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Behavioral Healthcare for Older Adults: It’s All About Resiliency
It is with great excitement that I step into the role of CEO of Service Program for Older People (SPOP), a position I assumed on July 1 following the retirement of our long-time CEO, Nancy Harvey. It is a tremendous honor to be entrusted with the leadership of an agency that has transformed the...
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Meeting the Behavioral Health Needs of Today’s Older Adults: Considerations for Innovation
Between 2010 and 2020, the US experienced the largest-ever 10-year gain for those in the >65 age bracket, with an increase of 15.5 million people. According to the US Census Bureau, one in four Americans will be age 65 or older by 2060 (Caplan, 2023). Although today’s expanding older adult...
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Time to Confront the Challenges of an Aging America
America is aging rapidly.1 Over the next few decades, the proportion of adults 65 and older will come to exceed the proportion of children under 18 – an historic first.2 And as the number of older adults grows from approximately 56 million at the beginning of this decade to 85 million in 2050,3...
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Behavioral Health News Spotlight on Excellence: An Interview with Jihoon Kim, CEO of InUnity Alliance
Overview In this interview, Jorge R. Petit, Founder/CEO of Quality Healthcare Solutions, LLC, speaks with Jihoon Kim, CEO of InUnity Alliance (asapnys.org / coalitionny.org). Jihoon discusses his strategic vision and priorities for addressing the growing mental health and addiction crisis in New...
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Biden-Harris Administration Announces $46.8 Million in Behavioral Health Funding Opportunities to Advance President Biden’s Unity Agenda as Part of May Mental Health Awareness Month
On Wednesday, May 8, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), announced $46.8 million in notices of funding opportunities to promote youth mental health, grow the behavioral health workforce, improve...
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Addressing the Adolescent Behavioral Health Crisis
Over the last year I have been writing about the growing public health crisis of behavioral health challenges among adolescents and young adults, especially BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth. The United Hospital Fund (UHF), in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), recently released The...
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Reported Drug Use Among Adolescents Continued to Hold Below Pre-Pandemic Levels in 2023
The percentage of adolescents reporting they used any illicit substances in 2023 continued to hold steady below the pre-pandemic levels reported in 2020, with 10.9% of eighth graders, 19.8% of 10th graders, and 31.2% of 12th graders reporting any illicit drug use in the past year, according...
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Guide to Equity Terminology: Promoting Behavioral Health Equity through the Words We Use
In the field of behavioral health, words are often our primary tools. We don’t have hammers and saws, thermometers and stethoscopes, or brushes and palettes. Words are powerful tools and using them with intention is central to our craft. “I’ll never forget, years ago, when I was asked to...
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Working Works: Considerations and Resources for Navigating Employment in the Recovery Journey
Behavioral health best practice incorporates a whole-health perspective that emphasizes wellness, is person-centered, and focuses on the whole person and their strengths, not their illness (Swarbrick, 2006). Occupational wellness, that “personal satisfaction and enrichment derived from one’s...
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Supportive Housing Workers are Burnt-Out, Overworked, and in Dire Need of Support
Essential to the health and recovery of our formerly unhoused neighbors with the most complex needs are critical workforce investments for those who serve and support them. The future of supportive housing, the most effective tool available to combat chronic homelessness, is threatened by a severe...
