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HHS, SAMHSA Release 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Data
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), released the results of the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). The report shows how people living in the United States reported about their experience with mental health, substance use, and treatment related behaviors in 2022. The NSDUH report provides nationally representative data on the self-reported use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs; substance use disorders; mental health conditions; suicidal thoughts and behaviors; and substance use and mental health treatment among the civilian, noninstitutionalized population aged 12 or older in the United States. Read more here.
Related: Opioid Rx Down, but Overdoses and Deaths Up, AMA Report Shows
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‘A Monster’: Super Meth and Other Drugs Push Crisis Beyond Opioids
Dr. Nic Helmstetter crab-walked down a steep, rain-slicked trail into a grove of maple and cottonwood trees to his destination: a dozen tents in a clearing by the Kalamazoo River, surrounded by the detritus of lives perpetually on the move. Discarded red plastic cups. A wet sock flung over a bush. A carpet square. And scattered across the forest floor: orange vial caps and used syringes. Kalamazoo, a small city in Western Michigan, is a way station along the drug trafficking corridor between Chicago and Detroit. In its parks, under railroad overpasses and here in the woods, people ensnared by drugs scramble to survive. Dr. Helmstetter, who makes weekly primary care rounds with a program called Street Medicine Kalamazoo, carried medications to reverse overdoses, blunt cravings and ease withdrawal-induced nausea. But increasingly, the utility of these therapies, developed to address the decades-old opioid crisis, is diminishing.
Read more here.
Related: ASAM and AAAP Announce New Clinical Practice Guideline to Address Rising Stimulant Use Disorders
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Children in Mental-Health Crisis Surge Into Hospital E.R.s
Dr. Christopher Lucas shuttled from room to room, checking on the children with mental-health troubles who had streamed into his emergency department over the past 12 hours because they had nowhere else to go. There were eight of them that September day at Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, N.Y. In one room, staff tended to a 17-year-old girl with chronic depression who had attempted suicide by overdosing on ibuprofen—her fourth trip to the E.R. for mental-health reasons in two years. Nearby was a 14-year-old girl who had started cutting herself after being bullied over social media. The youngest new patient was a 5-year-old boy with behavioral disorders. His mother had tried to get him into outpatient therapy, but there was a long wait list. A physician assistant at a different emergency department had prescribed him five medications in the meantime, said Lucas, the hospital’s vice chair of psychiatry. After the boy tried to stab his mom and said he wanted to kill himself, she’d brought him to the E.R. at Upstate. Read more here.
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New York State DOH and Office for the Aging Hold Listening Session In Johnson City to Outline the Master Plan for Aging and Receive Public Input
The New York State Department of Health (DOH) and the New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) continued their series of community engagement sessions on the State's Master Plan for Aging (MPA), with a listening session last week in Johnson City. During the session, which took place at the Johnson City Senior Center, attendees heard details about the MPA and were offered an opportunity to ask questions and provide comments about the proposal. "These public input sessions are absolutely critical to the process of creating a Master Plan for Aging that helps us identify challenges and collaborate on solutions that address issues all New Yorkers encounter across their lifetime," State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said. Read more here.
Related: National Family Caregivers Month: NYSOFA announces new offerings for family caregivers using free state online support portal
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Top Payer Concerns, Opportunities Around Generative AI Integration
Generative AI may become a fixture of the health insurance landscape, seamlessly integrated into common payer processes, reducing timelines from hours or days to minutes. But for now, the tool’s future is fraught with challenges. Care delivery transformation, clinical productivity measures, administrative simplification, and technology enablement could result in between $1 and 1.5 trillion in improvement potential by 2027, according to McKinsey & Company. Artificial intelligence—specifically, generative AI—could speed the system’s progress toward that goal. Read more here.
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Autism ‘One-Stop Shops’ Would Improve Care for Patients (But Can’t Cover Everything)
Many health services are designed for neurotypical people, which can make it difficult for people with autism and other neurodiverse conditions to access services, such as primary and dental care. But more autism providers are looking to tackle this issue by integrating specialized medical care under their roofs. Creating a “one-stop shop” for autism treatment, including medical services for co-occurring conditions, could improve access to care and make for smoother experiences for patients as well as clinicians. However, some specialties may always need to be referred out. Read more here.
