Leading Stories, Articles
Mass. DMH releases fresh air regulations
By Janine Weisman
All psychiatric patients in Massachusetts hospitals and residential programs are entitled to “reasonable daily access to the outdoors,” according to new regulations the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health issued July 1. The regulations clarify the so-called “Fresh Air” law enacted in January 2015. The law added a sixth “Fundamental Right” to five adopted in 1998 outlining a patient’s right to make phone calls, send and receive mail, receive visitors, enjoy privacy and humane living quarters and have contact with attorneys, clergy, physicians, psychologists or social workers if desired. Daily fresh air access depends on weather conditions and each patient’s clinical [More]
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
Dartmouth-Hitchcock awarded contract to staff hospital
By Rivkela Brodsky
Friction over an employment transition at New Hampshire Hospital – the state’s only acute psychiatric care facility – started with the expiration of a contract with Dartmouth College and the state at the end of June. The college’s Geisel School of Medicine had a five-year contract with the state to staff New Hampshire Hospital in Concord with acute psychiatric care professionals. Psychiatrists and nurses providing specialized psychiatric care at the 158-bed hospital do so through a contract with the state, said Jake Leon, director of communications for the state Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the hospital. The [More]
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
Use of applied behavior analysis on the rise
By Pamela Berard
The use of applied behavior analysis is increasing and more educational programs are rising to meet the demand. Chrissy Barosky, MA, BCBA, started her ABA master’s program at Columbia University in 2006. “When I was picking a program, there weren’t nearly as many options as there are now,” Barosky said. “I’ve seen a huge growth in it, and I would say with master’s programs specifically.” Barosky is vice president of clinical development, clinical director, at Bierman Autism Center in Boston, which works with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, providing early intervention and personalized ABA programs. Barosky said some people may [More]
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | 1 Comment »
R.I. mandates Mental Health First Aid training for police
By Janine Weisman
Rhode Island law already mandated training for law enforcement officers on hate crimes, domestic violence, and criminal gang activity when the year began. In August, the list grew with the addition of training on mental health and substance abuse emergencies. That’s when Gov. Gina Raimondo signed into law legislation passed by the General Assembly and sponsored by Rep. K. Joseph Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick) and Sen. Stephen R. Archambault (D-Dist. 22, Smithfield, North Providence, Johnston) directing the Police Office Commission on Standards and Training to set mandatory training standards on how to identify and interact with victims, witnesses or suspects [More]
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
Tool created for psychosis risk
By Phyllis Hanlon
Psychologists have attempted to predict the risk of psychosis in young people since the early 2000s. Recently, the National Institutes of Health funded a study to develop a unique tool to calculate this risk. Nine sites participated in the study, including Yale University and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Tyrone D. Cannon, Ph.D., Clark L. Hull Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at Yale University, has devoted a quarter century of his career in schizophrenia research to creating such a tool. “Up to now, it has been dependent on finding people at risk with recent changes in psychological functioning and who [More]
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
Legal socialization is focus of psychologist’s work
By Catherine Robertson Souter
How do we, as a society, deal with the problem of racial bias in policing? The issue, like any complex problem, is not black and white. Beyond the numbers of how many more traffic stops, searches and arrests there are for African Americans than whites, lie more questions. It can be difficult to tease out why blacks are more likely to be arrested and convicted. Are they, in fact, committing more crimes? Or are they more likely to be prosecuted for the same infractions that a white person would get a pass on? Ellen Cohn, Ph.D., professor of psychology and [More]
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
Reimbursement for neuropsychological testing still poses a problem
By Phyllis Hanlon
Neuropsychological testing has been used in a number of clinical areas to evaluate brain functioning and cognition. The Journal of Athletic Training cites neuropsychological testing as a proven method for assessing symptoms related to concussion. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult credits neuropsychological testing for its effectiveness in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease. But more commonly, this evaluation tool is used to examine the overall cognitive, physical, behavioral and executive functioning abilities, among others, in children. In his practice, Greg Javornisky, Ph.D., pediatric neuropsychologist at the Connecticut Pediatric Neuropsychology Associates in Glastonbury, administers general intellect and achievement skills testing to pediatric patients from a developmental [More]
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
Conn. report tracks behavioral health claims
By Janine Weisman
Connecticut insurers denied more behavioral health claims in 2014, according to an annual report card issued by the Connecticut Insurance Department. How much more depends on how you crunch the numbers. Each year since 2006, the state agency charged with regulating the insurance industry has issued a report card comparing Health Maintenance Organizations or HMOs and up to 15 insurers with the highest premium volume in Connecticut that offer managed care plans. The report compares the track record for each insurer on requests and denials for services and appeal outcomes. Managed care plans use a process called utilization review to [More]
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
New rules expand treatment options
By Catherine Robertson Souter
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 13 to 20 percent of children in the U.S. experience a mental health disorder in a given year. It is a staggering number, exacerbated by the fact that treatment options for children are limited because of constraints on parents’ time and schedules or due to the limited availability of trained professionals. “If you look at this state,” said Nicholas Covino, Psy.D., president of William James College, (formerly Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology), “if you are mom or dad, 70 percent of the time you can’t find mental health professionals to take care of [More]
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
Interventions can’t stop fraternity overdrinking
By Janine Weisman
Social psychologist Lori Scott-Sheldon, Ph.D., wanted to find out what interventions worked best to curb overdrinking among college fraternity and sorority members when she led a team of researchers to conduct a systematic review of the literature on such programs. The answer: none. The results of their study published online May 16 in the journal, Health Psychology concluded that a range of interventions to reduce drinking by student members of this at-risk group were about as effective as not doing any interventions at all. “Our goal really was to provide guidance to key stakeholders such as students, campus health educators [More]
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »