A new report on how long it takes Veterans Affairs to provide mental healthcare to vets who seek such care continues to generate extensive, somewhat negative coverage for the department.

The AP (4/25) reports, “Veterans are waiting an average of 80 days for mental health appointments at the Spokane VA Medical Center, far short of the 14-day goal set” by the US VA. Spokane “was one of four VA medical centers included in a review of mental health care access” by VA’s IG. The “report released Monday found that the average wait time for an appointment turned out to be 41 days.”

On its website, NPR (4/24, Abramson) published an online version of a story that will be broadcast on Wednesday’s “Morning Edition.” According to NPR, the IG’s “report says, rather than starting the clock from the moment a vet asks for mental health care, the VA has been counting from whenever the first appointment became available. That could add weeks or months to the wait time.” NPR adds, “At a Senate hearing Wednesday, the VA will have another chance to explain how it’s going” to improve its mental healthcare system.

According to CQ (4/25, Norman, Subscription Publication), the VHA assertion “that 95 percent of veterans who report mental health problems receive a full evaluation within 14 days has ‘no real value,’ with the reality being that veterans are waiting much longer for help, says a Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General’s report that will be explored” at a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Shinseki “said in a statement…that the department has expanded its mental health services to add marriage and family therapists as well as licensed professional mental health counselors.”

NYTimes Says VA Must Do More For Vets Who Need Mental Healthcare. In an editorial, the New York Times (4/25, A24, Subscription Publication) is fairly critical of Veterans Affairs, saying a new report indicates that VA must do more to help vets who seek mental healthcare offered by the department. The Times does add, however, that VA Secretary Eric Shinseki “has taken admirable steps to help veterans by expanding and improving programs to fight homelessness and provide more psychological care.” The Times urges “President Obama and Democratic leaders” in Congress to resist House Republicans who have “made a target of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which runs a housing-voucher program” with VA that has “saved many thousands of veterans from homelessness.”

Related Links:

— “VA Struggles To Provide Vets With Mental Health Care,”Larry Abramson , NPR, April 25, 2012.

Medscape (4/24, Waknine) reports, “Maltreatment frequency is a strong predictor of future negative health and behavioral outcomes among low-income children, according to a…study published online April 23 in Pediatrics.” The study of data on nearly 6,000 children “found a linear dose-response relationship between number of abuse incidents and likelihood of adverse outcomes during childhood, including head injuries, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), mental health conditions, juvenile court petitions for violent offense or use of alcohol or illicit drugs, and suicide attempts before age 18 years.” In addition, “the frequency of maltreatment during childhood was linked to…an increased risk for mental health issues and problematic substance abuse.”

HealthDay (4/24, Preidt) reports, “Cyberbullying is different than traditional bullying, and anti-bullying programs need to use specific measures to combat online aggression,” according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. For the study, researchers “looked at 17,000 students in grades eight to 12 in Vancouver and found that 25 percent to 30 percent of them reported they had experienced or taken part in cyberbullying, while 12 percent said they had participated in or experienced schoolyard bullying.” Notably, students perceived that “95 percent of what happens online was intended as a joke and only five percent was intended to harm,” the study’s lead author pointed out. She added, “Students need to be educated that this ‘just joking behavior has serious implications.”

Related Links:

— “Cyberbullying May Call for New Prevention Tactics,”Robert Preidt , HealthDay, April 23, 2012.

Monday’s release of a report on mental healthcare services at Veterans Affairs generated extensive, mainly negative coverage for the agency.

The AP (4/24) reports, “Federal investigators reported Monday that nearly half of the veterans who seek mental health care for the first time waited about 50 days before receiving a full evaluation, a much longer lag-time than cited” by Veterans Affairs. The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee is scheduled to discuss the inspector general’s report at a hearing on Wednesday. On Monday, the panel’s chair, US Sen. Patty Murray, said the report is “deeply disturbing and demands action from” VA.

USA Today (4/24, Zoroya) quotes from the report (pdf), which says that VA’s “mental health performance data is not accurate or reliable” and that VA has “overstated its success” in providing mental health services to vets. The agency “said it concurred with the investigation results and would move ‘rapidly’ to revamp its process for measuring delays.”

The New York Times (4/24, Dao) “At War” blog notes that VA’s “under secretary for health, Dr. Robert A. Petzel, said in a letter to the inspector general that the VA generally agreed with the recommendations and that it would initiate a timeliness review of its entire medical system, not just the four regions analyzed by the inspector general.” In a statement, VA “said that in addition to hiring new clinicians, it had taken several other measures to improve mental health services, including creating a new office to oversee its mental health programs.”

The Washington Post (4/24, Vogel) reports, “On Thursday, VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki announced that the department will hire 1,900 mental health workers, an increase of more than 9 percent, an action taken based on a review of mental health operations that began in 2011. ‘We have made strong progress, but we need to do more,’ the VA said in a statement released Monday afternoon.”

Modern Healthcare (4/24, Barr, Subscription Publication) notes, “A number of problems exist with the Veterans Health Administration’s tracking and providing of mental-health services, a new report” from VA’s inspector general finds. The “report, which was requested by members of Congress and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, recommends an overhaul of the VHA measurement methods and an examination of whether staffing vacancies at the VHA played a role.”

Experience Of Killing In War Associated With Suicidal Thoughts. HealthDay (4/24, Preidt) reports, “The experience of killing in war is strongly linked with suicidal thoughts,” according to a study published online in the journal Depression and Anxiety. “Researchers analyzed data from a survey of a nationally representative sample of Vietnam War veterans and found that those with more killing experiences were twice as likely to have suicidal thoughts as those with fewer or no experiences of killing.”

Related Links:

— “Mental health help for vets untimely,”Gregg Zoroya , USA Today, April 24, 2012.

HealthDay (4/21, Esposito) reports, “High school and youth football players sustained 14 brain injuries with long-lasting damage in 2011 — the highest number in more than 25 years — and this is a ‘major problem,’ a new report claims.” The data are “based on an annual survey, conducted by the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, which collects data on catastrophic football injuries.” While “deaths from brain injuries among high school players have decreased every decade, from 128 in the 1960s to 32 in the 2000s, brain injuries with incomplete recovery reached the double digits in three of the past four years.”

Related Links:

— “‘Catastrophic’ Head Injuries to High School Football Players Rising,”Lisa Esposito , HealthDay, April 20, 2012.