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Homelessness Is Preventable. Ending It and Saving Lives Is a Policy Choice.
Homelessness is a deadly — but preventable — public health crisis. People with pre-existing medical conditions are at higher risk of homelessness, and on average, people with no home die decades earlier than those who are housed. The condition of homelessness itself is constant suffering from hunger, extreme weather and treatable illness. Every day in the United States, roughly 2,500 Americans escape homelessness and move into homes where they can rebuild their lives. But for every person who exits homelessness, another enters the traumatic experience that impacts well over 1 million people in the United States each year. Until we close this revolving door and prevent people from losing their homes in the first place, we cannot end homelessness. Read more here.
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EHR Data Sharing Shows Promise for Public Health Monitoring of Drug Use
EHR data sharing can support near-real-time information access on drug use-related healthcare use to guide clinical and public health responses, according to a study published in Health Affairs. Researchers leveraged the Minnesota EHR Consortium, a data sharing collaboration across health systems in Minnesota. The study used hospital and emergency department (ED) visit data from May 2012 to June 2023. Based on monthly data from six health systems, the researchers found that hospital and ED visits involving methamphetamine had the most significant increase over time (302 percent), and opioid-related visits increased across the countywide sample, consistent with patterns at the national level. Read more here.
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Helping Older Adults Age Well in Rural America
Many rural older adults have lived their whole lives in the same small towns, some in the same homes. Others are more recent arrivals, including the aging parents of immigrants who’ve come to work in agriculture, energy, or other industries. Like older adults across the country, rural seniors tend to want to age in their communities, amid familiar people and places. But with fewer health care providers, fewer professional caregivers, and fewer young people than in urban areas, rural communities struggle to care for aging residents. “It’s the number-one challenge rural communities are facing,” says David Trost, CEO of a senior housing services provider in Billings, Montana. “The folks who are staying are old. And the folks who are leaving are young, and so there’s fewer people to serve the old.” Read more here.
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It’s Getting Harder to Find Long-Term Residential Behavioral Health Treatment for Kids
Connie MacDonald works for the State Department at the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It’s a dream job, and she loved living abroad with her two sons. But earlier this year, MacDonald said, her 8-year-old son started to become aggressive. At first the family thought it was ADHD. Her son was indeed eventually diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder — as well as disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, which makes it difficult for her son to control his emotions, particularly anger. The American International School of Jeddah told her that her son couldn’t come back. His behavior was so severe that MacDonald started to look for residential treatment back in the U.S. Read more here.
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Exploring Value-Based Payment for Substance Use Disorder Services in the United States
This new report from SAMHSA explores the use of Value-Based Payment (VBP) model and the potential to improve delivery of integrated and coordinated substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services.
Related: More Provider Orgs Have Value-Based Contracts With Private Payers
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SAMHSA’s SMVF TA Center Invites Communities to Apply for Crisis Intercept Mapping Workshops
Application due date: December 7, 2023
SAMHSA and its Service Members, Veterans, and their Families Technical Assistance Center (SMVF TA Center) are currently soliciting applications from communities interested in Crisis Intercept Mapping (CIM) Workshops. CIM Workshops are designed to bring together interagency teams from counties, cities, or other local jurisdictions to:
- Assess local crisis care systems to improve coordination and services
- Strengthening collaboration through military, Veteran, and civilian community partners
- Apply evidence-based and best practices in SMVF suicide prevention
- Develop a tailored Crisis Intercept Map for your community with a corresponding action plan to improve crisis care services.
Read more here.
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New York Council on Problem Gambling Launches New Program
The New York Council on Problem Gambling (NYCPG) is pleased to announce the launch of a new program. The Voluntary Self Exclusion (VSE) Support Program aims to provide support to anyone interested in excluding themselves from gambling activities in New York State such as horse racing, casinos, and mobile sports gambling. VSE can be a helpful tool for someone experiencing problems due to their gambling behaviors. As part of this new program, NYCPG will offer connection to an expert in the problem gambling field, assistance with the NYS VSE form and self-exclusion process, electronic notary services for the mail-in VSE form, and additional information and support for problem gambling services such as counseling, peer support, and recovery services. There is no fee for any of these services and they are confidential. These services may be beneficial to your clients. For more information on this program, you can reach out to VSESupport@NYCPG.org or 518-903-0217.
