Latest KFF Health News Stories
Listen: ‘Death Certificate Project’ Aims At Opioid Crisis, But Doctors Cry Foul
A radio report on an effort in California to hold doctors responsible when a patient overdoses on opioids. Doctors say it is unfair, but the state medical board defends the new project.
Addiction Rooted In Childhood Trauma, Says Prominent Specialist
Dr. Gabor Maté of British Columbia recently visited Sacramento and laid out his theories in an interview with California Healthline.
To Get Mental Health Help For A Child, Desperate Parents Relinquish Custody
To get care for their 12-year-old son’s severe mental illness, Toni and Jim Hoy had to give up custody of him and allow the state of Illinois to care for him. It happens to hundreds, perhaps thousands of children each year. The exact number is unknown because two-thirds of states do not keep track.
Nonprofit Bets Asian-American Students Can Learn To Avoid Unhealthy Gambling
It’s not clear why Asian-American college students have higher rates of compulsive gambling than their peers, but a nonprofit in the San Francisco Bay Area arms them with strategies to avoid getting hooked.
Gun Control Vs. Mental Health Care: Debate After Mass Shootings Obscures Murky Reality
More than half of mass shooters have serious mental health disorders, experts say, but the vast majority of mentally ill people are not violent. Some clinicians suggest strategic interventions, including closing loopholes in background checks to buy firearms and allowing family members to confiscate guns under temporary court orders for relatives at risk of doing harm.
With Hospitalization Losing Favor, Judges Order Outpatient Mental Health Treatment
Nearly every state in the country allows courts to force people with severe mental illnesses into treatment against their will. But critics argue these controversial intervention programs fail to address underlying problems in behavioral health services.
As U.S. Suicide Rates Rise, Hispanics Show Relative Immunity
Support from family and community appear to shield Latinos from rising suicide rates, researchers say.
Dementia And Guns: When Should Doctors Broach The Topic?
As the number of Americans with dementia rises, health professionals grapple with how to talk to patients about gun safety at home.
Managing Your Mental Health While Managing A Newsroom’s Social Media
Reflections on coping with a new high-stress profession.
Parents Are Leery Of Schools Requiring ‘Mental Health’ Disclosures By Students
Florida school districts now have to ask if a new student has ever been referred for mental health services. It’s a legislative attempt to help troubled kids. Will it work, or increase stigma instead?
Workers Overdose On The Job, And Employers Struggle To Respond
Despite the growing epidemic of Americans misusing opioids and overdosing on the job, many employers turn a blind eye to addiction within their workforce — ill-equipped or unwilling to confront an issue they are at a loss to handle.
Suicide By Opioid: New Research Suggests Overdoses Should Be Classified As Self-Harm
Researchers combined the number of suicide deaths with those associated with drug overdoses in an effort to better grasp the overlap between these two public health epidemics.
As Opioid Crisis Rages, Some Trade ‘Tough Love’ For Empathy
An approach known as Community Reinforcement and Family Training, or CRAFT, coaches families to deal with a loved one’s substance abuse with compassion.
Patients With Chronic Pain Feel Caught In An Opioid-Prescribing Debate
States are passing laws that limit a doctor’s ability to prescribe opioids. Doctors and patients alike are wrestling with what that means in cases of chronic pain.
How Soon Is Soon Enough To Learn You Have Alzheimer’s?
Only about half of people with Alzheimer’s symptoms get a diagnosis, partly out of fear of an incurable decline, doctors suspect. But Jose Belardo says facing the future allows him to plan for it.
California Clinic Screens Asylum Seekers For Honesty
As new federal policies make it harder to gain asylum in the U.S., foreign applicants try to improve their chances by having doctors evaluate their conditions — perhaps bolstering their stories of torture and violent persecution back home.
Support Circle: Family Caregivers Share Stories And Tips To Ease Alzheimer’s Toll
As the number of people with Alzheimer’s climbs, so does the number of loved ones caring for them. The health of 16 million unpaid U.S. caregivers has become a focus for Alzheimer’s advocacy groups.
The Other Victims: First Responders To Horrific Disasters Often Suffer In Solitude
Some firefighters, emergency medical providers and law enforcement officers say recent mass shootings and other calamities — disturbing enough in themselves — have brought to the surface trauma buried over years on the job. Many are reluctant to seek help, though some employers are trying to change that.
Texas Clinics Busting Traditional Silos Of Mental And Physical Health Care
Efforts to provide care that integrates physical and mental health services are spreading, partly because untreated mental health conditions negatively affect physical health and escalate health care costs.
Immigrant Families Placed In Detention Centers Face Health Care Challenges
The Trump administration plans to detain immigrant families indefinitely in facilities run by the Department of Homeland Security, an agency with little experience in handling their complex needs.
