COVID-19, Unemployment, and Behavioral Health Conditions: The Need for Supported Employment.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused massive unemployment, exacerbated pre-existing behavioral health (mental health and substance use) disorders for many people, and created new disorders for others. Although policy changes have increased health care and unemployment benefits, most people want jobs and self-sufficiency rather than handouts. A robust evidence base shows that supported employment can enable unemployed people with behavioral health conditions to find competitive, integrated employment and behavioral health supports. Millions of U.S. citizens may need these services as the pandemic recedes and jobs become available. Government attention to supported employment is necessary now more than ever.

Cognitive remediation in large systems of psychiatric care.

IntroductionWith the increasing enthusiasm to provide cognitive remediation (CR) as an evidence-based practice, questions arise as to what is involved in implementing CR in a large system of care. This article describes the first statewide implementation of CR in the USA, with the goal of documenting the implementation issues that care providers are likely to face when bringing CR services to their patients. METHODS: In 2014, the New York State Office of Mental Health set up a Cognitive Health Service that could be implemented throughout the state-operated system of care. This service was intended to broadly address cognitive health, to assure that the cognitive deficits commonly associated with psychiatric illnesses are recognized and addressed, and that cognitive health is embedded in the vocabulary of wellness. It involved creating a mechanism to train staff to recognize how cognitive health could be prioritized in treatment planning as well as implementing CR in state-operated adult outpatient psychiatry clinics. RESULTS: By 2017, CR was available at clinics serving people with serious mental illness in 13 of 16 adult Psychiatric Centers, located in rural and urban settings throughout New York state. The embedded quality assurance program evaluation tools indicated that CR was acceptable, sustainable, and effective. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive remediation can be feasibly implemented in large systems of care that provide a multilevel system of supports, a training program that educates broadly about cognitive health and specifically about the delivery of CR, and embedded, ongoing program evaluation that is linked to staff supervision.

Ending the Opioid Epidemic by Changing the Culture.

The opioid epidemic continues to take thousands of lives each year in the United States, more than motor vehicle accidents and suicides combined. Real solutions, based on science, will require a culture shift in the way that we think about and respond to substance use disorders, in the healthcare system and in our communities. Just more of the same approach will not turn the tide. This article discusses how to better understand the use of psychoactive drugs and how prevention, treatment and policy change can disseminate evidence-based practices, fight stigma, and advance harm reduction; not only as strategies to improve outcomes, but as a social justice movement as well.

The New York State Collaborative Care Initiative: 2012-2014.

We report on a partnership between the NYS Department of Health and Office of Mental Health that delivered the full integration of depression care into primary medical care. Called the NYS Collaborative Care Initiative (NYS-CCI), nineteen NYS academic medical centers participated. Based on principles of chronic illness care, Collaborative Care detects and manages depression in primary care using a highly prescriptive protocol (University of Washington AIMS Center website: http://uwaims.org/ ). Fidelity was ensured by measuring screening rates, diagnosis, enrollment, and improvement among those in treatment for 16 weeks. There was significant, progressive performance improvement in sites that served over 1 million patients over the course of the two and a half year grant. Clinics also reported satisfaction with the CC model. Based on the experience gained, we recommend a number of critical actions necessary for the successful implementation and scaling-up of CC throughout any state undertaking this endeavor.

Training psychiatry residents in quality improvement: an integrated, year-long curriculum.

OBJECTIVE The authors describe a curriculum for psychiatry residents in Quality Improvement (QI) methodology. METHODS All PGY3 residents (N=12) participated in a QI curriculum that included a year-long group project. Knowledge and attitudes were assessed before and after the curriculum, using a modified Quality Improvement Knowledge Assessment Tool (QIKAT) and a QI Self-Assessment survey. RESULTS QIKAT scores were significantly higher for residents after participating in the curriculum when compared with pretest scores. Self-efficacy ratings in QI improved after the course for each item. Residents demonstrated gains in QI skills through participation in the group projects in which they increased rates of depression-screening and monitoring in an outpatient clinic. CONCLUSIONS Combining didactic and experiential learning can be an effective means for training psychiatry residents in QI.

