January 2020

By Michael Y. Ni, Xiaoxin I. Yao, Kathy S. M. Leung, et al., The Lancet, January 9, 2020 Background Hong Kong has been embroiled in increasingly violent social unrest since June, 2019. We examined the associated population mental health burden, risk factors, and health-care needs. Methods In a population-based prospective cohort, adult participants aged 18 years or older were assessed at nine timepoints from 2009. Probable depression was measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9...

By Krista Niemczyk, California Health Report, January 3, 2020 Survivors often tell us that they want to prevent anyone else from experiencing the pain they went through. “Bring in guest speakers to high schools on domestic violence,” one survivor requested, when asked about how we can move toward a future free from domestic violence. “Chances are, there are students, like my children, who are going through it with their mom and they don’t know what it is that they’re going through.” Domestic...

By Graison Dangor, National Public Radio, January 8, 2020 A new study suggests that raising the minimum wage might lower the suicide rate — especially when unemployment is high — and that doing so might have saved tens of thousands of people from dying by suicide in the last quarter century. The minimum federal minimum wage is $7.25, though many states have set it higher. Between 1990 and 2015, raising the minimum wage by $1 in each state might have saved more than 27,000 lives, according to...

By Donna Bryson, Denverite, January 6, 2020 Researchers who have mapped neighborhoods across Colorado where housing and health crises overlap hope an online tool they developed will help policy makers and advocates decide how best to use limited resources to support struggling communities. “The purpose of this study is really to be a conversation starter,” said Elysia Clemens, deputy director of the Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab at the University of Denver, which funded the study.

By Nancy Swezey, MedPage Today, January 5, 2020 A study from 2017 defined caregiver burden as, "the strain or load borne by a person who cares for a chronically ill, disabled, or elderly family member." Nurses are all too familiar with the instinctive concern for patients, and often equally so for the person sitting at the patient's side. Many caregivers give up proper sleep, nutrition, recreation, and financial resources to care for a family member with a disease that requires...

Dr. Erica Holmes has over 20 years of experience in the fields of psychotherapy and counseling, training and consultation, education, and research. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Sociology with a minor in Behavioral Science, as well as, a Master’s degree and Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from an APA Accredited Institution.

By Dan Gorenstein and Leslie Walker, National Public Radio, January 8, 2020 Improving health and lowering costs for the sickest and most expensive patients in America is a dream harder to realize than many health care leaders had hoped, according to a study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers tested whether pairing frequently hospitalized patients in Camden, N.J., with nurses and social workers could stop that costly cycle of readmissions. The study found...

By James Gallagher, British Broadcasting Corporation, January 7, 2020 An early life full of neglect, deprivation and adversity leads to people growing up with smaller brains, a study suggests. The researchers at King's College London were following adopted children who spent time in "hellhole" Romanian orphanages. They grew up with brains 8.6% smaller than other adoptees. [ Please click here to read more .]

By Diane K. Levy and Nancy Pindus, Housing Matters, January 8, 2020 American Indian households move more often than American households do overall, and an increasing share of American Indians live in metropolitan areas, including in nontribal areas. Although many people find stable housing in urban areas, not all do. With few resources and supports to help ease the transition, multiple moves can increase the likelihood of homelessness for American Indians who already are overrepresented in...

By NationSwell Team, NationSwell, January 9, 2020 Asiaha, her husband and daughter were set to leave their Chicago neighborhood, Englewood, to live in a suburb. But she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t just leave the kids playing in dirt and broken glass in empty lots. She couldn’t be one more person to give up on the neighborhood where she grew up. According to an analysis of the FBI’s 2018 uniform crime reports, Englewood’s violent crime rate is about two and a half times higher than the...

Companies grapple with what is appropriate to share and how to support co-workers By William Wan The Washington Post January 9, 2020 America’s climbing suicide rate has become a problem for businesses, too. Buried in a report last month by the Bureau of Labor of Statistics on occupational fatalities was this tragic fact: More people are killing themselves in the workplace than ever before. The number of such suicides for 2018 was 304 — an 11 percent increase from the year before and the...

L-R: Alison Cebulla , ACEs Connection Northeast Community Facilitator; Laurie Udesky , Staff Reporter; Donielle Prince, San Francisco Bay Area Community Facilitator; Rafael Maravilla , Network Manager and Central California Community Facilitator; Gail Kennedy , Operation and Strategic Partnerships Lead, California, Central Valley and Capitol Region Community Facilitator; Karen Clemmer, Northwest Community Facilitator, including Northern California. Photos courtesy of Alison Cebulla, ACEs...