 | |
The Man in Room 117
Andrey Shevelyov would rather live on the street than take antipsychotic medication. Should it be his decision to make?
Alone with his mother for the first time in almost a year, Andrey Shevelyov had a question: Could he come home? She sat beside him and stroked his head. The hotel room had a sour, rancid smell, and clothes lay mounded in a corner. His fingernails were long and curved and ridged with dirt. In jail, they cut off his hair, which had been matted and infested with lice. Clean-shaven now, Andrey looked younger than his 31 years, like the gentle, artistic boy he had been before the psychosis took hold. “Zaichik,” his mother called him, a childhood nickname. Bunny rabbit. She pushed a strand of hair over his ear. He lay back on the bed and smiled, and a dimple appeared on his cheek. “I like living with you also,” said Olga Mintonye, but it was not an honest answer. Three years ago, when he stopped taking his antipsychotic medication, her son withdrew into delusions, erupting in unpredictable and menacing outbursts. Fearful of being evicted from their apartment, she and her husband, Sam, sought a no-contact order to keep Andrey away. Read more here.
|  | |
Addiction Providers Embrace Harm Reduction and MAT, But Abstinence-Based Treatment Isn’t Dead Yet
The SUD treatment industry is beginning to move away from an abstinence-only approach to care and towards harm-reduction and medication-assisted treatment approaches. Research demonstrates that abstinence-based substance use disorder (SUD) treatment is deadlier than no treatment at all. Despite shifts in the industry away from a concept of recovery that involves strict abstinence, providers say that more traditional approaches will remain an essential part of the treatment spectrum. The abstinence-only treatment industry is heavily influenced by the 12-step program model popularized by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA). Read more here.
|  | |
Why Are People Afraid of the Most Popular Opioid Addiction Treatment?
Buprenorphine saved Eric Ezzi. Heroin had overrun the Philadelphia-area native’s life in his early 20s. He lost jobs, went to jail and burned bridges with his family. A few years into his addiction, Ezzi found what he hoped would be the ultimate solution: buprenorphine. Often known by the brand name Suboxone, buprenorphine is a medication that blocks a person’s cravings for stronger opioids without offering much of a high and prevents symptoms of painful withdrawal. Decades of research have found that buprenorphine helps people reduce their illegal drug use, improve their quality of life and lower their risk of premature death by 50%. Eric Ezzi said the precipitated withdrawal brought on by taking buprenorphine after fentanyl felt like he was “imploding from within.” But the rise of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl has made it harder to use this highly effective treatment. With 83,000 people dying from opioid overdoses in 2022 — 75,000 involving fentanyl — clinicians, researchers and policymakers are scrambling to adapt. Read more here.
Related: SAMHSA’s updated Overdose Prevention and Response Toolkit
Characterizing Opioid Withdrawal Experiences and Consequences Among a Community Sample of People Who Use Opioids
|  | |
Opioid Fight Gets Resources, Faces Pitfalls After Settlement
Virginia counties have done a lot of the work in the wake of the opioid epidemic — law enforcement, social services, family support — but they have not been the actual provider of behavioral health services.
Following the settlement of the multidistrict litigation against pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, marketers and retailers, those counties are finding themselves to be one of the few parties eligible to receive their share of $54 billion. Grants from that settlement will go to compensate counties for the work they’ve done in response and to fund ongoing efforts to treat and prevent substance use disorder. Tony McDowell, executive director of the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority, thinks that won’t necessarily be bad. Read more here.
Related: Biden-Harris Administration Marks Two Years of Advancements in HHS’ Overdose Prevention Strategy with New Actions to Treat Addiction and Save Lives
| |
Medicaid Coverage of Medications to Reverse Opioid Overdose and Treat Alcohol and Opioid Use Disorders
This report provides an update on the present state of coverage, availability of, and access to, medications for treating ongoing alcohol use disorder (AUD) and opioid use disorder (OUD) and reversing an opioid overdose within state Medicaid plans. It also includes examples of innovative efforts to increase access to medications for the treatment of SUDs.
Related: Low Reimbursements Threaten Behavioral Health Providers’ Bottom Line
|  | |
988-Hotline Counselors Air Concerns: More Training Needed to Juggle a Mix of Calls
In the year and a half since its launch, 988 — the country’s easy-to-remember, three-digit suicide and crisis hotline — has received about 8.1 million calls, texts, and chats. While much attention has been focused on who is reaching out and whether the shortened number has accomplished its goal of making services more accessible to people in emotional distress, curiosity is growing about the people taking those calls. An estimated 10,000 to 11,000 counselors work at more than 200 call centers nationwide, fielding calls from people experiencing anxiety, depression, or suicidal thoughts. A newly released report, based on responses from 47 crisis counselors, explored variations in their training and work experiences. Read more here.
|  | |
Psychiatric Bed Shortages Reach Crisis Levels as Occupancy Rates Skyrocket
The number of state psychiatric hospital beds has dipped to a historic low. In turn occupancy rates have increased. New research from The Treatment and Advocacy Center paints a picture of a national state psychiatric hospital crisis, with 19 states decreasing the number of online beds by more than 20% since 2016.
