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Joseph C. Napoli, M.D., Assumes Post as APA Assembly Speaker
t the close of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Virtual Highlights Meeting, Joseph C. Napoli, M.D., assumed the role of Speaker of the APA Assembly of District Branches.
Dr. Jeffrey Geller Takes Office as APA President
Jeffrey Geller, M.D., M.P.H., began his one-year term as President of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) at the conclusion of the APA Virtual Highlights Meeting. At the same time Vivian Pender, M.D., began her term as APA President-elect.
A Child’s Home Environment Can Impact the Risk of Developing Depression
New research, published online today in the American Journal of Psychiatry, finds that children’s rearing environment has a meaningful impact on their risk for major depression later in life, and notes the importance supporting of nurturing environments when children are at risk . In the study, authors analyzed the health records of full and half siblings with at least one biological parent with depression who were raised by either their biological parents or in carefully screened adoptive homes. Generally, the children in adopted homes showed lower risk, but whatever the setting, episodes of major depression in the parents meant the children were more susceptible to depression themselves.
APA Statement on COVID-19 and Health Disparities
Reports are emerging that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is disproportionately impacting the African-American community in areas across the United States. In Chicago, for instance, half of those diagnosed with COVID-19 have been black, while African Americans only make up one third of the total population. Seventy percent of the fatalities linked to COVID-19 in Louisiana have been among black people, while this community makes up about a third of the overall population.
Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) Statement on Personal Protective Equipment
With more than 800,000 physicians across 45 specialties, the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) strongly urges action to ensure safer working conditions for physicians and other healthcare professionals on the frontline of direct patient care.
APA Urges Additional Access to Mental Health Services Over Phone During COVID-19 Pandemic
In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing numbers of Americans are accessing their care through telehealth, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has loosened requirements so that people receiving Medicaid and Medicare can use this vital link to health care. However, many of the most vulnerable patients, especially the serious mentally ill and elderly, are still facing obstacles to this care because they lack the required video technology or live in areas without reliable broadband access.
Joint Statement from the National Council for Behavioral Health, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Mental Health America and American Psychiatric Association
A mental health coalition today urged the federal government to provide personal protection equipment (PPE) to all behavioral health care professionals on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter, signed by The National Council for Behavioral Health, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Mental Health America (MHA) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) states that the lack of PPE is putting behavioral health care workers at risk.
APA Praises Mental Health Provisions in COVID-19 Stimulus Aid Package
The U.S. House of Representatives today passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) a $2 trillion stimulus aid package to provide fiscal relief for Americans and businesses in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill, which passed the Senate Wednesday, includes many provisions supported by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) that will enable health care professionals and communities to better respond to the pandemic, including some that will bolster mental health care.
New Poll: COVID-19 Impacting Mental Well-Being: Americans Feeling Anxious, Especially for Loved Ones; Older Adults are Less Anxious
Nearly half of Americans (48%) are anxious about the possibility of getting coronavirus, COVID-19, and nearly four in ten Americans (40%) are anxious about becoming seriously ill or dying from coronavirus, but far more Americans (62%) are anxious about the possibility of family and loved ones getting coronavirus. This is according to a new national poll released today by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
APA Pledges Continued Support for Affordable Care Act on its 10th Anniversary
Ten years ago today, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law. In addition to its main objective of expanding health insurance coverage to 30 million Americans, the reform package also included a number of elements related to psychiatric care, which have ultimately increased access to treatment for people with serious mental illness and substance use disorder.
America’s Frontline Physicians Recommend Further Actions to Address COVID-19
Today America’s frontline physicians issued a series of recommendations about steps that should be taken to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Our organizations represent more than 600,000 physicians and medical students serving on the front lines of health care. As the nation’s frontline physicians, our members will be diagnosing, testing, treating and counseling millions of patients and their families as the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, spreads throughout the United States and worldwide. They treat patients in rural, urban, wealthy and low-income communities, and are the foundation of the American health care system.
APA Offers Resources to Cope with COVID-19
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19), in addition to its physical health impacts on thousands of Americans, has disrupted the lives of millions more. Many now face uncertainty over their medical condition and that of their families, management of their daily lives, social isolation, financial stressors, and other issues. In the face of this pandemic and the turmoil it has caused, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) offers the following guidance for maintaining mental health and coping with stress.