What's New at the APA
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APA released a statement applauding Congress for passing the Strengthening Behavioral Health Parity Act (H.R. 7539) and including several key mental health and substance use-related programs in its combined $1.4 trillion year-end appropriations and COVID-relief funding package. The package included $6 billion for SAMHSA, $600 million for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCHBC), and an increase in funding for the Substance Use Disorder Treatment Workforce Program, among other items. You can read more about the programs included in the year-end funding package here.
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Key Dates and Observances APA Communications staff maintains a calendar of key dates, observances and events at APA and in the world of mental health in general. The calendar is kept up to date a few months in advance. You can view the calendar and keep track of important mental health dates and observances here.
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Important Developments in Electronic Health Information Policy May Impact Your Practice On April 7, 2020, APA, and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives hosted a webinar to provide an overview of the federal government’s new Final Rule on Interoperability and Information Blocking. During the webinar, the Office of the National Coordinator answered questions about how psychiatrists can best comply with this rule. That recording can be accessed on APA’s page on the issue.
January Course of the Month –The Effects of Loneliness and Social Support on Mental, Cognitive, and Physical Health
Loneliness is the latest behavioral epidemic, affecting adults of all ages and resulting in poor mental, cognitive, and physical health. This course presents cutting-edge research on the role of loneliness, social isolation and social support in late life and presents evidence on the assessment of loneliness through speech with natural language processing (NLP), Alzheimer’s disease-related neuroimaging correlates of loneliness, and low social support as a predictor of early risk for nonresponse to psychotherapy for late-life depression using machine learning methods. Click here to access the Course of the Month and sign up for updates about this free member benefit.