In 2023, the number of state hospital beds was 10.8 per 100,000 people, an 8% decrease from 2016. This has pushed up the median occupancy rates across the country. In 2023, the median occupancy rate was 90%. Additionally, 73% of states surveyed in the report said occupancy rates in their states are above the recommended 85% threshold. Read more here.
|  | |
Cultural Competence in Healthcare: Why It’s Important & How to Build It
Healthcare is undergoing a seismic shift, with the role of public and population health playing a bigger role in patient care than ever before. Core to that role is the increased focus on health disparities, health equity, and cultural competence in healthcare. According to the National Prevention Information Network, a project within the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), cultural competency is essential for cross-cultural work. “'Culture' refers to integrated patterns of human behavior that include the language, thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of racial, ethnic, religious, or social groups. 'Competence' implies having the capacity to function effectively as an individual and an organization within the context of the cultural beliefs, behaviors, and needs presented by consumers and their communities.” Read more here.
|  | |
Ketamine Therapy for Mental Health a ‘Wild West’ for Doctors and Patients
In late 2022, Sarah Gutilla’s treatment-resistant depression had grown so severe, she was actively contemplating suicide. Raised in foster care, the 34-year-old’s childhood was marked by physical violence, sexual abuse, and drug use, leaving her with life-threatening mental scars. Out of desperation, her husband scraped together $600 for the first of six rounds of intravenous ketamine therapy at Ketamine Clinics Los Angeles, which administers the generic anesthetic for off-label uses such as treating depression. When Gutilla got into an Uber for the 75-mile drive to Los Angeles, it was the first time she had left her home in Llano, California, in two years. The results, she said, were instant. For-profit ketamine clinics have proliferated over the past few years, offering infusions for a wide array of mental health issues, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, and anxiety. Read more here.
|  | |
Community Health Centers Serve 1 In 11 Americans. They’re A Safety Net under Stress
Elisa Reyes has come to Plaza del Sol Family Health Center for doctor’s appointments for more than a decade. Though she moved away a while ago, the 33-year-old keeps returning, even if it means a two-hour roundtrip bus ride. That’s because her two children see the same doctor she does. Because when she’s sick, she can walk in without an appointment. Because the staff at the Queens clinic helped her apply for health insurance and food stamps. “I feel at home. They also speak my language,” Reyes said in Spanish. “I feel comfortable.” Plaza del Sol is one of two dozen sites run by Urban Health Plan Inc., which is one of nearly 1,400 federally designated community health centers. One in 11 Americans rely on these to get routine medical care, social services and, in some cases, fresh food. Read more here.
|  | |
Novel Approaches Are Essential for Enabling Patient-First Outcomes in Value Based Care Models
American healthcare is highly inefficient. Across a variety of long-term health and treatment outcomes and patient safety metrics, the U.S. has lower performance compared with countries of similar economic status, despite spending more money per capita than its peers. In 2022, the U.S. spent an estimated $12,555 per person on healthcare — the highest among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) countries and nearly double the average for wealthy OECD countries (excluding the U.S.). With U.S. national health expenditures expected to outpace average GDP growth between 2022 and 2031, there is an urgent need for new approaches to reduce healthcare costs, while improving health outcomes. In other words, American healthcare must become much more efficient without compromising the quality of care. Read more here.
| |
 | |
Governor Hochul Awards $100 Million to 50 School Districts to Support Efforts to Combat Pandemic Learning Loss and Expand Access to Mental Health Care
Governor Kathy Hochul on Wednesday awarded $100 million for 50 school districts and BOCES to address pandemic learning loss and provide students with mental health support. The funding will expand student access to evidence-based interventions to combat learning loss and also help staff and students identify and respond to mental health concerns. Today’s announcement builds on Governor Hochul’s priority to expand mental health support for students.
Read more here.
