Impact of Telemedicine on Utilization of Psychiatric Resources in New York City during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This study sought to evaluate the impact of telepsychiatry during the COVID-19 pandemic among patients discharged from psychiatric inpatient units in the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation system. We compared patients discharged to telepsychiatry (April 2020, n = 739) and in-person follow-up (May 2019, n = 527); we collected number, timing and attendance for follow-up appointments and number and timing of emergency room (ER) visits and readmissions. We used logistic regression to evaluate the odds of having these encounters and Kaplan-Meier analyses to compare time to these encounters.

Integrating Text Messaging in a Low Threshold Telebuprenorphine Program for New York City Residents with Opioid Use Disorder during COVID-19: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Pragmatic innovations are needed to optimize clinical outcomes among people who use opioids initiating buprenorphine. This pilot randomized controlled trial assessed the feasibility of integrating text messaging in a low threshold telebuprenorphine bridge program for people who use opioids during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Eligible adult patients with opioid use disorder inducted on buprenorphine (N = 128) in the NYC Health+Hospitals Virtual Buprenorphine Clinic between May and November 2020 were randomized to an automated texting intervention based on the medical management model versus treatment as usual.

Use of food distribution resources among military families with young children since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: The present study examined military families' use of food distribution resources and military (e.g. rank) and non-military (e.

All Shades of Anxiety: A Review of Therapeutic and Psychotropic Considerations for Child and Adolescent Youth of Color.

The literature on anxiety in Black, Indigenous, and other persons of color youth is a developing area. This article highlights distinct areas for the clinician to consider in working with these populations. We highlight prevalence and incidence, race-related stress, social media, substance use, spirituality, the impact of social determinants of health (including COVID-19 and the Syndemic), as well as treatment considerations.

The Color of Autonomy: Examining Racial Inequity in Coercive Institutional Practices.

Two articles recently published in this journal identified racial inequities in routine psychiatric practice. This Open Forum discusses the need for a paradigm shift in inequities research. The two articles reviewed here, one by Shea and colleagues on racial-ethnic inequities in inpatient psychiatric civil commitment and one by Garrett and colleagues on racial-ethnic disparities in psychiatric decisional capacity consultations, are examples of the new research gaze.

Quality Improvement Framework to Examine Health Care Disparities in Behavioral Emergency Management in the Inpatient Medical Setting: A Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Health Equity Project.

Background: De-escalation of behavioral emergencies in the inpatient medical setting may involve restrictive clinical interventions that directly challenge patient autonomy.

Objective: We describe a quality improvement framework used to examine associations between patient characteristics and behavioral emergency de-escalation strategies. This project may inform other Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry teams seeking to promote equity in care.

IL-6 prevents Th2 cell polarization by promoting SOCS3-dependent suppression of IL-2 signaling.

Defective interleukin-6 (IL-6) signaling has been associated with Th2 bias and elevated IgE levels. However, the underlying mechanism by which IL-6 prevents the development of Th2-driven diseases remains unknown. Using a model of house dust mite (HDM)-induced Th2 cell differentiation and allergic airway inflammation, we showed that IL-6 signaling in allergen-specific T cells was required to prevent Th2 cell differentiation and the subsequent IgE response and allergic inflammation.

Incorporating Structural Racism, Employment Discrimination, and Economic Inequities in the Social Determinants of Health Framework to Understand Agricultural Worker Health Inequities.

In 2010, the federal government and several state governments began using the social determinants of health (SDOH) framework to highlight contributing factors of health inequities and, in 2022, recognized that structural racism was associated with health inequities. Yet, efforts to eliminate health inequities have disproportionately focused on individualized solutions instead of addressing structural racism. Many racial/ethnic-minority workers have been segregated to low-wage occupations that lack access to paid sick leave, such as agricultural work, which has been associated with health inequities.

A longitudinal pathway from ethnic-racial discrimination to sexual risk behaviors among Black women and Latinas: Ethnic-racial identity exploration as a protective factor.

Background: Black women and Latinas in their thirties continue to be at risk for HIV transmission via heterosexual intercourse.

Methods: Informed by the Theory of Gender and Power, this study investigated a longitudinal path model linking experiences of ethnic-racial discrimination in late adolescence to sexual risk behaviors in adulthood among 492 Black women and Latinas. We also tested whether ethnic-racial identity exploration served as a resilience asset protecting women against the psychological impact of ethnic-racial discrimination.

Internet use and uptake of a web-based prevention and risk reduction intervention for persons who use drugs in New York City - WebHealth4Us study (2013-2016).

: Data on Internet utilization is needed, particularly during a time when in-person services are limited or only available virtually. The purpose of this study was to identify characteristics of Internet use among persons who use drugs and assess adoption of an interactive, risk reduction informational website - . : Participant recruitment occurred in pharmacies participating in the New York State pharmacy syringe access program ( = 209).

A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of the Feasibility of a Medical Management-Based Text Messaging Intervention Combined With Buprenorphine in Primary Care.

Background: Mobile health (mHealth) tools offer an effective and personalized approach to enhance chronic disease management and may partially offset provider-level barriers to increasing buprenorphine prescribing in primary care. This study assessed the feasibility of integrating a text messaging-based medical management tool (TeMeS) in primary care among patients initiating buprenorphine.

