The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services is seeking input from the public on a 10-year national strategy for addressing vaccine-preventable diseases.  The plan will update all aspects of vaccine research and development, supply, financing, distribution, and safety, and address causes of an increased reluctance to vaccinate that led to recent outbreaks of pertussis, hepatitis B and measles.  Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released research showing a lower rate of vaccination for rural teenagers and made recommendations for making it a routine part of clinical care.   Click here to access the Federal Register notice.  Comments are due on October 24, 2019.

In 2017, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) launched its Strategy to Address Intimate Partner Violence, with targets and projects that involve each of the agency’s bureaus and offices.  This month, HRSA’s Office of Women’s Health released the first progress report for that initiative, describing its achievements between 2017 and 2018.  Victims in rural areas may be reluctant to report intimate partner violent abuse, and unaddressed abuse has an impact that goes beyond the individual and into communities.

As urbanization increases, an older, sicker and poorer population remains in rural America. New infographics from the National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) Foundation depict the population shifts driving these changes, the corresponding health care challenges, and promising tools to improve rural health. In rural areas, 18.4 percent of the population is over 65 years of age compared to 14.5 percent in urban areas, and rates of obesity, diabetes and smoking are higher.   The infographics can be accessed here.

Depression is on the rise. So is suicide, particularly among young people and military veterans. And Pennsylvania recently concluded that addressing mental health needs is the best defense against school shootings.

Yet, because of a shortage of psychiatrists, people commonly wait six months for an appointment in central Pennsylvania. That means some people badly in need of help continue suffering, and may become dangerous to themselves or others, before they can begin getting better.

“It’s terrible,” says Marge Chapman, executive director of the Dauphin County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI.

Kathleen Zwierzyna, head of the NAMI chapter for Cumberland and Perry counties, tells of a relative who waited more than five months for an appointment with a psychiatrist. “We know many families who have lived through it,” she says.

Long waits extend to young people who show signs of mental illness at school and are referred by school staff, says Dan Daniels, executive director of the NAMI organization serving York and Adams counties.

Nearly half of Pennsylvania counties have no psychiatrist, says Christine Michaels, CEO of NAMI Keystone Pennsylvania.

“Yet there’s a crisis with suicide,” she says, noting areas that lack psychiatrists tend to be economically-depressed and have higher rates of depression among residents.

Psychiatrists, who are medical doctors, play a key role in diagnosing mental illness and deciding what treatment and medication should be used. Sometimes, symptoms return in patients who have been doing well, putting them in need of a psychiatrist to change or adjust their medication.

When people experiencing mental illness have to wait to be diagnosed, or begin medication or have it adjusted, it can disrupt their ability to work, attend school or care for their family, says Dr. Erika Saunders, chair of psychiatry at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Worse, it can put them at high risk of having to be hospitalized, ending up in jail or committing suicide, she says

Beyond that, delays can trigger other health problems and cause harrowing and destabilizing times for families. “There is a huge burden on families who are trying to care for their loved one,” Saunders says.

One central Pennsylvania resident who doesn’t want his name published experienced a return of a condition that had been well-controlled for years with medication. He learned his Harrisburg-area psychiatrist had retired. He says he contacted the area’s three major health systems: Penn State Health, UPMC Pinnacle and Geisinger Holy Spirit.

None could offer a near-term appointment, he says. One provided a list of private psychiatrists, but none were available. One suggested he try again in fall.  “We have a severe shortage of mental health professionals,” Saunders says. “We’re doing our best to care for [the sickest] patients, but we need to expand access for all patients.”

The shortage is severe not only in Pennsylvania but in much of the United States.

Read the entire article here.

She started having suicidal thoughts at 11 or 12. She didn’t know the words to name it. She had no idea what it was, but she consistently had these urges to end her life.  “I just wanted to be dead,” she says.

One night when she was 24, and already long diagnosed with clinical depression, she succumbed to the feelings.  “I couldn’t suppress these thoughts anymore,” she recalls. “I had thought about ending my life for eight straight months.  “I texted a friend and said, ‘It would be better if I wasn’t here.’ That friend did not know that I had already taken substances in the hope that I would go to sleep and not wake up. And while I was waiting to die, the police showed up.”

T-Kea Blackman, now 29, survived that attempt and dedicated her life to helping others navigate the darkness of depression and mental health crises.

Read the entire article here.

Updated Oct 04, 2019; Posted Oct 04, 2019

ECRI Institute this week released its annual list of the 10 biggest patient-safety concerns in 2020, with misuse of surgical staplers ranking No. 1. Marcus Schabacker, president and CEO of ECRI, said, “Injuries and deaths from the misuse of surgical staplers” were found to be “substantial and preventable.” (Source: HealthLeaders Media, 10/8)

The Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation has released a blog on Social Determinants of Health: A required Curriculum. The blog discusses the importance of understanding all the social factors that can affect a patient’s health and how medical professionals need to understand the conditions in their communities if they are going to help their patients live their healthiest lives. This blog can be applied to all health professionals.

Click here to read the blog.

Many older Pennsylvanians wish to continue living in their homes and their communities for as long as economically and medically feasible; and Pennsylvania’s LIFE and Community HealthChoices programs enables participants remain in their own homes and communities and live happier, more productive, and more fulfilling lives.

The Wolf Administration recently announced a 14-county expansion of the Living Independence for the Elderly (LIFE) program, a long-term care program that helps seniors live in their homes and coordinates their health and personal needs. Through this expansion under the jurisdiction of the Department of Human Services (DHS), LIFE programs will be established in Bradford, Cameron, Carbon, Centre, Clearfield, Elk, Fulton, Jefferson, Monroe, Potter, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, and Wayne counties.

For more information: http://dhs.pa.gov/citizens/life/

The number of U.S. residents diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection (STI) hit a record high in 2018, with almost 2.46 million reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and other STIs, according to a CDC report released this week. The report noted that the rate of STIs has increased steadily since 2014, and the report’s authors blamed budget cuts at both the state and local level for the increases. The authors wrote that the cuts resulted in staff reductions and clinic closures, which in turn led to fewer screenings and patient follow-ups. (Source: Reuters, 10/8)