A curriculum in measurement-based care: screening and monitoring of depression in a psychiatric resident clinic.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this curriculum was to train residents in measurement-based care (MBC). METHOD: Third-year psychiatry residents were educated in MBC through didactic seminars and a quality-improvement (QI) initiative with the goal of implementing the Patient Health Questionnaire Depression Scale (PHQ-9) to screen and monitor patients for symptoms of depression. RESULTS: Residents suggested strategies for integrating the PHQ-9 into the clinic. Over the first 6 months, residents showed an increase in rate of depression screening from 4% to 92% of patients. Also, they increased monthly monitoring of outpatients with a diagnosis of depression from 1% to 76%. Residents who used the PHQ-9 to monitor patients with depression were significantly more likely to use additional standardized assessments. CONCLUSIONS: Combining an educational intervention with QI strategies can significantly affect residents' use of standardized assessments in an outpatient setting. Using standardized measures allows residents to assess their own clinical effectiveness, an emerging priority in training.

Making room for mental health in the medical home.

Discussions of health care reform emphasize the need for coordinated care, and evidence supports the effectiveness of medical home and integrated delivery system models. However, mental health often is left out of the discussion. Early intervention approaches for children and adolescents in primary care are important given the increased rates of detection of mental illness in youth. Most adults also receive treatment for mental illness from nonspecialists, underscoring the role for mental health in medical home models. Flexible models for coordinated care are needed for people with serious mental illness, who have high rates of comorbid medical problems. Programs implemented in the New York State public mental health system are examples of efforts to better coordinate medical and mental health services.

Factors Influencing Buprenorphine Prescribing among Physicians in New York State.

BACKGROUND: Increasing access to buprenorphine is an important strategy for curtailing the opioid epidemic. Research is needed to understand what facilitates prescribing among waivered physicians and how to increase the willingness and capacity to prescribe. This study describes prescribing patterns in a sample of buprenorphine-waivered physicians in New York (NY) in 2016 and examines factors influencing prescribing capacity among waivered providers. METHODS: Surveys were mailed to a random sample of 300 physicians with DEA waivers to prescribe buprenorphine in NY which assessed demographics, practice characteristics, buprenorphine prescribing patterns, and barriers/facilitators to prescribing buprenorphine. Analyses include simple logistic regression to calculate the odds ratio, 95% confidence intervals, and p values, respectively, to examine differences in individual predictors among physicians that were actively prescribing buprenorphine and those that were not. RESULTS: 91 physicians responded to the survey, and 65% indicated they were currently prescribing buprenorphine. The mean patient census among physicians waivered to prescribe to 30 patients was 9.6 (SD = 9.7, median = 5), and to 100 patients, it was 60.5 (SD = 38.9, median = 72.5). Common facilitators included access to psychosocial referrals and better reimbursement, while inadequate resources, lack of time, and prior authorizations were the most common barriers. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to increasing the number of waivered physicians, policy-makers should provide enhanced training and implementation support for waivered physicians to start prescribing and facilitate continued and expanded prescribing among those already doing so.

Science and recovery in schizophrenia.

Mental health advocates and policy makers are increasingly attuned to the importance of the recovery concept, and psychiatrists and neuroscientists increasingly emphasize the medical model and neurobiological mechanisms in relation to schizophrenia. Studies have shown that people with schizophrenia are tremendously heterogeneous in each domain of recovery, and the various domains of recovery are themselves relatively independent from one another. Studies have also shown that current interventions are effective for specific dimensions of the illness and functions, are usually ameliorative rather than curative, and are effective only for a proportion of patients. Hence, the authors suggest defining recovery in terms of improvements in specific domains rather than globally -- for example, "recovery of cognitive functioning" or "recovery of vocational functioning" -- to signify improvements in specific areas. This definition realistically emphasizes states of relative and partial recovery that patients can achieve in response to treatment. The emphasis on a range of improvements in specific areas should allow clinicians to communicate more clearly regarding the current findings and goals of treatment. The article also examines current research on various aspects of recovery, including the effects of treatment on pathophysiology, symptoms, cognitive impairments, quality of life, and self-agency. An operational definition of recovery allows for bridging hope and recovery with important advances in the science of the brain. Future clinical and neuroscience research and service development should emphasize measures of recovery as outcomes for people with schizophrenia.

OnTrackNY: The Development of a Coordinated Specialty Care Program for Individuals Experiencing Early Psychosis.

OnTrackNY is a coordinated specialty care program that delivers early intervention services to youths experiencing a first episode of nonaffective psychosis. Treatment aims to help individuals improve their mental health and achieve personal goals related to work, school, and social relationships. This column describes OnTrackNY's progression from a research project to real-world implementation. The authors describe the treatment model, approach to training and dissemination, and procedures for collecting and sharing data with OnTrackNY teams and provide data on client characteristics and selected outcomes.

The Social Determinants of Mental Health.