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UPCOMING EVENTS & TRAININGS
11/8 Webinar Recording: Rural Definitions and Data: Changes after the 2020 Census
Rural Health Information Hub in partnership with the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy
The Health Care Workforce Under Pressure: Strikes, Shortages, and Staffing Requirements
November 16, 12 - 1 pm, KFF
Honoring Native American Cultures in Integrated Health
November 16, 1 - 2 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
National Trends in State Spending for Children and Youth
November 16, 2 - 3 pm, National Conference of State Legislatures
Peers and Clinicians Together (PACT)
November 16, 2:30 - 3:30 pm, NTTAC
Broadening Your Scope of Care - A Focus on Prevention Series, Part 2: Cannabis Policy and Prevention in the Era of Commercial Cannabis
November 17, 12 - 1:30 pm, NAADAC
Transgender Day of Remembrance - Virtual
November 19, 2 pm, Adirondack North Country Gender Alliance
HR Staff and Employers: Part Time or Full Time? Hiring Peers Receiving Social Security Benefits
November 21, 11 am - 12 pm, PeerTAC
Gambling Disorder among US Military Veterans: Clinical Considerations
November 27, 12 - 1 pm, NYCPG
Striving and Thriving among Certified Peer Specialists
November 27, 1 - 2 pm, SAMHSA
Utilizing Incentives and Sanctions to Support Successful Outcomes in Treatment Court
November 27, 1:30 - 3 pm, SAMHSA's GAINS Center
Complex Case Discharge Delay Learning Series: Considerations for Information Sharing During Discharge
November 30, 2 - 3 pm, HANYS
The Youth Mental Health Crisis and Opportunities for Integrated Care
November 30, 2 - 3:30 pm,
Navigating PSYCKES Recipient Search for Population Health
November 30, 3 - 4 pm, OMH
Peer Recovery Support Series, Part 10: The ABCs of Problem Solving for Peer Specialists
November 30, 3 - 4 pm, NAADAC
Helping Children & Adolescents with Emotional Problems - A Q&A with Daniel S. Pine, MD
November 30, 7 - 8 pm, BBRF
Improving Substance Misuse Prevention Outcomes through Data-Informed Decision Making
December 1, 12 - 1:30 pm, NAADAC
Recovery Ready Workplace New York Symposium
December 4 - 5, Crowne Plaza, Albany, FOR-NY
Mitigating Crisis with Presence: Developing Mobile Crisis Response to 988 Calls
December 4, 2:30 - 4 pm, SAMHSA's GAINS Center
The Poison Center's Role in Suicide Prevention: Seasonality and Suicide Risk
December 13, 10 - 11 am, OMH, Upstate NY Poison Center, NYSSPC
American Tragedy: Dopesick Author Beth Macy on the Opioid Crisis, Overdose Deaths and What's Next
December 13, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Promoting Equity through Police-Mental Health Collaborations (PMHCs): A Community Workshop
December 14, 1:30 - 3 pm, CSG Justice Center
Community Connections: Working with Justice-involved Individuals
December 20, 12 - 1 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
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CLMHD CALENDAR
NOVEMBER
Developmental Disabilities Committee Meeting
November 16: 1 - 3 pm
Children & Families Committee Meeting
November 21: 11:30 am - 1 pm
CLMHD Office Closed - Thanksgiving
November 23 - 24
Deputy DCS Call
November 28: 10 - 11 am
DECEMBER
CLMHD Executive Committee Meeting
December 6: 8 - 9 am
LGU Clinic Operators Call
December 12: 10 - 11:30 am
Addiction Services & Supports (ASR) Committee Meeting
December 14: 11 am - 12 pm
Mental Health Committee Meeting
December 14: 3 - 4 pm
Children & Families Committee Meeting
December 19: 11:30 am - 1 pm
Membership Call
December 20: 9 - 10:30 am
Mental Hygiene Planning Committee Meeting
December 21: 1 - 3 pm
CLMHD Office Closed - Christmas
December 25
Deputy DCS Call
December 26: 10 - 11 am
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