Healio (7/21, Young) reported, “New county-level estimates of Alzheimer’s prevalence…may help inform allocations of funding, staffing and other resources toward caring for patients,” according to findings presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference. The study, which used “data from the Chicago Health and Aging Project and” combined “it with the National Center for Health Statistics bridged-race population estimates” to evaluate “county-specific prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease throughout the U.S. for adults aged 65 years and older.” Additionally, the study revealed “specific demographic characteristics that may contribute to higher prevalence of Alzheimer’s in these counties.”

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— “New county-level Alzheimer’s estimates may help allocate resources,”Kate Young, Healio , July 21, 2023

Healthcare Finance News (7/21, Lagasse) reported the Department of Health and Human Services, “through its Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, is announcing awards in five grant programs devoted to combating multiple facets of substance misuse and the nation’s overdose epidemic.” The funding awards altogether total $47.8 million. They “are part of ongoing federal efforts in prevention, treatment, recovery support and harm reduction – the pillars of the HHS Overdose Prevention Strategy.”

Related Links:

— “HHS distributes $47.8 million to expand access to opioid use disorder medications,”Jeff Lagasse, Healthcare Finance News, July 21, 2023

Psychiatric News (7/21) reported, “More than one-third of people who are grieving meet the DSM-5 criteria for prolonged grief disorder,” investigators concluded after surveying “1,137 bereaved adults using the Prolonged Grief-13-Revised scale (PG-13-R), which is used to identify patients who meet the DSM-5 criteria for prolonged grief disorder.” The findings were published online July 19 in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

Related Links:

— “More Than One-Third of Bereaved May Have Prolonged Grief Disorder, Psychiatric News, July 21, 2023

MedPage Today (7/20, Sullivan) reports, “Significant differences in dementia incidence emerged based on neighborhood deprivation,” investigators concluded in “a study of 1.6 million U.S. veterans.” The study revealed that “over a mean follow-up of 11 years, older veterans in the most socioeconomically disadvantaged areas were 22% more likely to develop dementia than those in the least disadvantaged neighborhoods.” The findings were presented in a poster at the annual Alzheimer’s Association International Conference and simultaneously published online in JAMA Neurology.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

NBC News (7/19, Pandey) reported, “Hospitalizations and emergency” department (ED) “visits for suicide attempts and ideation rose nationally among children and teens from 2016 to 2021,” investigators concluded in a study that “focused on a set of more than 73,000” ED “visits and hospitalizations for suicidal ideation or suicide attempts among children and teens enrolled in commercial health insurance plans and in Medicare Advantage.” The findings were published online July 19 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Teens have increasingly wound up in the hospital for suicidal thoughts and attempts, study shows,”Maia Pandey, NBC News , July 19, 2023