Youth Mental Health
- The authors have provided a timely and important report on a remarkable program providing therapeutic support and access to psychotherapy for war-exposed Ukrainian children and their parents. The program provides a safe space in time-limited recovery camps with mental health professionals and recreational counselors who engage participating children in therapeutic arts and yoga groups, which is consistent with the potential benefits and acceptability of complementary therapies and peer support for trauma-affected youth. Read more here.
- The Department of Health and Human Services recently removed a former surgeon general’s warning declaring gun violence a public health crisis to comply with the president’s executive order to protect Second Amendment rights, according to a White House official. Giffords, the gun violence prevention group founded by former Rep. Gabby Giffords, announced that former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s advisory recognizing gun violence as a public health crisis was wiped from the Department of Health and Human Services’ website. Read more here.
The Opioid Crisis and Addiction Issues
- The Trump administration is extending through mid-June an emergency declaration linked to the opioid overdose crisis that was set to expire. In a statement, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. acknowledged drug deaths in the U.S. "are starting to decline" but said the Trump administration will continue treating the opioid crisis as "the national security emergency that it is." Read more here.
Research
- Prenatal depression has been associated with adverse outcomes, including preterm birth and postpartum depression, and disproportionately affects racial or ethnic minoritized pregnant individuals. Black, Hispanic, and Asian individuals may experience more severe depression symptoms, yet be less likely to engage in treatment, possibly due to clinical underdiagnosis. Read more here.
- This cohort study of 29,191 patients with trauma found that mental health conditions after trauma were common and associated with an increased risk of adverse long-term outcomes, indicating that mental health follow-up of patients with trauma, particularly those from vulnerable subgroups, may be warranted. Read more here.
Transgender Issues
- The Department of Veteran Affairs said that, effective immediately, it will no longer offer medical treatment for gender dysphoria to veterans who are not already receiving the treatment from the VA or the Department of Defense. "If Veterans want to attempt to change their sex, they can do so on their own dime," VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a press release announcing the new policy. Read more here.
- Ohio’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors is unconstitutional and must be permanently blocked from being enforced, a three-judge panel of appellate judges ruled. The law also banned trans women and girls from participating in female sports. The state attorney general vowed an immediate appeal. Read more here.
- Transgender adults who received gender-affirming hormone therapy had a significantly lower risk of moderate-to-severe depression over four years compared to those who did not receive such care, according to a new study published in the journal JAMA Network Open. The findings "support the mental health-promoting role of hormones" and their status as "a medically necessary treatment,” said Sari Reisner, an associate professor of epidemiology at University of Michigan School of Public Health. Read more here.
Medicaid
- As Congress mulls potentially massive cuts to federal Medicaid funding, health centers that serve Native American communities, such as the Oneida Community Health Center near Green Bay, Wisconsin, are bracing for catastrophe. That’s because more than 40% of the about 15,000 patients the center serves are enrolled in Medicaid. Cuts to the program would be detrimental to those patients and the facility, said Debra Danforth, the director of the Oneida Comprehensive Health Division and a citizen of the Oneida Nation. Read more here.
- Amid the upheaval, one thing is clear: Any plan to shut down the Education Department — and, indeed, the cuts and layoffs that have already happened — will disproportionately hurt students with disabilities. That includes kids who receive special education, but also those in general education classrooms who get support or accommodations to learn, from speech therapy to sign language interpreters to counseling. Read more here.
Federal Policy
- Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump’s pick to oversee Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare, told senators a combination of investments, technology, and regulatory changes could bring down costs and make America healthy again. “We have a generational opportunity to fix our health care system and help people stay healthy for longer,” Oz told senators on the Finance Committee. Read more here.
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