- Anti-Bias Training
Legal Battle in California Highlights Extensive Challenge to Anti-Bias Training in Healthcare
State laws requiring doctor training on how bias affects treatment violate teachers’ right to free speech, opponents say. (Ronnie Cohen, 2/23 )
- Mental Health
CapRadio: Deciphering California's Proposition 1 and Its Impact on the Most Vulnerable
If you’ve looked at your voter guide for March 5, you may have seen that the text of Proposition 1 is 68 pages. So … it’s definitely complicated, but stick with us as we roll up our sleeves and break it down. The proposition would do two things, if approved: Approve a $6.38 billion bond to build thousands more units of permanent supportive housing and treatment beds for people with mental illness and/or substance use disorder across the state. Change the terms of the Mental Health Services Act, a law passed by voters in 2004 that uses a 1% tax on high earners (those with incomes over $1 million per year) to help pay for mental health services. More money would be spent on housing and support services for people with mental illness and substance use disorder, and less would be spent on existing county services like outpatient treatment and crisis response. (Wolffe, 2/22)
AP: Brain Pacemaker Offers Relief to Woman Suffering from Severe Depression
Emily Hollenbeck lived with a deep, recurring depression she likened to a black hole, where gravity felt so strong and her limbs so heavy she could barely move. She knew the illness could kill her. Both of her parents had taken their lives. She was willing to try something extreme: Having electrodes implanted in her brain as part of an experimental therapy. Researchers say the treatment —- called deep brain stimulation, or DBS — could eventually help many of the nearly 3 million Americans like her with depression that resists other treatments. (Ungar, 2/21)
Good News Network: California Introduces Free Mental Health Apps for Children, Young Adults, and Families
California’s Department of Health Care Services launched two free behavioral health digital services for all families with kids, teens, and young adults up to age 25. The partnerships have been years in the making, as the state announced in 2021 the opportunity to collaborate on a new initiative to combat the youth mental health crisis. (2/18)
The Washington Post: Federal Study Finds Teens Using Drugs to Achieve Calmness
Most teens who use drugs are searching for calm and hoping to relieve stress, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis suggests. The study points toward mental health challenges among teens as a driver of drug misuse — and says educating teens on harm reduction while expanding mental health treatment could reduce overdose deaths. ... Most of the adolescents in the study — 73 percent — reported using drugs and alcohol to “feel mellow, calm, or relaxed.” (Blakemore, 2/17)
Axios: U.S. Views Mental Health as a Primary Health Concern
Americans see poor mental health as one of the biggest threats to public health, ranking just behind obesity and the long-running opioid epidemic, according to the latest Axios-Ipsos American Health Index. Almost 9 out of 10 people say their own emotional wellbeing is very or somewhat good, but they view mental health issues as a serious societal threat that now outranks access to firearms, cancer or COVID-19. (Millman, 2/23)
- Health Industry
Axios: Employment in Healthcare Remains Robust
Job openings in health care and social services last year hit the second highest rate since data began to be collected in 2001, and the employment picture remained strong in January, especially in ambulatory care settings and hospitals. The findings from Altarum reinforce just how much the health industry is fueling a robust labor market, even as it's beset by churn and high levels of worker burnout. (Bettelheim, 2/23)
The Hill: Despite Increasing Numbers, Female Doctors Remain a Minority. Here's Why.
