Well Being Trust reports, research, policy and advocacy updates, provide you with information on the state of mental health and addiction in the United States.
Pain in the Nation –
The latest in a series of reports tracking the nation’s deaths of despair crisis produced by Trust for America’s Health and Well Being Trust.
Tackling America’s Mental Health and Addiction Crisis Through Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration (2021) –
Bipartisan Policy Center a new report outlining what legislative and regulatory changes have to happen to make mental health a part of Americans’ primary and behavioral health care experience. The report was jointly commissioned by the Sunflower Foundation, the New York Community Trust and Well Being Trust, a national foundation dedicated to advancing the mental, social, and spiritual health of the nation.
Milliman report highlights mental health care utilization during COVID-19 pandemic (2021)
A report by Milliman sheds light on the utilization of mental health services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This newly released analysis of 12.5 million individuals’ commercial insurance, Medicaid Managed Care, Medicare fee-for-service (MSSP), and Medicare Advantage claims between January-August 2019 and January-August 2020 is one of few reports seeking to understand how mental health care was impacted by COVID-19 in a similar – and, at times, different – way to physical health care.
Enhancing the Capacity of the Mental Health and Addiction Workforce: A Framework (2021)
This report provides an important framework for the mental health and addiction workforce in the United States. This framework provides policy recommendations and other ways to improve the capacity of mental health clinics and within communities when it comes to addressing mental health.
Medicaid Forward: Behavioral Health (2021)
The National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD), a bipartisan, nonprofit, professional organization representing leaders of state Medicaid agencies across the country, released the first of a three-part series of reports aimed at communicating the critical role Medicaid will play as the nation looks toward recovery from the pandemic and the country’s “new normal.” The initial report, Medicaid Forward: Behavioral Health, focuses on the realities of mental health and addiction for the roughly 77 million Americans who now use Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program to access the health care they need – enrollment grew by 6.6 million since the start of the pandemic.
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Health Policy Brief: Understanding Suicide Risk And Prevention (2021)
Deaths from suicide are at an all-time high and continue to rise due to the mental health and substance use problems related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The most recent data shows that suicide is the tenth leading cause of death, claiming twice as many lives as homicide. In Health Affairs, Ben Miller from Well Being Trust focuses on the importance of understanding suicide risk and prevention as America navigates this public health crisis.
Lifelines: A Pandemic Undertow (2020)
Lifelines calls attention to the urgent need for U.S. mental health and addiction support in the context of coronavirus-related recession and isolation. The online interactive data tool allows visitors to explore the support structures that provide mental and economic health to our society, and to understand what happens when they are eroded or fail completely.
Barriers and Policy Options to Integrating Clinical and Mental Health (2019) –
Bipartisan Policy Center released this report to examine the major barriers to integrating clinical health care and mental health services in the United States, including insurance coverage and payment disparities, workforce shortages, and administrative challenges.
Projected Deaths of Despair During Covid-19 –
The COVID Pandemic could Lead to 75,000 Additional Deaths from Alcohol and Drug Misuse and Suicide. View this research released by Well Being Trust and the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care to learn more.
Integrating Clinical and Mental Health: Challenges and Opportunities
Integrating Clinical and Mental Health: Challenges and Opportunities (2019)
Bipartisan Policy Center released this report to examine the major barriers to integrating clinical health care and mental health services in the United States, including insurance coverage and payment disparities, workforce shortages, and administrative challenges. The report, Integrating Clinical and Mental Health: Challenges and Opportunities, also identifies federal and state policy options that could help remove these barriers and advance evidence-based treatment for mental health care.
Building Blocks: How Medicaid Can Advance Mental Health and Substance Use Crisis Response (2021)
Medicaid coverage underpins the ability of states to advance access to behavioral health
services, including crisis services, for people with low incomes. Implementation of new
laws is driving interest in using Medicaid to advance crisis response. This paper describes
crisis services and how they are provided and financed. It identifies five Medicaid building
blocks that states can use to strengthen crisis response and expand behavioral health
services.
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California’s health care paradox (2019)
California Trades Spending on Vital Community Conditions that Keep People Healthy for Propping Up a Sick Care System – Report finds health care spending grew 146 percent in the past decade—wasting billions in the process on overpriced services and unnecessary care—while spending on community conditions grew by just 39 percent.
Evaluating State Mental Health and Addiction Parity Statutes (2018)
At an event recognizing the 10th anniversary of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), the Kennedy-Satcher Center for Mental Health Equity in the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine, The Kennedy Forum, The Carter Center, and Well Being Trust jointly released “Evaluating State Mental Health and Addiction Parity Statutes,” with 32 states receiving a failing grade for statues designed to ensure equal access to mental health and addiction treatment.
Well Being Trust and Providence: Partnering to Transform Mental Health and Save Lives from Deaths of Despair
Well Being Trust was formed to advance the mental, social, and spiritual health of the nation. Since our 2016 endowment by Providence and January 2017 launch—envisioned and chaired from the start by Providence CEO Dr. Rod Hochman—Well Being Trust has been partnering and investing to catalyze clinical, community, and policy actions that can save lives from deaths by drugs, alcohol and suicide; and increase equitable well-being across the nation.
Surgeon General’s Report on Community Health and Economic Prosperity Underscores Importance of WIN Network’s Seven Vital Conditions
We can undo legacies of inequitable health outcomes across the nation by adopting a strong, community-centric approach that supports improved well-being across all areas of life, according to the Office of the Surgeon General’s “Community Health and Economic Prosperity” report, released recently. And businesses must be stewards and stakeholders in that work.
Well Being Trust Toolbox: Solutions for advancing mental health and well-being in your community –
The Well Being Trust Toolbox, developed with Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), intends to equip community leaders and decision makers with solutions and resources for improving mental health and well-being outcomes in their organizations and communities.
Advancing Adolescent Flourishing: Moving Policy Upstream –
Adolescent brain science shows the teen years are a critical developmental period—a time that’s malleable enough that investments at this age can make a difference for teens today and the rest of their lives, according to a new analysis by AcademyHealth, ACT for Health and Well Being Trust.
Digital Health Practices, Social Media Use, and Mental Well-Being Among Teens and Young Adults in the U.S. –
A national survey of 14- to 22-year-olds provides new evidence on the growing mental health crisis affecting young people. The survey, sponsored by Hopelab and Well Being Trust, finds that large numbers of teens and young adults experiencing moderate to severe symptoms of depression are turning to the internet for help, including researching mental health issues online (90 percent), accessing other people’s health stories through blogs, podcasts, and videos (75 percent), using mobile apps related to well-being (38 percent), and connecting with health providers through digital tools such as texting and video chat (32 percent).
Evidence Review Examines Interventions Aimed at Improving Teen Well Being –
This Rapid Evidence Review, from Academy Health, ACT for Health, and WBT reports on findings from recent systematic reviews and selected major studies to address the question of whether teen flourishing can be enhanced.
Preliminary Observations: Spiritual Well-Being in Healthcare
This report highlights consideration of spiritual well-being in healthcare settings as a contributor to physical and mental health. The goal of this report is to lay a foundation for further research and discussion among healthcare professionals across fields, as to what it might look like to validate and address spiritual health as an element of overall care.
Measuring Spiritual Well-Being: A briefing for scholars researching well-being, spirituality and social connection
This briefing is written for researchers and academics focused on well-being, spirituality and
social connection and explains the process, conclusions and recommendations following the
testing of Sacred Design Lab’s spiritual well-being assessment prototype.
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healthcare professionals across fields, as to what it might look like to validate and address spiritual health as an element of overall care