STAT (7/29, Isselbacher) reports, “In the wake of nationwide demonstrations against police brutality, there has been a surge in interest in making sure mental health” professionals, “not law enforcement, are the ones to respond to a psychiatric crisis.” Across the US, “dozens of cities…have what are known as mobile crisis units, which deploy trained professionals to respond to people experiencing a mental health crisis with compassion and clinical expertise.” Now, such “mobile crisis teams have been flooded with calls from other communities hoping to replicate their models.”

Related Links:

— “As mobile mental health teams work to de-escalate crises, some warn their models still rely on police partnerships, “Juliet Isselbacher, STAT, July 29, 2020

Healio (7/29, Gramigna) reports, “More than one-fourth of U.S. adults reported using telepsychiatry for mental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic,” researchers concluded. The global biopharmaceutical company “Alkermes partnered with The Harris Poll to conduct an online survey among 2,019 U.S. adults 18 years and older between May 27 and May 29,” in particular assessing “participants’ telepsychiatry use before and during the pandemic, and” then gauging “their interest in future use of telepsychiatry after the pandemic.”

Related Links:

— “More than 25% of Americans using telepsychiatry during COVID-19 pandemic, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, July 29, 2020

Psychiatric News (7/29) reports, “Among Medicare beneficiaries, racial minorities – African Americans, Hispanics, and American Indians/Alaskan Natives – have been disproportionately affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic compared with white beneficiaries,” the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) concluded in “a ‘Preliminary Medicare COVID-19 Snapshot’ released this week.” The report analyzed “claims data from the Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) and Medicare Advantage programs received by July 17,” then determined “COVID-19 cases…by an ICD-10 diagnosis code for COVID-19 on a claim or encounter record for any health care setting.”

Related Links:

— “Medicare Data Show Disproportionate Effect of COVID-19 on Racial, Ethnic Minorities, Psychiatric News, July 29, 2020

Medscape (7/29, Davenport, Subscription Publication) reports research indicates that “social cognition training can benefit patients with schizophrenia, and…adding regular aerobic exercise sessions substantially increases the improvements in a dose-response manner.” In the study, which involved “47 patients with schizophrenia, improvement in cognition tripled after adding an aerobic exercise program to cognitive training (CT) compared with CT alone.” The findings were set for presentation at the Congress of the Schizophrenia International Research Society 2020, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Related Links:

— “Aerobic Exercise May Up Brain-Training Benefits in Schizophrenia, “Liam Davenport, Medscape, July 29, 2020

HealthDay (7/28, Norton) reports researchers found in a large study that “people with a history of concussion may face increased risks” for certain psychiatric and neurological diseases. The researchers “found that those who suffered a concussion were more likely to develop any of several conditions, including: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD); depression or anxiety; Parkinson’s disease; or dementia.” These “risks were roughly 40% to 70% higher, compared to people who did not sustain a concussion during the 25-year study period.” The findings were published in Family Medicine and Community Health.

Related Links:

— “Concussion Ups Odds for Many Brain Conditions, “Amy Norton, HealthDay, July 28, 2020

Newsweek (7/28, Gander) reports investigators have linked “traces of the chemical lithium in drinking water…to lower suicide rates” by examining data from “15 existing ecological studies related to lithium and suicide.” The findings of the systematic review were published online July 27 in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Traces of Lithuim in Drinking Water May Have ‘Anti-Suicidal Effect’, “Kashmira Gander, Newsweek, July 28, 2020

Psychiatric News (7/28) reports the “trauma and unpredictability” of the COVID-19 pandemic may “add stress in the lives of vulnerable children, including those who are abused, maltreated, and/or have a mental illness.” For that reason, “there is much that can be learned from such stress to help vulnerable families in the future, according to” a viewpoint published online July 27 in JAMA Pediatrics. The viewpoint’s authors “advised researchers to carefully assess parents and children over time about family exposure to the pandemic and COVID-19–associated losses/strains, including the loss of housing, increased family conflict, and/or separation from a parent or the death of loved one.” The viewpoint’s authors concluded, “[L]essons from COVID-19 have the potential to deepen rather than diminish the research agenda on adverse early experiences among children and families.”

Related Links:

— “Lessons From Pandemic Could Advance Understanding of How Best to Support Vulnerable Families, Psychiatric News, July 28, 2020

MedPage Today (7/27, Hlavinka) reports that a national survey indicates that “as COVID-19 infections ravaged the country from March to June, parent and child well-being felt the ripple effects.” Among the more than 1,000 “parents who responded to the survey, 26.9% said their mental health had worsened, 14.3% said their children’s behavioral health had declined, and 9.6% said both their mental health and their children’s behavioral health had slumped.” The survey also found that “nearly half of these families reporting declines in parental and child well-being lost access to childcare (47.6%), and food insecurity also rose across the study period.” The findings were published in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (7/27) reports, “Last week, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar formally renewed the agency’s determination that the COVID-19 pandemic is a public health emergency,” an extension that “keeps many regulatory changes and waivers relevant to psychiatrists – such as relaxed telemedicine restrictions – in effect for the time being.” In a letter (PDF) sent to Azar, APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, MD, MPA, wrote, “APA recently surveyed its membership to understand the impact of easing telehealth regulations on practice during the PHE [public health emergency],” finding “a major shift to the use of telehealth after the PHE was declared.” Dr. Levin continued, “These survey results mirror national research on telehealth that show improved access to care, reduced no-show rates, and a high rate of patient satisfaction.”

Related Links:

— “HHS Renews Declaration of Public Health Emergency for COVID-19, Psychiatric News, July 27, 2020

Medscape (7/24, Hughes, Subscription Publication) reported, “In the past 5 years, there has been a significant drop in the use of prescription opioids and in deaths associated with such use; but at the same time there’s been a dramatic increase in fatalities involving illicit opioids and stimulants, a new report from the American Medical Association (AMA) Opioid Task Force shows.” Even though “the medical community has made some important progress against the opioid epidemic, with a 37% reduction in opioid prescribing since 2013, illicit drugs are now the dominant reason why drug overdoses kill more than 70,000 people each year, the report says.” In an attempt “to improve the situation, the AMA Opioid Task Force is urging the removal of barriers to evidence-based care for patients who have pain and for those who have substance use disorders (SUDs).” Task force chair and immediate past president Patrice A. Harris, M.D., M.A., told Medscape Medical News, “It is critically important as we see drug overdoses increasing that we work towards reducing barriers of care for substance use abusers. … At present, the status quo is killing far too many of our loved ones and wreaking havoc in our communities.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)