Home-based mental health services for older adults: a review of ten model programs.

OBJECTIVE: The objective is to provide information on successful programs providing home-based services to mentally ill elderly in order to assist other communities wishing to establish such programs. PARTICIPANTS: The ten programs described in this article were selected by peer review from applications for an award given by the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and were participants in an invitational conference. RESULTS: Eight of the programs were components of a community agency and two were components of a medical school department of psychiatry. Six of the programs focused primarily on individuals with anxiety and depression and utilized a range of individual psychotherapies. The other four accepted patients with any psychiatric diagnosis including dementia and included medication management as part of their services. The numbers served by the ten programs ranged from about 50 to 300 new cases per year, and the staffing ranged from 2 to 13 often with a combination of full and part time. The annual budget for the ten programs ranged from $30,000 to $1,250,000. Budget sources usually included some combination of public funds, philanthropy, and fee-for-service income. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the logistic and fiscal challenges of providing home-based services to mentally ill older adults there are many long-standing successful programs that can serve as models for communities wishing to establish similar programs. A great opportunity exists for a unified outcome research endeavor as well as expansion into many more communities.

The Great Health Paradox: A Call for Increasing Investment in Public Health.

The great health paradox is that the least expensive and most effective public health measures available for addressing the COVID-19 pandemic-and other society-wide health challenges-have long been ignored and rejected in the United States in favor of more expensive and personalized care. The U.S. medical system is being overwhelmed in part because of this paradox. The authors argue that the country has invested excessively in acute care medical technology while investing insufficiently in its public health infrastructure. In this Invited Commentary, the authors recommend 5 steps that academic medicine should take to increase emphasis on and understanding of public health interventions to address society's health problems: (1) incorporate problem-based learning experiences in the medical school curriculum and community-based clinical rotations in public health departments, (2) better integrate schools of public health and schools of medicine, (3) encourage physicians to pursue public health careers, (4) educate the public about strategies for decreasing chronic illnesses, and (5) increase collaboration with colleagues around the world to identify and track outbreaks.

COVID-19: Financial Stress Test for Academic Medical Centers.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is having profound effects on the lives and well-being of the world's population. All levels of the nation's public health and health care delivery systems are rapidly adjusting to secure the health infrastructure to manage the pandemic in the United States. As the nation's safety net health care systems, academic medical centers (AMCs) are vital clinical and academic resources in managing the pandemic. COVID-19 may also risk the financial underpinnings of AMCs because their cost structures are high, and they may have incurred large amounts of debt over the last decade as they expanded their clinical operations and facilities. This Invited Commentary reviews existing data on AMC debt levels; summarizes relief provided in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act; and suggests policy options to help mitigate risk.

The ABPN Maintenance of Certification Program for psychiatrists: past history, current status, and future directions.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) Maintenance of Certification Program, its underlying rationale, how it will be implemented now, and what it might look like in the future. METHODS: The authors describe the philosophical foundation, specific components, and the implementation timeline of the ABPN Maintenance of Certification Program; the development of specific products that might be used by ABPN diplomates to meet its requirements; and several unanswered questions about its current status and future development. RESULTS: The ABPN Maintenance of Certification Program consists of specific requirements pertaining to professional standing, self-assessment and lifelong learning, performance in practice, and cognitive expertise that will be implemented incrementally over the next decade. CONCLUSION: The ABPN Maintenance of Certification Program has been implemented in a manner that is as consistent as possible with its underlying philosophical beliefs as well as the current and expected public and political concerns, diplomate needs, and the requirements of organizations responsible for licensure, credentialing, privileging, accreditation, professional development, and physician reimbursement.