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NEWS:
Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment Can Learn – And Benefit From – Mindfulness Meditation
There’s currently no known way to prevent older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from developing Alzheimer’s disease.
But there may be a safe and feasible non-pharmacological treatment that may help patients living with MCI, according to a small pilot study in the current issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease led by a neurologist and researcher with Wake Forest Baptist Health.
“Until treatment options that can prevent the progression to Alzheimer’s are found, mindfulness meditation may help patients living with MCI,” said Rebecca Erwin Wells, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of neurology at Wake Forest School of Medicine, a practicing neurologist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and associate director of clinical research for its Center for Integrative Medicine. “Our study showed promising evidence that adults with MCI can learn to practice mindfulness meditation
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Prize-Winning, Student-Designed App Identifies Social Conditions Contributing To Mortality
An app created by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute students that identifies social conditions contributing to declining life expectancy at a community level is a Phase 1 winner in a data visualization competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The Phase 1 prototype of “MortalityMinder” identifies social determinants – including measures of health behavior, clinical care, the physical environment, and social and economic factors – that contribute to “deaths of despair” due to suicide and substance abuse in New York state. As they advance to Phase 2, the student developers will expand the app to identify social determinants that contribute to the leading causes of death nationwide.
“We are designing ‘MortalityMinder’ for decision-makers at all levels,” said data scientist Kristin Bennett, a professor of mathematical sciences and leader of the Health Analyt
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Northwell Offers Hospitalized Patients Help In Dealing With Opioid, Substance-Use Issues
Northwell Health today announced the implementation of its substance-use screening protocol for patients who are admitted to its hospitals, broadening its ability to support members of the community at risk of health consequences related to the use of opioids or other substances. The initiative, which uses the health system's Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) program, expands Northwell's effort to address opioid and substance use as effectively and compassionately as any other health care problem by making screening part of the standard of care for every patient.
"By asking just a few evidence-based questions of every willing patient who is admitted to the hospital, we're making it clear that they're not alone and that we can help them get effective care and treatment. That kind of caring offer of partnership can make a profound difference with such a highl
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Up To Half Of Patients Withhold Life-Threatening Issues From Doctors
Facing the threat of domestic violence, being a survivor of sexual assault, struggling with depression or thoughts of suicide are four topics that are difficult to broach with anyone. Including those who can help you.
A new study reveals up to 47.5% of patients who feel they face one or more of these four threats do not disclose this critical information to care providers out of embarrassment, fear of judgement or the possible long-term implications of sharing such information.
Scientists at University of Utah Health, Middlesex Community College, University of Michigan and University of Iowa collaborated on the study, which was published online in JAMA Network Open on August 14.
Understanding how to make patients feel more comfortable with clinicians is key to helping patients address such life-threatening risks, says the study’s senior author Angela Fagerlin, Ph.D.
“For primary c