Related: Teen Drug and Alcohol Use Linked to Mental Health Distress
|  | |
Health Providers See Rise in Self-Poisoning Among Young People
As the U.S. continues to face mental health and opioid crises, children are often some of the most impacted. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the suicide rate among young people ages 10-24 increased by 62% from 2007 to 2021. A disturbing and growing trend among children and adolescents is the use of poison. The Upstate New York Poison Center discussed this, and what families can do to keep their children safe. Vince Calleo, medical director at the Upstate New York Poison Center, says they’ve seen a significant rise in self-harm attempts among children and adolescents by poisoning. He can’t say this is directly caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but... Read more here.
| |
Drug Overdose Cardiac Arrests Involve Younger, Healthier People than Other Cardiac Arrests
An analysis of data for more than 500,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the U.S. found key differences in outcomes between cardiac arrests caused by drug overdoses and cardiac arrests due to other causes, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association. Read more here.
|  |  | |
UPCOMING EVENTS & TRAININGS
Born This Way? The Role Of Early Life Stress In Adult Mental Illness
February 1, 12 - 1 pm, PsychU
The Utility of Outpatient Civil Commitment
February 1, 3 - 4 pm, SMI Advisor
Bridging the Data Gaps in Behavioral Health: Why Payors and Providers are Turning to AI
February 2, 12 - 1 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Opioid Overdose Reduction Continuum of Care (ORCCA)
February 2, 3 - 4 pm, Addiction Policy Forum
Problem Gambling Screening in Treatment Programs, Why It Matters
February 5, 1 - 2 pm, OASAS
FREE Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) for Specialty Providers in Capital Region
February 6 & 8, 9 am - 12 pm, MHANYS
Understanding the New ACOG Clinical Practice Guidelines for Screening and Diagnosis of Mental Health Conditions During Pregnancy and Postpartum
February 7, 12 - 1 pm, Project TEACH
Comparing Healthcare AI Platforms: 7 Must-Haves For Any Behavioral Health Organization
February 7, 1 - 2 pm, OPEN MINDS
Spotlight on CMS’ Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Guidance
February 7, 3 - 4 pm, Manatt
Advancing the Science on Peer Support and Suicide Prevention 2-Day Workshop
February 8 & 12, 11 am - 3:45 pm, NIH
Clinical Supervision within the Substance Use Workforce: Addressing the Generational Gap
February 13, 1 - 2:30 pm, MPATTC
The Next Step in Suicide Prevention
February 13, 1 - 2 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Establishing Mobile Crisis Teams as Trusted Partners in Communities of Service Members, Veterans, and their Families (SMVF)
February 13, 1 - 2 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Engaging Community Organizations in Redesigning Reentry
February 13, 2 - 3 pm, Rx Foundation
The Connection Between Heart Disease and Mental Health in the Black Community
February 15, 12 - 1 pm, CEMHTTC
Addressing Legal Obstacles to Hiring Formerly Incarcerated Individuals as Community Health Workers
February 15, 1 - 2 pm, Network for Public Health Law
Navigating the Competency to Stand Trial System for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD)
February 15, 1:30 - 3 pm, SAMHSA's GAINS Center
Targeted Homelessness Prevention: Stemming the Inflow
February 15, 3 - 4 pm, National Alliance to End Homelessness
Changing Minds & Advancing Lines: Why We Must Keep Pushing for Mental Health Equity
February 20, 2 - 3 pm, NIMH
Exploring Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Treatment Landscape & Unmet Needs
February 28, 12 - 1 pm, PsychU
What Should the Healthcare Sector’s Role Be in Addressing Adverse Social Drivers of Health?
February 28, 12 - 1 pm, SIREN
Planning for the Future: Ensuring Sustainability for Drug Treatment Courts
February 29, 1:30 - 3 pm, SAMHSA's GAINS Center
2024 NYCPG Annual Conference - Registration Open!
March 5 - 7, Albany Marriott, NY Council on Problem Gambling
Creative Solutions for Mobile Crisis Teams to Effectively Engage With Rural and Frontier Communities
March 12, 1 - 2 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
FREE Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) for Specialty Providers in Capital Region
March 13, 9 am - 3 pm, MHANYS
SAVE THE DATE: What It Takes: Supervising Peer Support Specialists
March 15 & 22, 9 am - 4 pm, PeerTAC
| |
CLMHD CALENDAR
FEBRUARY
Quarterly LGU Billing Staff Call
February 6: 11 am - 12 pm
Executive Committee Meeting
February 7: 8 - 9 am
Addiction Services & Supports (ASR) Committee Meeting
February 8: 11 am - 12 pm
Developmental Disabilities Committee Meeting
February 8: 1 - 2:30 pm
Mental Health Committee Meeting
February 8: 3 - 4 pm
Quarterly AOT Coordinators Call
February 9: 10 - 11:30 am
LGU Clinic Operators Meeting
February 13: 10 - 11 am
"Lessons from the Hart" - Mentoring Workshop
February 14: 12 - 2 pm
Children & Families Committee Meeting
February 20: 11:30 am - 1 pm
Membership Call
February 21: 9 - 10:30 am
| |
