run 6-18% of the median home price. This adds over $100,000 per median-priced home in California. In sum local regulatory changes would stimulate construction of the many homes we need.

# data[].attributes.body
Besides the regulatory changes, another issue that needs to be addressed is where to build.  As An editorial in the NY Times reported in their article," California Has a Housing Crisis. The Answer Is More Housing", "The most promising proposal to supercharge construction is California Senate Bill 50, which would force local governments to allow higher density development in areas close to transit and jobs" Increasing urban density with multi-unit housing is a way to supercharge construction because each permit covers multiple units, dramatically decreasing permit costs and processing time for a given number of units. I believe that increasing urban density is a way to quickly make a dent in the number of housing units needed, and takes advantage of the existing transportation systems, cutting commute times to jobs, and helping air quality by keeping cars off the roads.

# data[].attributes.body
Of course, some may disagree on the grounds that the only way out of the crisis is with government investment.  One such suggestion is to boost the low-income housing tax credit, but in fact this has led to the construction of only 3 million homes nationwide over 30+ years since 1986. California needs 3.5 million in the next 5 years. Another proposal is that the government increase funding for HUD programs which provide rental assistance. But this does nothing to reduce high rents. A third proposal is that we boost the Housing Trust Fund which funds grants to states to build and rehabilitate housing for people with low income. But California’s housing crisis affects nearly all income levels. And a final suggestion is that we subsidize rent with a refundable tax credit. While these suggestions do little or nothing to stimulate construction of the needed units to slow down high prices, while they do create further drains on public funds. The money will be  inadequate because the cost of the various fees plus the prevailing wages requirements of government construction projects reduce the funds available for actual construction so that fewer and fewer units can be built with any given amount. Government funding does nothing to attack a main cause of the problem which is that the costs of local regulations have impeded housing construction. It’s a fact that construction of homes hasn’t been able to keep up with the growth of the state and it’s costing us.

# data[].attributes.body
It’s a fact that construction of homes hasn’t been able to keep up with the growth of the state and it’s costing us.Ultimately what’s at stake here is how to best provide enough affordable houses. There is no perfect solution to today’s housing crisis but finding ways to increase the supply will be a good start to solving the problem.

# data[].attributes.body
Conventional wisdom has it that social media is making it harder to develop close friendships. It turns out that the conventional view is based on the misunderstanding that social media is limited to the public page that all your friends can see, while in fact you can also communicate one on one, privately building a friendship. Whether you are communicating with someone you met in real life or someone you met on social media private communications are the same and they build and maintain the relationships. The only difference is how you met. In my view using social media gives you the opportunity not only to stay in touch with real life friends but also to expand your social circle and get support from those new friends as well as real life friends.

# data[].attributes.body
One of the great things of social media is it allows you to keep up with friends who you’ve known in real life  People are connecting to people they find important in their lives. Though we use social media to stay in touch, we share a personal relationship of memories. These are more than social media friends because we have a relationship beyond the computer screen; we share a personal relationship full of memories. And the one-on-one messaging aspect of social media allows the relationship to continue to grow and not fade away. Social media has become an important means to stay in contact with family and friends. Without social media, I might have lost touch with people I care about a lot.

# data[].attributes.body
Another benefit to social media is that it also a gateway to new friendships. According to Natasha Koifmann in her article, "Can Social Media Actually Benefit Relationships?", " Social media helps connect you to new faces, giving you the opportunity to share interests, passions, and personality with more of the world at large."  It basically boils down to how easy it is to find friends with similar interests on social media. On social media, people with specific experiences, for example sharing a specific medical condition, can find each other, too. If your experience is unique you might never find someone locally but finding someone online who shares your experience can lead to a supportive friendship. Once you find the people you mesh with your one-on-one conversations may develop into a strong friendship. In my view, social media  friends share good times and bad, making the relationship stronger for when one of you need supports. If you are willing to put effort into maintaining regular contact, the time spent being with online friends would be the same as getting to know a friend in real life.

# data[].attributes.body
Despite what some writers say , your private social media communications can be as intimate and supportive as in face-to-face relationships. Although you may have believed that only face-to-face relationships can create the strong emotional bond, a lot of people have trouble expressing their troubles face to face and find it easier doing it over social media whether it be with someone they know in real life or with an online friend. And don’t forget those friends who are time zones away from you!  Old friends can use social media to keep up. The line between real-life friends and social media friends is blurring as the relationships have become much more similar.

# data[].attributes.body
Communication has always been at the core of enduring relationships. Although social media may not be everyone’s first choice, you can use it to create and maintain friendships, one message at a time.