Methods: TeMeS messages are categorized per the medical management model, programed in a HIPAA-compliant texting software (Apptoto©), and delivered in a tiered fashion over 8-weeks to patients.

GM-CSF production by non-classical monocytes controls antagonistic LPS-driven functions in allergic inflammation.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) can either promote or prevent T helper 2 (Th2) cell allergic responses. However, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. We show here that LPS activity switches from pro-pathogenic to protective depending on the production of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) by non-classical monocytes.

Rural and small metro area naloxone-dispensing pharmacists' attitudes, experiences, and support for a frontline public health pharmacy role to increase naloxone uptake in New York State, 2019.

Introduction: The purpose of this study is to assess community pharmacists' attitudes and experiences related to naloxone dispensation and counseling in non-urban areas in New York State to better understand individual and structural factors that influence pharmacy provision of naloxone.

Materials And Methods: The study conducted interviewer-administered semistructured surveys among community pharmacists in retail, independent, and supermarket pharmacies between October 2019 and December 2019. The 29-item survey ascertained pharmacists' demographic and practice characteristics; experiences and beliefs related to naloxone dispensation; and attitudes toward expansion of pharmacy services to include on-site public health services for persons who use opioids.

Difference in HIV testing behavior by injection status, among users of illicit drugs.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection remains prevalent among the marginalized and drug using population in the United States. Testing for HIV is an important and cost-effective way to reduce HIV prevalence. Our objective was to determine if there is a difference in the number of HIV testing by injection status among users of illicit drugs and if a person's social network characteristics is a contributing factor.

Single Room Occupancy Residence: Processes Linking Housing to Not Engaging in HIV Outpatient Care.

Homelessness and housing instability undermine engagement in medical care, adherence to treatment and health among persons with HIV/AIDS. However, the processes by which unstable and unsafe housing result in adverse health outcomes remain understudied and are the focus of this manuscript. From 2012 to 2014, we conducted qualitative interviews among inpatients with HIV disengaged from outpatient care (n = 120).

Pharmacy PEP Access Intervention Among Persons Who Use Drugs in New York City: iPEPcare Study-Rethinking Biomedical HIV Prevention Strategies.

Biomedical HIV prevention uptake has not taken hold among Black and Latinx populations who use street-marketed drugs. A pilot intervention providing a PEP informational video and direct pharmacy access to a PEP starter dose was conducted among this population. Four study pharmacies were selected to help facilitate syringe customer recruitment (2012-2016).

Perspectives on the HIV continuum of care among adult opioid users in New York City: a qualitative study.

Background: Engagement in the HIV care continuum combined with office-based opioid treatment remains a cornerstone in addressing the intertwined epidemics of opioid use disorder (OUD) and HIV/AIDS. Factors influencing patient engagement with OUD and HIV care are complex and require further study.

Methods: In this qualitative study, in-depth interviews were conducted among 23 adult patients who use drugs (PWUD) in an inpatient detoxification program in New York City.

A Polydrug and Psychosocial Profile of Synthetic Cannabinoid Use in a New York City Community Sample, 2016-2017.

Background: Epidemiologic reports available on synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) have focused on sociodemographics, indicating high prevalence of SC use predominantly among white, relatively affluent, males. However, there is emerging evidence suggesting high SC prevalence among socioeconomically disadvantaged, racial/ethnic minority males.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the risk correlates of SC use among psychosocial vulnerable communities.

Bullying involvement, teacher-student relationships, and psychosocial outcomes.

Students involved in bullying experience mental health issues and negative psychosocial outcomes. Few studies have investigated how teacher-student relationships (TSRs) may buffer the negative outcomes experienced by students involved in bullying. To investigate the moderating role of TSRs with bullying involvement status and psychosocial outcomes, we used data from 691 middle school students, 85 teachers, and 6 schools in one urban district.

The association between neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and high-risk injection behavior among people who inject drugs.

Background: Although much research has been conducted on the determinants of HIV risk behavior among people who inject drugs (PWID), the influence of the neighborhood context on high-risk injection behavior remains understudied. To address this gap in the literature, we measured associations between neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and high-risk injection behavior, and determined whether these associations were modified by drug-related police activity and syringe exchange program (SEP) accessibility.

Methods: Our sample was comprised of 484 pharmacy-recruited PWID in New York City.

The utility of single-item readiness screeners in middle school.

This study examined the benefit of utilizing one-item academic and one-item behavior readiness teacher-rated screeners at the beginning of the school year to predict end-of-school year outcomes for middle school students. The Middle School Academic and Behavior Readiness (M-ABR) screeners were developed to provide an efficient and effective way to assess readiness in students. Participants included 889 students in 62 middle school classrooms in an urban Missouri school district.

Clinical Characteristics of Synthetic Cannabinoid Use in a Large Urban Psychiatric Emergency Setting.

Background: Increasing reports of synthetic cannabinoid (SC)-related adverse events have largely comprised case reports and analyses of calls to poison control centers. Existing studies have also mostly involved white male populations.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to systematically describe clinical characteristics of SC use in a relatively large, diverse, urban sample presenting to a psychiatric emergency setting.