California Law Aims to Strengthen Access to Mental Health Services The number of people with symptoms of depression and anxiety has nearly quadrupled during the covid pandemic, which has made it even more maddeningly difficult to get timely mental health care, even if you have good insurance. A California law signed Oct. 8 by Gov. Gavin Newsom could help. It requires that mental health and substance abuse patients be offered return appointments no more than 10 days after a previous session, unless their provider OKs less frequent visits. Current insurance regulations already require giving patients an initial mental health visit no more than 10 ... October 29, 2021 COVID19, Healthcare, Mental Health, Patient Care Healthcare, Mental Health 0 0 Comment Read More »
In Their Own Words: How Fragmented Care Harms People with Both Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorder For the 8.9 million American adults — about 500,000 Californians — with a dual diagnosis of mental illness and substance use disorder, it can be difficult to receive fully coordinated and effective care. For people with low incomes, the barriers can be even higher and lead to unnecessary suffering and poor health outcomes. To better understand how Californians with dual diagnoses experience treatment, CHCF commissioned interviews with 54 people insured through Medi-Cal who have both mental illness and substance use disorder (SUD), as well as additional interviews with the family ... October 5, 2021 Healthcare, Medi-Cal, Mental Health Fragmented Care, Health Outcomes, Mental Health 0 0 Comment Read More »
Mental Health–Related Emergency Department Visits Among Children Aged <18 Years During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, January 1–October 17, 2020 Rebecca T. Leeb, PhD1; Rebecca H. Bitsko, PhD1; Lakshmi Radhakrishnan, MPH2; Pedro Martinez, MPH3; Rashid Njai, PhD4; Kristin M. Holland, PhD5 Published reports suggest that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a negative effect on children’s mental health (1,2). Emergency departments (EDs) are often the first point of care for children experiencing mental health emergencies, particularly when other services are inaccessible or unavailable (3). During March 29–April 25, 2020, when widespread shelter-in-place orders were in effect, ED visits for persons of all ages declined 42% compared with the ... August 17, 2021 COVID19, Mental Health Children, COVID-19, Mental Health, Pandemic 0 0 Comment Read More »
Coping with COVID Stress - Quick Tips from AAFP Family physicians Lalita Abhyankar, MD, and Kyle Bradford Jones, MD, recently joined Ada Stewart, MD, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), for a virtual town hall(www.youtube.com) about stress and trauma related to COVID-19. The town hall was titled “Your Feelings Are Real: Navigating Grief, Anger, Fear, Guilt, and Moral Injury.” Jones shared his own experience working through depression and anxiety during medical training, an experience he chronicled in a memoir(www.amazon.com), and shared how the past year has worsened his mental health. Abhyankar, who works at a federally qualified health center in ... February 24, 2021 COVID19, Mental Health, Physician Wellness COVID-19, Mental Health, Stress, Trauma 0 0 Comment Read More »
Santa Clara County Offers Tools, Training to Prepare for AB 340 Trauma "Screening" Bill Effective July 1 Trauma informed care is a model of care intended to promote healing and reduce risk for retraumatization. Early identification of trauma and providing the appropriate treatment are critical tools for reducing long-term healthcare costs for both children and adults. Individuals who experienced trauma in childhood are at significantly increased risk of heart diseases and diabetes compared to those who did not experience traumatic events. Research has shown that individuals who experienced several traumatic childhood events are likely to die 20 years sooner than those without these experiences. These physical health costs ... April 23, 2019 Mental Health, Trama Screening, Trauma Informed Care AB 340, Mental Health, Trauma Informed Care, Trauma Screening 0 0 Comment Read More »
