HealthDay (7/7) reports, “The Promoting Resilience in Stress Management (PRISM) program for health care workers and staff is feasible, acceptable, and associated with improved outcomes, according to a study.” Investigators “found that 91% of participants completed” this “skills-based coaching program,” and “88% reported being satisfied.” The results published in JAMA Network Open also revealed improvements “in participant-reported resilience, stress, anxiety, and burnout-exhaustion.”

Related Links:

— “Resilience and Stress Management Program Aids Health Care Workers, HealthDay , July 7, 2022

Psychiatric News (7/7) reports, “About 20 years ago, diabetes care changed when an organized effort was made to identify patients at risk of diabetes earlier and connect them with treatment,” and “a similar strategy could be used within the substance use disorder (SUD) field by using the term ‘preaddiction,’ advised A. Thomas McLellan, PhD, George F. Koob, PhD, and Nora D. Volkow, MD, in a Viewpoint piece” published online July 6 in JAMA Psychiatry. In the Viewpoint, the authors observed that “the transition from using a substance to developing a substance use disorder is usually slow and variable.”

Related Links:

— “Concept of ‘Preaddiction’ Could Lead to Early Intervention for Possible Substance Use Disorder, Psychiatric News, July 7, 2022

HCPlive (7/7, Walter) reports research “indicates that a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) does lead to a heightened risk of suicide ideation, suicide attempts, and suicide deaths.” Investigators arrived at that conclusion after conducting a 28-study systematic review and meta-analysis encompassing some “1.05 million individuals with IBD.” The findings were published online in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research.

Related Links:

— “IBD Linked to Higher Risk of Suicide Ideation, Attempts, and Death “Kenny Walter, HCPlive, July 7, 2022

The Wall Street Journal (7/7, Chapman, Subscription Publication) reports on how US school districts are implementing measures during summer classes to help ameliorate the effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on student mental health.

Related Links:

— “Schools Are Tackling Mental Health This Summer “Ben Chapman, The Wall Street Journal, July 7, 2022

RevCycle Intelligence (7/6, LaPointe) reports “claim denial rates varied significantly among Healthcare.gov marketplace payers,” according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis. The results showed “that, overall, nearly one out of every five claims submitted for in-network services in 2020 was denied by marketplace payers,” but “depending on the payer, average claim denial rates ranged from just 1% to 80%.” Also, denial rates “varied significantly by location, the analysis showed.”

Related Links:

— “Claim Denial Rates as High as 80% for Some Marketplace Payers “Jacqueline LaPointe, RevCycle Intelligence, July 6, 2022

HealthDay (7/6, Quinlan Houghtaling) reports, “Children as young as 9 and 10 start to wonder about tobacco, booze and even marijuana, and many may have easy access to these substances at home, mostly because their parents have not forbidden their use yet,” researchers concluded in a study revealing that “about one in 10 of the nearly 12,000 preteen children…said they’re curious about using alcohol or tobacco products, while one in 50 expressed curiosity about using marijuana.” The findings were published in the June issue of the journal Drug & Alcohol Dependence Reports.

Related Links:

— “Do Preteens Think About Booze, Pot? Survey Says Yes “Cara Murez, HealthDay, July 6, 2022

Medscape (7/6, Subscription Publication) reports, “High use of telemental health services by patients with serious mental illness (SMI) who live in nonmetropolitan US counties is associated with improvements in key outcomes, including greater post-hospitalization follow-up, new research suggests.” In this “nationwide study, researchers drew on Medicare data from nearly 3000 counties covering the period from 2000 to 2018.” The “results show that counties in which there was greater use of telemental health services reported higher increases of clinical visits and better follow-up after hospitalization among patients with bipolar 1 disorder and schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders.” The findings were published online June 27 in JAMA Network Open.

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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

The Washington Post (7/6, McShane) reports, “On July 16, Americans will be able to call or text a new phone number – 988 – if they feel they are experiencing a mental health crisis and/or are at risk of suicide.” This “forthcoming switch to 988 is due to passage of the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act,” which “also mandated that the switch to 988 include a strategy to provide specialized services for LGBTQ youth, who are more than four times as likely to contemplate suicide than their non-LGBTQ peers, research shows.” Many “officials say they hope the new, shorter phone number will be easier for Americans to remember, with the goal of helping more people in crisis – and LGBTQ youth in particular.”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (7/5) reports, “Psychedelics such as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and psilocybin have shown promise for the treatment of such psychiatric disorders as posttraumatic stress disorder and depression,” but “any FDA approval of psychedelics will almost certainly lead to substantial off-label use as well, cautioned medical ethicists in a Viewpoint piece” published online June 29 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Guardrails Needed to Control Promotion, Off-label Use of Psychedelics, Psychiatric News, July 5, 2022

According to MedPage Today (7/5, Firth), “a thematic analysis of 200 physician deaths” revealed that “among physician suicides included in the National Violent Death Reporting System database from 2003 to 2018, six themes were found to precede such deaths, including inability to work due to physical health, substance use, mental health issues, relationship conflicts, legal problems, and increased financial stress, all leading to work-related stress.” Researchers then “suggested that suicide risk is associated with premature retirement due to health issues that affect employment.”

HealthDay (7/5, Munez) reports the study authors concluded that “in the short term,” physicians “need better access to primary care services, as well as help with scheduling challenges and concerns about confidentiality.” For “the long term, broader changes are needed to address workplace stress and poor physician self-care, the study said.” The findings were published online June 29 in the journal Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)