Telehealth has improved behavioral healthcare, but policy changes are needed for access Temporary federal allowances should be permanent to ensure mental health parity, says expert.
, Associate Editor
A spotlight has been shone on mental health services during the past year, and with good reason: With the COVID-19 pandemic creating an isolating effect for millions of Americans, people need it.
Telehealth has helped to connect people to qualified clinicians, but now the question remains how to retain and expand access to care for those seeking behavioral healthcare.
It s a pressing issue, with a recent study showing that mental health services were the most common use of telehealth during the early days of the pandemic. In the midst of skyrocketing depression rates, the findings show that more patients used telehealth for behavioral rather than physical conditions.
The Facts:
Thousands of restaurants appear to have opened in Italy in defiance of the country’s strict coronavirus lockdown regulations.
Reflect On:
Are governments doing the right thing? What does the data about lockdowns say? Is it causing more harm than good? Is it having any impact at all on the spread of COVID-19? What are and have been the consequences of lockdown?
Before you begin.
Take a moment and breathe. Place your hand over your chest area, near your heart. Breathe slowly into the area for about a minute, focusing on a sense of ease entering your mind and body. Click here to learn why we suggest this.
This âLife-Changingâ Backward Walker is Helping People Move Forward Hands Free
Jan 24, 2021
The inventor has gone into debt launching this company, but he says that giving people the ability to walk again, and seeing them embrace their freedom, makes the effort worth more than words can say.
Rob Karlovichâs vision for a revolutionary new walking aide was inspired by a news story about disabled veterans returning from Afghanistan. These service people, who were once able to move with agility, were now struggling just to walk safely with the traditional walkers available to them.
As a lifelong technology innovator, Rob knew he could help. The San Jose, California designer recognized that available mobility devices all had two fundamental problems.
COVID-19 changed our lives in countless ways, from how we work to how we dress in public to protect ourselves from the virus. According to experts, it has also changed our friendships. More people are weeding their garden.
Bay Area scientists work to identify COVID-19 variants
By James Torrez
KTVU s James Torrez.
PALO ALTO, Calif. - Health experts are keeping their eyes on new and mutating strains of coronavirus. Now Bay Area scientists have a tool to determine if those strains are circulating in our neighborhoods.
For weeks, scientists have followed the developments of strains in the United Kingdom, Brazil and now South Africa. During the first press briefing under President Joe Biden, the nation s top infectious disease doctor Anthony Fauci warned the South Africa strain could be more dangerous than the others.
Dr. Benjamin Pinksy, associate professor of pathology and of infectious diseases at the Stanford School of Medicine, created a diagnostic test to identify new strains of the virus. He says his tool has even found the L452R strain in the Bay Area.