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Loss of EmploymentLoss of Employment, MP3, 1.3MB
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More InfoLatest News Around the Web
Patients With Substance Use Disorders Face Increased Risk For Unplanned Hospital Readmissions, Study Finds
HealthDay (7/29, Solomon) reports a study found that “people with any type of substance use disorder (SUD) face a higher risk for having an unplanned, 30-day hospital readmission compared with those without SUD.” Researchers observed that “patients with any SUD and patients specifically with opioid use disorder were more likely to have a 30-day unplanned readmission versus patients without SUDs. After adjusting for covariates, only patients with SUDs discharged to home or self-care had a higher risk for unplanned readmission. Among patients who eloped or who were discharged to a home health service or an inpatient facility, there was no association between SUD and 30-day unplanned readmission.” The study was published in Addiction.
Related Links:
— “Substance Use Disorder Linked to Higher Risk for Unplanned Readmissions,”
Lori Solomon, HealthDay , July 29, 2025
Report Finds Only A Dozen States Have Laws Establishing Suicide Prevention Offices, Coordinators
Stateline (7/29, Hassanein) says that a new report found that “only a dozen states have laws establishing suicide prevention offices or coordinators, and just 11 have task forces or committees dedicated to suicide prevention efforts.” The report, conducted by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials with support from the CDC, “comes amid sweeping cuts at federal agencies that offer mental health support,” such as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). It notes that “about 60% of states – 29 states and Washington, D.C. – have laws that establish some form of fatality review committees that specifically include suicide deaths in reviews. Areas of focus varied among the states. Some had statewide teams and others were on the local level, according to the report.”
Related Links:
— “State suicide prevention efforts are lacking amid federal cuts,” Nada Hassanein, Stateline, July 29, 2025
Dementia Diagnosis Takes An Average Of 3.5 Years After Onset Of Symptoms, Analysis Finds
HealthDay (7/29, Mundell) reports a meta-analysis found “that, overall, it takes an average of three-and-a-half years after symptoms first appear for a patient to be properly diagnosed with dementia. That lag stretched to just over four years when the person was younger and experiencing early-onset dementia, the researchers said.” They noted that “younger age, as well having a form of illness known as frontotemporal dementia, were each linked to a longer time to diagnosis.” A study included in the analysis “also found that Black patients faced longer wait times to a dementia diagnosis.” The analysis was published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Related Links:
— “Dementia Diagnosis Typically Comes 3.5 Years After Symptoms,”Ernie Mundell , HealthDay , July 29, 2025
CMS considers attempt at creating national provider directory
Modern Healthcare (7/28, Tepper, Subscription Publication) reports CMS “wants to take another crack at creating a national provider directory in an effort to replace insurance company lists.” Officials “touted the idea at a meeting with health information technology executives in June,” and in a later post on X, “CMS described its goal as a ‘dynamic, interoperable directory that connects the data CMS has with what the industry knows, so we all work from the same map.’” According to Modern Healthcare, a national provider directory would ideally “ease a major pain point for patients and reduce administrative costs for health insurance companies, providers and government health programs.”
Related Links:
— “CMS inches toward establishing national provider directory,”Nona Tepper, Modern Healthcare, July 28, 2025
Study Shows Just 37% Of Adolescents With Cannabis Use Disorder Complete Treatment
HealthDay (7/28, Gotkine) reports a study found that “only 36.8 percent of adolescents diagnosed with cannabis use disorder (CUD) complete treatment.” The researchers “used data from the 2018 to 2021 Treatment Episode Data Set-Discharges, which included 40,054 adolescents diagnosed with CUD, to examine treatment outcomes and factors associated with treatment completion.” They found that “36.8 percent of adolescents completed treatment. Dropping out and transferring to another facility/program were the most common reasons for not completing treatment (28.4 and 17.0 percent, respectively). Male adolescents had a lower likelihood of completing treatment versus female adolescents.” The study was published in Pediatric Reports.
Related Links:
— “Only 36.8 Percent of Teens With Cannabis Use Disorder Complete Treatment,”
Elana Gotkine, HealthDay , July 28, 2025
Foundation News
The Foundation Talks About Job Loss and Anxiety in These Trying Times
Losing your job can feel like losing a part of yourself. The financial and emotional strain can be very painful. The Foundation covers the current job loss in the federal workforce and economic instability in their latest Public Service Announcement.
Loss of EmploymentLoss of Employment, MP3, 1.3MB
You can listen to the ad using the player in the upper right of the website’s homepage. All past public service spots are also available for listening or to download on our Radio Advertisements page.
Latest Foundation Radio PSA Examine How Extreme Weather Changes Affect Mental Health
Hotter summers and more severe storms can seriously affect people with psychiatric disorders. Medicines prodded can make one more prone to heat stroke, and each degree rise in temperature has been shown to cause significant rises in hospitalizations for mental disorders. The Foundation covers this and more in their latest Public Service Announcement.
How Extreme Weather Changes Affect Mental HealthHow Extreme Weather Changes Affect Mental Health, MP3, 1.0MB
You can listen to the ad using the player in the upper right of the website’s homepage. All past public service spots are also available for listening or to download on our Radio Advertisements page.
Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller to Receive MFP Anti-Stigma Advocacy Award
The 2024 Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry (MFP) Anti-Stigma Advocacy Prize will be awarded to Maryland Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller for her Personal Interview on May 23, 2023 with WBAL News.
Lt. Gov. Miller was very helpful, conveying to the public in a very personal way the impact of her father’s mental illness – not only on him, but on their family. Her experience also demonstrated that one can live through this kind of experience and still become very successful adults. She also made an important point that mental illness isn’t a moral failing, but is a chronic health condition.
The Anti-Stigma Advocacy Award will be formally presented at the Maryland Psychiatric Society annual meeting on April 18.
The Foundation established this annual prize for a worthy media piece, preferably local or regional, that accomplishes one or more of the following:
- Shares with the public their experience with mental illness in themselves, a family member, or simply in the community.
- Helps others to overcome their inability to talk about mental illness or their own mental illness.
- Imparts particularly insightful observations on the general subject of mental illness.
Click here for information about past winners.
PSA Examines Anxiety from Political and Social Media
The Foundation has re-released a Public Service Announcement to local Maryland radio stations that examines anxiety caused by political and social media. People experience a wide variety of feelings after a particularly divisive political campaign or a significant event getting 24 hour coverage across networks and online. Those feelings can include alienation from family and friends, anger at a system or event out of their control, and grief or helplessness at what may come. There are things that can be done to help, ranging from breaks from Facebook and TikTok and similar sites to seeking actual help from professionals.
Listen to the PSA on our home page or from our PSA collection, where you can listen to or download other advice given in past PSAs.
Call for Nominations for Anti-Stigma Advocacy Award
The Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry presents an annual award to recognize a worthy piece published in a major newspaper or on public media that accomplishes one or more of the following:
· Shares with the public their experience with mental illness in themselves, a family member, or in the community.
· Helps others to overcome their inability to talk about mental illness or their own mental illness.
· Imparts particularly insightful observations on the general subject of mental illness.
The article should be published or produced during the period from January 15, 2023 to January 9, 2024. A Maryland author and/or newspaper or major media outlet is preferred. Click here for past winners and published articles.
The award carries a $500 prize, which is given at the Maryland Psychiatric Society annual meeting in April. Please send nominations to mfp@mdpsych.org by January 10, 2024.