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Latest News Around the Web

CMS Launches New Behavioral Health Program For Patients With Severe Mental Health Conditions, SUD

HealthLeaders Media (12/19, Wicklund ) reports, “Federal officials have launched a new behavioral health program aimed at creating care management programs for Medicare and Medicaid patients dealing with severe mental health conditions and substance abuse disorder (SUD).” The CMS “Innovation in Behavioral Health (IBH) Model seeks to bridge the gap between behavioral health and primary care by enabling specialty behavioral health practices, including community mental health centers, opioid treatment programs and private or public practices, to create interprofessional care teams to coordinate care.” The new program’s goal “is to improve care and outcomes for the estimated 25% of all Medicare patients experiencing mental illness and the 40% of Medicaid patients dealing with a mental illness or SUD.”

Related Links:

— “CMS LAUNCHES NEW PROGRAM FOR MENTAL HEALTH, OUD TREATMENT,” Eric Wickland, HealthLeaders Media, December19 , 2024

Teenagers Who Land In ED With Mental Health Crisis Can Be Effectively Helped By Community-Based Program, Study Finds

HealthDay (12/19, Thompson ) reports, “Teenagers who land in an ER with a mental health crisis can be effectively helped by a community-based program.” A new study “shows that troubled teens placed in such a program were significantly less likely to return to the ER or require inpatient psychiatric care due to a follow-up crisis.” The community-based “program did not reduce risk of a subsequent suicide attempt, but did reduce the risk of being hospitalized for a suicide attempt.” The findings were published in Psychiatric Services.

Related Links:

— “New Youth Mental Health Program Shows Promise,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, December 19, 2024

Experts Offer Tips To Avoid Financial Stress During Holiday Season

The AP (12/18, Morga ) reports that although “the holidays are meant to be a time of celebration with family and friends…they can also bring pressure to spend money on gifts, gatherings and plane tickets home, exacerbated by brand emails, social media influencers and family expectations.” With credit card debt increasing “and prices for many items still high due to inflation, overspending during the holiday season can add to the financial stress many Americans are already experiencing, said Dr. Marketa Wills, CEO and medical director of the American Psychiatric Association.”

Wills said, “The idea that one is on the hook for buying gifts for all their friends and families adds an enormous amount of stress on someone trying to have a perfect holiday.” The AP offers “expert recommendations to avoid financial stress this holiday season,” including “setting expectations with your family,” making a budget, and “gifting experiences rather than things.”

Related Links:

— “How to avoid financial stress during the holiday season,” Adriana Morga, Associated Press, December 18, 2024

Children, Young Adults Who Undergo Surgical Removal Of Tonsils Or Adenoids Have Higher Risk For Stress-Related Disorders Later In Life, Study Finds

Healio (12/18, Jenkins ) reports, “Children and young adults who underwent surgical removal of tonsils or adenoids had a higher risk for stress-related disorders later in life vs. those who did not undergo either procedure, according to a study.” The investigators “noted that these associations were independent of sex, age at surgery, time since surgery, parental educational attainment or parental history of stress-related disorders.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Tonsil, adenoid removal in early life may up risk for stress-related disorders later on,” Cassandra Jenkins, Healio, December 18, 2024

Team Sports In Childhood May Help Sharpen Children’s Brains, Research Suggests

HealthDay (12/17, Mundell ) reports, “There may be something special about team sports in childhood that helps sharpen a kid’s brain, new research shows.” Investigators found that “children who were on soccer or volleyball teams scored higher on tests of ‘executive function’ – thinking skills needed to organize, remember details, make decisions and stay focused – compared to kids who didn’t play sports or played individual sports only.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Team Sports Score Big Points for Your Child’s Brain, Study Finds,” , HealthDay, December17 , 2024

Foundation News

Depressed Adolescents Often Struggle Alone

The Los Angeles Times (4/29, Healy) “Booster Shots” blog reported that although “some 2-million Americans adolescents experienced a bout of major depression last year,” only about one-third of them received help, according to a report released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to “kick off a month of national activity aimed at raising awareness of childrens’ mental health.”

Overall, about “8.1% of the population between 12 and 17 years old reported experiencing a period of depressed mood lasting two or more weeks in the preceding 12 months.” Depressive episodes increased with age; and adolescent boys were “consistently less likely to report depression.” Nearly 15 percent of “girls 15 to 17 years old” described a “major depressive episode in the preceding year, compared to an average of 6.4% of boys” of the same age “who did so.”

Related Links:

– “Depressed teens mostly struggle alone,” Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times, April 29, 2011.

John Plaskon Wins 2011 Outstanding Merit Award

At the MPS annual meeting in April, the Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry presented its 2011 Outstanding Merit Award to John Plaskon, executive director of Crossroads Community, Inc. in Centreville, for his vision and leadership in opening a new mental health clinic in rural Queen Anne’s County during the height of the recession.

The Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry established the annual Outstanding Merit Award for a worthy program in Maryland that accomplishes one or more of the following:

  • Increases public awareness and understanding of mental illness
  • Enhances the quality of care for psychiatric illness
  • Reduces the stigma of mental illness

The award, open to the entire Maryland community, carries a prize of $500. Find information on nominating for the 2012 award here.

2012 Outstanding Merit Award Entries Open Now

Nominations are now being accepted for the Foundation’s 2012 Outstanding Merit Award.

The annual Outstanding Merit Award is given for a worthy endeavor in Maryland that accomplishes one or more of the following:

  • Increases public awareness and understanding of mental illness

  • Enhances the quality of care for psychiatric illness

  • Reduces the stigma of mental illness

Nominations for this award of $500 are being invited from the entire Maryland community. A short nomination form must be submitted with a cover letter by March 1, 2012, to the Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry, 1101 Saint. Paul Street, Suite 305, Baltimore, MD 21202-6405. The form is available as PDF or Word document.

Foundation’s Latest Radio Spot Examines Disaster and Crisis

The Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry, Inc. recently began airing a new public service announcement on local Maryland radio stations. It focuses on the psychological effects of disasters such as the recent tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan as well as the toll personal crises can take on the mind.

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.

Adolescent Depression Awareness Program Wins 2010 Outstanding Merit Award

At the MPS annual meeting in April, the Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry presented its 2010 Outstanding Merit Award to the Adolescent Depression Awareness Program of the Department of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins.

The Board was particularly impressed with this outstanding program, which through student, parent and teacher education seeks to increase awareness of adolescent depression and bipolar disorder while reducing the stigma associated with these illnesses.

In addition, the foundation awarded Honorable Mentions to the Southern Maryland Community Network in Prince Frederick, which offers essential services to persons with severe and persistent mental illness, and to Helping Other People through Empowerment, Inc. Wellness and Recovery Center in Baltimore, which assists adults with mental illness in becoming empowered to rejoin mainstream society by increasing awareness of available resources through peer support.

The Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry established the annual Outstanding Merit Award for a worthy program in Maryland that accomplishes one or more of the following:

  • Increases public awareness and understanding of mental illness
  • Enhances the quality of care for psychiatric illness
  • Reduces the stigma of mental illness

The award, open to the entire Maryland community, carries a prize of $500.

Related Links:

– Johns Hopkins Adolescent Depression Awareness Program (ADAP)
– Southern Maryland Community Network
– Helping Other People through Empowerment