# data[].attributes.body
When it comes to the topic of the cost of medicine today many people complain that costs are high and need to be reduced. Telemedicine proponents assert that using smartphone apps and video communication can bring care at a lower cost. According to Jason Goerevic, Teladoc CEO in the article, "Can Telemedicine Be Both Cost Efficient and High Quality?",

"The typical Teladoc appointment costs $45. That contrasts $120-$150 for a typical office visit, somewhere in the neighborhood of $175 for urgent care visit, and north of $1000 for emergency room" These contrasts show how much money Teledoc could save a patient and insurance. Obama thought millennials would get insurance with Obama Care but that wasn’t the case. In my opinion they would rather spend their money on other things. Research shows that they would rather pay out of pocket and prefer telemedicine because it costs less than an in-person visit. One of the further advantages of the lower cost of telemedicine is it encourages people to seek care early instead of waiting until the last minute only to end up in the Emergency Room

# data[].attributes.body
In my opinion an equally attractive feature is its convenience. According to Randy Parker, CEO of MDLiveCare in the article "The Skype Solution", "Patients can log in 24/7 and usually get access to a doctor within 10 minutes." There are many reasons a person might not be able to get to an in-person appointment. For example, they may be too ill, they might not have transportation, or they might just not have the time to get the doctors. With telemedicine they can just use their phone and contact their doctor through apps like Doctor on Demand and TeleDoc. People in the rural areas really benefit from telemedicine. They might have pay $2000+ for an ambulance ride to the nearest hospital. But with telemedicine they can get a medical opinion first and find out if they really need to go to the Emergency Room.  Access to specialists can normally be up around 18 days but with telemedicine it’s just minutes. While cost savings prompt people to seek care earlier, the convenience of telemedicine quickly puts patients in actual contact with both primary care doctors and even specialists when appropriate.

# data[].attributes.body
High quality health care is always one of the most import things every person needs in society, and telemedicine is able to provide such quality levels. There are many opponents who worry whether these services provide good quality care. Recent research has convinced me that the quality you get with telemedicine is just as good as with in-person doctor visits I believe that licensing regulations, assure the same level of competence as with in person doctor visits.  In fact, patients using telemedicine had fewer follow up visits than those using visits to the emergency room or doctors’ offices. With its high quality of care and easy access to quick check-ups and treatments, in the Age of Technology the transition to telemedicine should only be a natural progression of modern medical practice.

# data[].attributes.body
With its high quality of care and easy access to quick check-ups and treatments, in the Age of Technology the transition to telemedicine should only be a natural progression of modern medical practice. Though it may not be perfect yet, I believe, like so many experts, that telemedicine is the way of the future.

# data[].attributes.body
Most of us don’t remember learning how to walk but some of us have to do it for a second or even third time. There are multiple causes for losing your ability to walk. Illnesses like Guillain Barre Syndrome, stroke, physical causes such as car accidents and spinal cord injuries and others. What’s really happening is your brain is no longer communicating with your muscles.

As devastating as it may seem if your legs are paralyzed, for most people it is possible to walk again thanks to new technology and intensive physical therapy.

# data[].attributes.body
I was one of the unlucky ones who was paralyzed twice with Critical Illness Myopathy and Guillain Barre Syndrome but I got the proper physical therapy and so I know you can learn to walk again.

# data[].attributes.body
And what do you do when you lose the ability to walk? A recent breakthrough in 2018 may help many people with spinal cord injuries. Claudia Angeli an assisant professor at the Spinal Cord Injury Research Center insisted in the article, "How a Breakthrough Therapy Helped Two Paralyzed People Walk Again-Years After Their Injuries", "The ability to walk, the ability to stand, the ability to voluntarily move the legs: It’s there, and it can be recovered with the perfect combination of, in this case, epidural stimulation and intent from the brain, the spinal cord is telling us that it’s able to recover those functions.”The medical device called a spinal stimulator has successfully been used in a small trial to enable 2 paralyzed people with spinal cord injuries to walk again. In my opinion   this is a great advancement. This is just the beginning stage but it holds a lot of promise for people with traumatic spinal injuries.

# data[].attributes.body
I believe intensive physical therapy is the best treatment for most patients once they are ready. It is also the most common treatment.Intensive physical therapy is usually inpatient, multiple hours a days, with Occupation Therapy and Physical Therapy.  In intensive physical therapy you start off with passive exercise when you are not able to move arms and legs by yourself. Next comes gait training your therapist will watch you move to make sure you're moving properly. Than comes balance and coordination which you'll work on equipment like parallel bars with someone nearby. Another exercise is neuromuscular reeducation when a Physical Therapist moves your legs for you to re-educate your brain. Its important to learn to use adaptive devices after you start to walk again you may need a walker, cane, crutches and more. Eventually, if you continue to work with your therapist, you can discard the devices and walk like you once did, before you got paralyzed.

# data[].attributes.body
It can take a long time, and it take a lot of effort to gradually rebuild the connections between muscles and your brain. It takes determination and discipline to repeat and repeat each exercise. And to push against the pain to stretch muscles, increasing range of motion and strength. But with physical therapists guiding every step, people can and do walk again