Ninety percent of the determinants of our health derive from our lifetime social and physical environment-not from the provision of health care. The author describes behaviors, such as poor eating, excessive drinking and abuse of drugs, smoking, and physical inactivity, and social factors, such as adverse childhood experiences, poor education, food insecurity, poor housing quality, unemployment, and discrimination, that contribute to ill health and early demise. Better health and mental health can be achieved by understanding and responding to these determinants of health.

Implementing Cognitive Remediation Programs in France: The "Secret Sauce".

Cognitive remediation (CR) is a psychosocial therapy that seeks to restore patients' cognitive abilities by providing strategies to improve functioning in cognitive domains and helping them transfer acquired capabilities to everyday life. Since 2008, CR programs have been introduced in several regional health ministry areas in France. This column describes that implementation initiative, which includes creation of a network of the most active CR programs to conduct multicenter trials; establishment of a university degree in CR, awarded after completion of a one-year clinical training program; and implementation activities of regional health agencies. The authors describe three core elements of a "secret sauce"-a common language, timing, and leadership-that has helped ensure the success of the implementation efforts and that may be useful in other countries.

Sustaining Screening of Key Health Risk Factors in New York State Mental Health Clinics After Implementation of the Health Indicator Initiative.

OBJECTIVE: Screening data on obesity and smoking among adult outpatients in state-operated clinics were collected and analyzed by the New York State Office of Mental Health to determine relationships between demographic and clinical risk factors and obesity and smoking. Predictors of weight loss and smoking cessation were examined. METHODS: Individuals enrolled in 2010-2012 with two or more valid body mass index measures and two or more valid smoking measures (N=22,574) were selected. Chi square tests examined associations between demographic and clinical risk factors and obesity and smoking. Multivariable logistic regression identified predictors of weight loss and smoking cessation. RESULTS: The prevalence of obesity and smoking was 45% and 50%, respectively. The odds of losing weight or remaining at a stable weight were higher among males (versus females), individuals ages ≤49 (versus ≥50), smokers (versus nonsmokers) at baseline, and individuals with diabetes (versus without diabetes). The odds of gaining weight were higher among individuals prescribed psychotropic medications compared with those who were not prescribed psychotropic medications. Individuals ages ≤49 and those with a pulmonary condition or psychotic or substance use disorders (versus without these conditions) were less likely to quit smoking. Individuals who were obese (versus not obese) at baseline and those with an endocrine condition (versus without this condition) were more likely to quit smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Significant associations were found between demographic and clinical risk factors and obesity, smoking, and improvements in smoking and obesity outcomes. Continued work is needed to identify critical points of intervention to prevent weight gain and promote weight loss and smoking cessation in this population.

An Initiative to Improve Clozapine Prescribing in New York State.

Clozapine remains the only medication approved for treatment-resistant schizophrenia. But underuse is the norm. In 2010, the New York State Office of Mental Health began a multifaceted initiative to promote the evidence-based use of clozapine. From 2009 to 2013, in the absence of a well-funded pharmaceutical marketing campaign, the proportion of new clozapine trials among all new outpatient antipsychotic trials increased 40% among adult New York Medicaid recipients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. The largest gains occurred in state-operated clinics. New York's experience demonstrates the feasibility of making clozapine more accessible to patients who stand to benefit most.

The New York State Office of Mental Health Positive Alternatives to Restraint and Seclusion (PARS) Project.

OBJECTIVE: The Positive Alternatives to Restraint and Seclusion (PARS) project of the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) was designed to build capacity to use alternatives to restraint and seclusion within state-operated and licensed inpatient and residential treatment programs serving children with severe emotional disturbances. Its long-term goal was to eliminate the use of these restrictive interventions throughout the state's mental health system of care by creating coercion- and violence-free treatment environments governed by a philosophy of recovery, resiliency, and wellness. METHODS: The central feature of the PARS project was training in, implementation of, and engagement with the Six Core Strategies to Reduce the Use of Seclusion and Restraint, a comprehensive approach developed by the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. This report provides an overview of the project, results from January 2007 through December 2011, and lessons learned by OMH. RESULTS: The three participating mental health treatment facilities demonstrated significant decreases in restraint and seclusion episodes per 1,000 client-days. Each identified specific activities that contributed to success, including ways to facilitate open, respectful two-way communication between management and staff and between staff and youths and greater involvement of youths in program decision making. CONCLUSIONS: All three facilities continued to implement key components of the PARS initiative after termination of grant-funded activities, and OMH initiated multiple activities to disseminate lessons learned during the project to all inpatient and residential treatment programs throughout the state mental health system.