In recent years, female medical students have begun outnumbering their male peers. As of the 2023-2024 school year, they make up more than 55 percent of students in the country’s M.D.-granting programs, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. The ranks of female doctors have also been steadily increasing. In 2007, just over 28 percent of practicing physicians in the country were women. By 2021, the most recent year for which the American Medical Association (AMA) has data, more than 37 percent were. (O’Connell-Domenech, 2/22)
CIDRAP: Pandemic Leads to Increased Stress Among Female Pediatricians
A new study from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) finds that female US pediatricians reported worse anxiety, sadness, and stress at work than their male colleagues, and the differences were more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study, published today in Pediatrics, was based on survey responses gathered during the AAP Pediatrician Life and Career Experience Study, which asked questions about career satisfaction and wellbeing from 2012 to 2021 among cohorts of 2002–2004 and 2009–2011 pediatric residency graduates. (Soucheray, 2/22)
Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Data Breaches Expose 11.6 Million Individuals in 2024
After a record 133 million individuals had their healthcare data stolen or otherwise exposed in 2023, the first few months of 2024 suggest there's no letup in data breaches. As of Thursday, about 11.6 million people had their data exposed this year from 79 reported breaches affecting 500 or more individuals, according to the Health and Human Services Department's Office for Civil Rights breach portal. (Broderick, 2/22)
Modern Healthcare: Despite 2023 Hiring Increases, Healthcare Staffing Falls Short of Demand
The healthcare industry has significantly increased its staffing over the past few years, returning overall employment levels to pre-pandemic trend lines and leading other sectors in job growth. It’s a monumental accomplishment, but experts say these gains aren’t nearly enough to offset healthcare’s understaffing woes. With employee turnover, clinician retirement and health systems building more facilities to meet the service demands of an aging patient population, industry job openings still vastly outnumber the staff available to fill them. (Devereaux, 2/21)
CIDRAP: Research Indicates Temporary Decline in US Nurse Employment During Pandemic
A new study in JAMA Health Forum of national data on US registered nurses (RNs) finds that the rebound in the total size of the RN workforce during 2022 and 2023 indicates that RN labor shortages during the first 2 years of the pandemic were likely transitory. In 2021, the US RN workforce decreased by more than 100,000 employees, the largest single-year drop in 40 years.But by 2022, increases in RN hiring had picked up across the country. (Soucheray, 2/20)
- Child Health
KFF Health News: Florida Disregards CDC Guidelines in Measles Outbreak, Assuring Parents it's Safe to Send Unvaccinated Children to School
With a brief memo, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has subverted a public health standard that’s long kept measles outbreaks under control. On Feb. 20, as measles spread through Manatee Bay Elementary in South Florida, Ladapo sent parents a letter granting them permission to send unvaccinated children to school amid the outbreak. (Maxmen, 2/23)
Axios: Over 50% of Newborns in the U.S. Receive RSV Protection
More than half of U.S. newborns now appear to be protected by new RSV vaccines, according to updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. The virus is considered the second leading cause of death worldwide during the first year of a child's life. The data suggests demand was strong despite broader vaccine skepticism and the potential for confusion over more childhood immunization options. (Bettelheim, 2/20)
Reuters: WHO Warns That Over Half of the Global Population Is at High Risk of Measles
More than half the world's countries will be at high or very high risk of measles outbreaks by the end of the year unless urgent preventative measures are taken, the World Health Organization warned on Tuesday. Measles cases have been increasing across most regions mainly due to missed vaccinations during the COVID-19 years when health systems were overwhelmed and fell behind on routine vaccinations for preventable diseases. (2/21)
- LGBTQ+ Health
Live Science: Despite Testosterone Use, One-Third of Transgender Individuals May Still Ovulate, Increasing Pregnancy Risk
Many transgender men and other gender-diverse people opt to take testosterone to bring about male secondary sex characteristics, such as a deeper voice and thicker body and facial hair, and to suppress female characteristics, such as menstruation. While taking this hormone therapy, a person may no longer get their period, however, they may still ovulate and therefore could potentially get pregnant, a new study finds. The small study included 52 transmasculine people. (Cooke, 2/22)
The 19th: Nex Benedict's Passing in Oklahoma Serves as a Wake-Up Call for Parents of Transgender Children
As news broke this week about the death of 16-year-old nonbinary student Nex Benedict, who died after a fight in a school bathroom, crisis calls to an Oklahoma LGBTQ+ support organization more than quadrupled — with 69 percent of callers referencing Benedict. (Sosin and Nittle, 2/22)
AP: Renewed Focus on Anti-Trans Policies Following the Passing of a Nonbinary Teen in Oklahoma
The death of a 16-year-old nonbinary high school student in Oklahoma whose family says was bullied has renewed scrutiny of anti-trans polices and political rhetoric over gender identity. ... In the days since news of Benedict’s death became public, calls from Oklahoma to a national crisis hotline for LGBTQ+ youths have spiked by more than 500%, said Lance Preston, the founder and director of the Indiana-based Rainbow Youth Project USA, a group that aims to improve the safety and wellness of LGBTQ+ young people. (Murphy, 2/23)