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The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Culture of Health Prize (the Prize) recognizes communities that have placed a priority on health and are creating powerful partnerships and deep commitments that will enable everyone, especially those facing the greatest barriers to good health, the opportunity to live well. A Culture of Health recognizes that health and well-being are greatly influenced by where we live, learn, work, and play; the safety of our surroundings; and the relationships we have in our families and communities. The Prize elevates the compelling stories of local leaders and community members who together are transforming neighborhoods, schools, businesses, and more—so that better health flourishes everywhere.

There are characteristics shared by communities that catalyze and sustain positive change. Because the Prize recognizes whole communities, applicants must think beyond their own individual organizations and initiatives to what has been accomplished across the community. Prize communities will receive $25,000, have the opportunity to share their story and lessons learned with the country, and join a national network of past winning communities.

Application deadline is November 3, 2017, at 3:00 pm ET.

Learn more about the Prize.

The social determinants of health are the factors that affect health outside of the four walls of the hospital. Housing, social services, geographical location, and education are some of the most common social determinants of health. These factors have a significant impact on the current healthcare landscape. As more healthcare organizations deliver value-based healthcare, they are developing strategies to drive wellness care.

Socioeconomic factors can encompass several different social determinants of health. Poverty can limit access to healthy food, safe neighborhoods, and good schools, among other things. Most prominently, poverty affects housing.

Although individuals can lose reliable housing for a number of reasons – trauma, violence, mental illness, addiction, or another chronic health issue – poverty remains a notable factor driving homelessness.

Hospitals treating a large homeless patient population can forge partnerships with housing departments to help drive housing in the community. Housing development partners can help place individuals who are homeless in houses and offer support that will help individuals maintain that housing.

“Access to safe, quality, affordable housing – and the supports necessary to maintain that housing – constitute one of the most basic and powerful social determinants of health,” wrote the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) in a 2014 white paper.

Read more on PatientEngagementHIT.com.

The United States is facing a severe shortage of psychiatrists, in which 55 percent of counties nationwide currently have no psychiatrists available, according to a new report. This shortage is impacting the country’s health care system, particularly for primary-care doctors, who increasingly have to assume these roles to treat mental or behavioral health conditions.

Taking on mental health care often requires more time and resources to adequately assess and treat such conditions, which can further limit the valuable time doctors have with other patients at the point of care.

Moreover, the delivery of specialized mental healthcare can be out of the realm of expertise or comfort for many primary-care doctors. When it is, it makes sense to refer care to psychiatry providers. Yet, due to the current shortage of psychiatrists, patients may need to wait weeks—sometimes even months—to be seen by a local psychiatry provider in their community.

This is where direct-to-consumer telepsychiatry, also known as in-home telepsychiatry, can help fill the gap for primary-care doctors. Telepsychiatry is a type of telemedicine that uses videoconferencing to provide psychiatric evaluation, consultation and treatment.

Telepsychiatry offers several benefits, and meets the standard of traditional in-person care. Telepsychiatry can meet patients where they are, whether at home or in a private office, eliminating time spent traveling to appointments or in waiting rooms. It also allows more flexibility with scheduling, as direct-to-consumer telepsychiatry providers usually work from home themselves and can offer appointments during non-traditional hours, including evenings and weekends.

Read more on DiagnosticImaging.com.

Texans with substance use disorders who work with a peer recovery coach for a minimum of 12 months remain abstinent or reduce their substance use, improve their housing and employment status and reduce their overall use of health care services, according to a new report from social work researchers at The University of Texas at Austin.

Addiction to alcohol or drugs affects millions of people in the United States, and drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death among Americans under age 50. When it comes to treatment, much of the public discussion is still focused on admission to a detox facility, followed by a short-term stay in “rehab.” But addiction treatment experts emphasize the need to shift away from this acute care model and toward long-term recovery models. As with other chronic illnesses such as diabetes, substance use disorders require ongoing care and support services encompassing the whole health of the individual.

In accordance with this approach, in 2014 the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) funded a network of 22 community-based addiction treatment providers across the state to offer long-term recovery services through access to peer recovery coaches — individuals in recovery who complete 46 hours of HHSC-approved training and provide one-to-one coaching in support of each person’s unique recovery path. Other services include peer-run groups, social and wellness activities, training in life skills such as financial management and parenting, and connections to ongoing recovery supports in their home communities.

Social work researchers analyzed 2014-16 data from this network. Results for the 1,123 individuals who worked with a peer recovery coach for a minimum of 12 months showed that 83 percent remained abstinent or reduced their substance use; 54 percent owned or rented their living quarters, compared with 32 percent at the time of enrollment; and 57 percent were employed, compared with 23 percent at enrollment. In addition, they decreased their overall use of health care services — including inpatient, outpatient and emergency care — representing a 74 percent reduction in health care costs between enrollment ($4,384,325) and 12 months after enrollment ($1,123,863).

Read more on UTexas.edu. Read the full report (pdf).

Blacks and Latinos are disproportionately affected by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and less likely than whites to receive the ongoing, sustained care that is crucial to maintaining their health and viral suppression. For this new study, the researchers examined whether a laboratory health information exchange would increase rates of anti-retroviral therapy use and viral suppression for a large clinic population and if it would reduce racial/ethnic disparities in these outcomes.

The researchers examined monthly anti-retroviral therapy use and prescription fills and approximately, quarterly HIV lab results culled between December 2007 and November 2011 from electronic medical records for 1,181 people with HIV at a Southern California HIV/AIDS clinic. They examined rates of anti-retroviral therapy use and viral suppression one year before and two years after start of the laboratory health information exchange.

Use of laboratory health information exchanges in HIV care can both improve use of anti-retroviral therapy and viral suppression for all people living with HIV and reduce disparities between blacks and whites in HIV health care and outcomes.

Read more on MedicalXpress.com.

A structured therapeutic riding program benefited veterans with post-traumatic stress symptoms and functional disabilities, a study has found.

Texas-based researchers enrolled 89 veterans in the study. Fifty-one participated in an eight-week therapeutic riding program and 38 were in the waitlist/control group. Seventy-six percent completed all eight weeks of the program and 55% completed the two-month follow up surveys. Twenty-nine of the 38 waitlist/control group members completed all eight-weeks. The sample consisted of 62 men and 27 women, with an average age of 39. Most participants had completed at least two tours of duty.

Principal investigator Beth Lanning and her Baylor University colleagues set out to examine the effects of therapeutic horseback riding on posttraumatic stress symptoms, quality of life, and functioning of combat veterans using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) as a framework.

The study team, reporting in the June edition of the journal Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, said their findings revealed a clinically significant decrease in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.

Participants showed improved social functioning, greater vitality, and it was found there was less interference of emotions on their daily activities. There was evidence of improved confidence, trust, acceptance of self and others, and gratitude.

The participants reported clinically meaningful improvement in PTSD symptoms and mental health, the authors reported, with a marked improvement in participation and overall functioning over the course of the program.

Read more on HorseTalk.co.nz. Read the abstract of the study.