Christine Bahls

In November’s research roundup, Thomas Jefferson University investigators explore the interactions between cannabis and ADHD, highlight the critical healthcare gaps that hinder long-term recovery for people with opioid use disorders, and study the role of small RNAs in the progression of COPD.   🔬Click to read more: https://lnkd.in/em6triqf

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📰 PRB in the News: Scripps News cites us in their story on the lingering effects of the pandemic era on the social lives and mental health of older Americans. https://bit.ly/3JqkEFv 🟠 The story cites our latest issue of Today's Research on Aging, which you can read here: https://bit.ly/3S4rJQa 🟠 It also features brand new research from Jessica Finlay and team that found that more than half of older adults spend more time at home and less time socializing in public than they did before the pandemic. "We found that the pandemic fundamentally altered neighborhoods, communities and everyday routines among aging Americans," Finlay said. The new findings are based on surveys of 7,000 people over age 55 from all 50 states. (Learn more: https://bit.ly/4aMDKBA) h/t: Institute of Behavioral Science at the University of Colorado Boulder

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There are no words to express our heartbreak and devastation at the fact that last night’s Congressional votes did not include an extension of the Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Voucher Program (PRV) program. We, as a community, have done so much to ensure Congress understands the vital importance of this incentive program to ensure lifesaving therapies for rare disease patients are possible. To ensure hope is possible. We didn’t expect this outcome. Earlier this week, the progress made on the PRV Program reauthorization, as well as the Accelerating Kids Access to Care Act, by the efforts of our powerful community reaching out to Congress, sharing your stories, and raising awareness, had yielded great success. As of Wednesday morning, a five-year extension of the PRV program had been included among the health care provisions in the year-end funding package being considered by Congress. But then outside forces unrelated to our community, health care, or therapeutic development shifted the debate in Congress and caused the health care provisions to be removed. We are grateful to all who responded to our calls to action. Yesterday’s engagement alone caused Senate champions to attempt one more approach at extending the PRV overnight, even after not being included in the House package. While this attempt was also unsuccessful, it again demonstrated the power of our collective advocacy and the fact that we have garnered some steadfast champions on Capitol Hill. This is our community’s new reality, but we will continue to work with you and our champions in Congress to right this wrong. Progress has been made on the PRV Program, thanks to the efforts of over 200 patient organizations and thousands of advocates who have shared their stories and made their voices heard. And we’re not stopping. Our community deserves every opportunity for treatments. We can’t afford to have our lives caught in the middle of political jockeying. We don’t have the luxury of time. This experience has only strengthened our commitment to this community – and today we begin working to identify our path forward. We will need every member of this community to continue to advocate alongside us. United. Amplified. Stronger than ever.

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Foreign-trained physicians in Massachusetts are poised to return to practicing medicine under a new law that is also expected to alleviate primary care shortages for underserved and rural communities. https://lnkd.in/ewXCvbu6

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important insights on the state of LGBTQ public health in the U.S.

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Misinformation is a defining problem of the digital age. In this episode of Info Matters, Dr. Alex Himelfarb shares why media literacy is more important than ever, and what we can do to support it. https://ow.ly/uXha50TPJUA #MediaLiteracyWeek

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Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer mortality in the U.S., but early detection can save lives. This Oncology Issues article dives into the successful implementation of a comprehensive lung cancer screening program in a community setting. With over 3,000 patients screened since 2017, Providence Holy Cross Medical Center is breaking down barriers to lung cancer care with targeted education and outreach. Read the full article to explore how this program is making a difference and setting a new standard for community healthcare. https://lnkd.in/eNJRZiUv?

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We can't wait to learn more about the #innovative partnerships and #sustainable programs that have been developed to beneficially use Class A and B, nutrient-rich, #biosolids!

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Are you promoting patient restfulness at your hospital? Find out about a new journal article on interventions to promote sleep and rest in the inpatient setting, and read about comments on the topic from Allegheny Health Network CMO Donald Whiting and Chief Experience Officer Eugene Scioscia. "If patients feel rested and feel they are in an environment where staff care about their time and rest, they have a better experience," Whiting says. "A better patient experience helps to determine the patient's outcome. If patients have a better experience, they tend to do better clinically." In the hospital setting, the patient's body is working hard to recover from whatever injury it is experiencing, which can be a surgery or an infection, Scioscia says. "The body is working overtime in terms of its metabolism and healing process," he says, "so it is critical to allow the body to rest." Read the full @HealthLeaders story at https://lnkd.in/eskd2KqG

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Did you know DPH and MassHealth are collaborating to promote infectious disease testing in community-based opioid treatment programs across Massachusetts? Read the team’s guidance on best practices: https://lnkd.in/e5q-t36K (also available as a Word doc: https://lnkd.in/eqJ9PdQs).

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“Nobody’s got more grit than a group of kids with rare diseases” Right now on NBCUniversal, this video is streaming nationally. Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine have released a short holiday movie that tells a story of a city plunged into darkness, rescued by the ingenuity of a group of kids with rare diseases. What I witnessed as this idea took shape and came to fruition was the intent to portray something realistic among this fantasy — people with rare diseases and their families have to be the resilient ones in society, they work harder to get from A to B every day. This short movie doesn’t pity people with rare diseases, it celebrates them, saluting their grit. At Montefiore Health System, I keep hearing from colleagues in different specialities, adult and paediatric, that everything in the #Bronx is a rare disease. That may be why patients and families say they don’t feel like an unwanted burden on their care providers when they visit us for care. There is a practical component to this outreach — the page below links to our new New York Center for Rare Diseases (NYCRD) website, making it easy for patients, families and referring providers to find rare disease care. Montefiore Health System has over 40 rare disease clinics, with more in planning, a genuinely extraordinary focus for any health system. I’m also gratified that the web content is all available in Spanish as well as English, as rare diseases don’t care what language you speak. While I’ve seen this in development over the last several months, I am still stunned by the results. Working with colleagues like Loreen Babcock and David Bivins and their teams has exposed me to the calm and principled creativity that resulted in this exceptional celebration of rare diseases. Look out for all the #NYC Easter Eggs, how many can you find? Rare disease patients and families will see a couple of deliberate rare disease superpowers — when the spaceship needs more power, where do they get it? And when they need to brake, what do they use? Something that was hidden from me during the development process, my biggest personal jaw-dropper, there’s a RARE DISEASE VIDEO GAME! In English and Spanish. Crazy. Thanks to our #NYCRD partners GeneDx PacBio Google Health The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute And finally, a massive shout out to my patient Emmelina Torres, who is born for the big screen (Daniel Torres, please tell her she’s amazing). https://lnkd.in/eEZKaGHq

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Stay in the Know: Over 400 Physicians From Delaware's ChristianaCare Move to Unionize "This is a movement that needs to happen in medicine," one physician said. Read full article: https://lnkd.in/ekWvbSht #Stayintheknowwithfusionanesthesia #Medpagetoday #ChristinaCare #unionize #AnesthesiaMovement #PhysicianUnion #MedicalIndustry #MedicalProfessionals #union #healthcare

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