Posts Tagged "mental health"
Improve behavioral health: Together, we can
The 2019 National Council for Behavioral Health Conference that occurred in Nashville last week provides reason to pause. Its theme, “Celebrating 50 Years of WE”, gets to the very heart of what will bring about change – for behavioral health and beyond. Together, we can make a difference.
One of the toughest endeavors: Changing health behavior
Beacon Health Options’ mission is to help people live their lives to the fullest potential. It’s a simple, yet extraordinarily complicated, goal because it requires changing behavior at all levels – system, provider and individual.
Beacon has myriad programs to help improve individuals’ mental health, and ultimately, wellbeing. Programs range from pharmacy management to home-based therapy to opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment to intensive case management.
I feel your pain: Suicide’s impact on the mental health professional
As a mental health professional, two experiences with suicide have stayed with me over time.
The first occurred while working on an inpatient unit. A young woman jumped five stories from a parking garage and survived.
AI in behavioral health care: When artificial intelligence became real
Not long ago, the concept of artificial intelligence (AI) in health care may have seemed like the stuff of which science fiction books and movies is made, but AI is fast becoming positioned to become business as usual in an industry that is already steeped in data and analytics.
AI amps up the game, and Beacon Health Options has become a willing player in using this cutting-edge technology to improve people’s health at a reduced cost.
Honoring Mental Health Awareness Month: What Does the Future Look Like?
In 1949, Mental Health America led the way in establishing May as Mental Health Awareness Month. Since that time, mental health care has come a long way through a better understanding of behavioral health conditions, the development of corresponding evidence-based practices, and improved health care delivery.
However, we still have a ways to go.
Remembering Daniel: A story told is a story never forgotten
He was one of the most honest people I had ever met. His face was honest; it betrayed every emotion. His voice was honest. He always told you exactly what he was thinking. His heart was honest.
He felt things more strongly than anyone I know. I loved him. I met him on the first day of 9th grade and was instantly smitten. He was always kind and jovial with me, despite my relatively uncool standing, to his relatively popular one.
Practical steps to clinical excellence
What makes a great therapist? What are the characteristics of therapists who stand head and shoulders above their peers in delivering effective outcomes for individuals involved in therapy?
Researchers have focused on the following factors:
Serious mental illness and cancer: Treatment outside the box
“On average, Americans with major mental illness die 14 to 32 years earlier than the general population.”
Every time I hear it, I’m alarmed. Contrary to popular belief, most people with serious mental illness do not die from suicide or violence. They die from the same conditions as those without serious mental illness – cancer, heart disease, diabetes.
Stronger support for Americans who risk their lives for ours: Changes for veterans
Happy New Year, Veterans (and all of us who benefit from your selfless service on behalf of our country)!
Despite a year of political upheaval and angst in Washington, veterans can be pleased with the new administration’s Veterans Affairs (VA) policy direction that has earned significant bipartisan support.
‘Did you hear about Frank?’
As I showed a hometown friend around my university’s library one November Sunday afternoon in my sophomore year, a classmate saw me and said, “Did you hear about Frank?”.
I had last seen my roommate on Friday afternoon when we both headed to our respective hometowns for the weekend. I returned to the campus on Sunday. Frank did not. He had died by suicide.