Mental Health

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Taking The Cops Out Of Mental Health-Related 911 Rescues

KFF Health News Original

Denver is considering adopting a new 911 alternative used in Eugene, Ore., that allows mental health and medical professionals, not police officers, to respond to some emergency calls, saving money and de-escalating situations with mentally ill people.

Trastorno de atención: pediatras apoyan la medicación, pero otros la terapia primero

KFF Health News Original

La prevalencia del TDAH se ha disparado en las últimas dos décadas, y ahora, 1 de cada 10 niños recibe este diagnóstico en el país. Hay controversia sobre qué terapia utilizar primero.

Pediatricians Stand By Meds For ADHD, But Some Say Therapy Should Come First

KFF Health News Original

The American Academy of Pediatrics is out with new guidelines on ADHD that some hoped would boost the role of behavioral interventions before medications. But the AAP stuck by its recommendation that children 6 and older should be given medicine combined with therapy after diagnosis.

¿Cómo prevenir suicidios? Busca pistas en moteles, consultorios y refugios de animales

KFF Health News Original

Un programa en un condado de Oregon ha logrado reducir la tasa de suicidios investigando las decisiones que toman las personas que piensan en el suicidio días antes de cometerlo.

Want To Reduce Suicides? Follow The Data — To Medical Offices, Motels And Even Animal Shelters

KFF Health News Original

An Oregon epidemiologist is using data to find patterns in suicides, then offering prevention training at the motels where people keep taking their lives, the animal shelter where they give away their pets, the pain clinics where patients struggle. Her model is spreading to New York, California and elsewhere.

‘Crackhouse’ Or ‘Safehouse’? U.S. Officials Try To Block Philly’s Supervised Injection Site

KFF Health News Original

An average of three people a day died of opioid overdose in Philadelphia in 2018. But efforts to combat the crisis with a supervised injection site could be stymied by “the crackhouse statute,” a portion of federal law meant to protect neighborhoods during the crack epidemic of the 1980s.

Governor’s ‘Mental Health Czar’ Seeks New Blueprint For Care In California

KFF Health News Original

Thomas Insel, who ran the National Institute of Mental Health for 13 years before casting his lot with Silicon Valley, is taking a temporary break from his senior position at a health care startup to advise Gov. Gavin Newsom on how to remake mental health care in the Golden State.

In Rural Utah, Preventing Suicide Means Meeting Gun Owners Where They Are

KFF Health News Original

In Utah, 85% of deaths from firearms are suicides. To help people who might be vulnerable, outreach workers are discussing suicide prevention at gun shows and firearms classes.

Hablando francamente sobre salud mental en las redes sociales

KFF Health News Original

Hoy, las personas comparten en Facebook y Twitter historias que de otro modo mantendrían en privado: relatos de ansiedad, depresión, abuso y adicciones. Hay controversia sobre si es bueno o no.

Dealing With The Lingering Effects Of A Mass Shooting

KFF Health News Original

Veronica Kelley, head of San Bernardino County’s Department of Behavioral Health, knows firsthand that the mental health effects from mass shootings linger. Nearly four years after her community was devastated by a massacre of 14 people, Kelley has advice for Gilroy, El Paso, Dayton and other communities reeling from recent carnage.

Coordinating Care Of Mind And Body Might Help Medicaid Save Money And Lives

KFF Health News Original

Tennessee’s innovative Medicaid program is offering bonuses to mental health providers who help make sure their Medicaid patients get preventive help and treatment for physical ailments, too.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Gun Violence And The Politics Of Public Health

KFF Health News Original

The recent tragic mass shootings have refocused efforts to treat gun violence as a public health issue rather than strictly a law enforcement problem. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this, plus the health implications of the budget deal passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump, as well as reaction from Canada to a proposal to allow broader imports of its prescription drugs. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week.