General Mental Health Issues
- Despite widespread promises of reform after the murder of George Floyd in 2020, in 2023, police killed at least 1,246 people, the most in more than a decade. This police violence is intertwined with a parallel public policy disaster: America’s abysmal mental health systems that force police officers to function as de facto mental health workers. People with unmet mental health needs are 16 times more likely to be killed by police, and a quarter of all those killed by police since 2015 were perceived to be suffering from a mental health crisis. Read more here.
Youth Mental Health
- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to hire 50 artificial intelligence experts this year to help it halt child abuse, counter fentanyl production, and assess damage from natural disasters as it seeks to increase use of the burgeoning technology. The agency, tasked with securing U.S. borders, announced the hiring effort at an event in Mountain View, California, headlined by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer Eric Hysen. Read more here.
- Teenagers with suspected substance use problems say they turn to drugs because of a crushing need to relax and escape worries, according to research published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new findings follow reports of rising anxiety and depression among the nation's youth, including unprecedented levels of hopelessness. Read more here.
- As overdose deaths continue to increase among American teens, treatment for opioid use disorder remains limited. A new study shows that one intervention – inpatient treatment – is inaccessible to many. Few facilities exist nationwide, and they are often unaffordable for families whose children are struggling with opioid addiction. Families must navigate a complex web of addiction treatment services as they try to avoid another overdose for their children, the study found. Read more here.
Older Adult Behavioral Health
- Living a healthy lifestyle with a focus on a nutritious diet, regular exercise, minimum alcohol consumption, and other healthy habits can help keep your brain sharp into old age, doctors say. But what if your brain already has signs of beta amyloid or tau — two of the hallmark signs of Alzheimer’s and other brain pathologies? Will a healthy lifestyle still protect you from cognitive decline? The answer is yes, according to observational research that examined the brains of 586 people during autopsies and compared the findings with up to 24 years of data on their lifestyles. Read more here.
- A new study, published in the Cannabis and Cannabinoids Research journal, found more older Americans are using cannabis today than before the pandemic. According to researchers with the University of Michigan’s Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, roughly 1 in 8 Americans over 50 currently use the substance. Read more here.
Workforce Issues
- Health care employment grew at its fastest clip since 1991 last year as the industry's pandemic recovery continued and demand for care picked up. Health care is playing a big role in fueling a strong labor market, even as the industry grapples with high levels of burnout. Health care jobs expanded by 3.9% in 2023, much higher than the 1.5% growth rate across all other industries, according to new Altarum data. Health care added 654,000 jobs last year, representing almost a quarter of all new jobs in the U.S. Read more here.
The Opioid Crisis and Addiction Issues
- As overdose deaths continue to increase among American teens, treatment for opioid use disorder remains limited. A new study shows that one intervention – inpatient treatment – is inaccessible to many. Few facilities exist nationwide and they are often unaffordable for families whose children are struggling with opioid addiction. Families must navigate a complex web of addiction treatment services as they try to avoid another overdose for their children, the study found. Read more here.
- Seattle and the surrounding area recorded the highest number of fentanyl-related overdose deaths on record in 2023, data show. King County, which encompasses Seattle, recorded the most fentanyl-related deaths ever in 2023, at 1,078 fatal overdoses. In all, the county recorded 1,318 deaths due to opioid and drug overdoses last year, meaning fentanyl was involved in more than 80% of overdose deaths last year. Read more here.
- Known for its vacation beach cabins dotting Lake Huron, Iosco County is among the many counties in northern Michigan with a drug problem. It’s far above the state average in fatal and nonfatal overdoses and opioid prescriptions and is in the top quarter of Michigan counties in a substance abuse vulnerability index created by the state’s health department. Despite having $269,000 earmarked to address the opioid epidemic in the county government’s bank account for nearly a year, officials have yet to spend a nickel. Read more here.
Gun Violence and Mental Health
- Black adults who have been exposed to gun violence are more likely to have lifetime suicidal ideation, according to a study by Rutgers Health researchers. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, found that Black adults who were shot, threatened with a gun, knew someone who was shot, or witnessed or heard about a shooting are at increased risk for suicidal thoughts and behavior. Read more here.
- The Biden administration on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that would prevent it from regulating privately made firearms called "ghost guns" that are difficult for law enforcement to trace. Read more here.
Social Isolation and Loneliness
- Loneliness is officially a health emergency in California's San Mateo County, which is located in the San Francisco Bay Area and includes part of Silicon Valley. The county's Board of Supervisors passed a resolution on Tuesday that declared loneliness a public health crisis and pledged to explore measures that promote social connection in the community. It’s the first county in the U.S. to make such a declaration. Read more here.
Social Determinants
- Almost everyone who is currently enrolled in medical school has only ever trained in the context of crisis. Since the moment we submitted our applications in 2020, the United States has grappled with a never-ending stream of previously unprecedented public health events. A global pandemic, a reckoning with systemic racism, and a historic reversal of abortion rights have punctuated the consistent stream of environmental catastrophes, socioeconomic injustices, mass shootings, hate crimes, and overdose deaths that have unfortunately become our norm. Read more here.
Gender-Affirming Care and Related Issues
- Ohio has scrapped plans to restrict gender-affirming health care for adults following backlash over a proposal issued last month. Ohio's proposed limits would have been the toughest restrictions on transition-related care for adults in the country, transgender rights advocates said. The Ohio Health Department said comments it received in recent weeks showed "significant interest in the original draft's impact on adult patients," according to a Wednesday memo. The proposal would have required adults to get approval from an endocrinologist and psychiatrist to receive gender-affirming care. Read more here.
- Nearly half of transgender people in the U.S. have considered moving to another state because of legislation in their home state that threatens to curtail access to things like gender-affirming health care, public restrooms, and school sports, according to a survey published by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE). Roughly half, or 47 percent, of the more than 92,000 transgender and nonbinary people surveyed by the NCTE, a nonprofit group that focuses on transgender policy reform, said they had thought about moving to another state at some point during the past year. Read more here.
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