Older adults increasingly experience social isolation, anxiety, and depression due to the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Marriage and family therapists as well as mental health counselors are essential for meeting the behavioral health needs of older adults, but their services are not covered by Medicare. This article describes current Medicare legislation when it…
Buprenorphine has been shown to be effective for treating opioid use disorder and can be prescribed in an office setting by nurse practitioners and physician assistants who have a federal waiver. However, buprenorphine is underutilized nationally, particularly in rural areas. This article describes the results of an online survey that was distributed to a random…
Older adults increasingly experience social isolation, anxiety, and depression due to the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Marriage and family therapists as well as mental health counselors are essential for meeting the behavioral health needs of older adults, but their services are not covered by Medicare. This article describes current Medicare legislation when it…
Buprenorphine has been shown to be effective for treating opioid use disorder and can be prescribed in an office setting by nurse practitioners and physician assistants who have a federal waiver. However, buprenorphine is underutilized nationally, particularly in rural areas. This article describes the results of an online survey that was distributed to a random…
Studies have shown that the pandemic has increased the prevalence of mental health issues and the demand for behavioral health services. Telehealth services have also been expanded to help deal with the increased demand. To continue to improve workforce capacity and ensure that the current workforce is utilized appropriately, more research needs to be done…
Behavioral health paraprofessionals are essential for assisting in the treatment of patients, supporting clinicians, and helping sustain the behavioral health workforce as a whole. However, due to a number of factors, paraprofessionals experience high levels of turnover and burnout. This report describes a study that conducted a literature review as well as key informant interviews…
The use of telebehavioral health has increased dramatically as a result of the pandemic with policymakers adjusting regulations to facilitate the delivery of telebehavioral health services. Given the increase in its use, more research is needed to understand the experiences of those receiving, delivering, and supporting telebehavioral health services. This report discusses a study that…
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent federal and state policy shifts impacting behavioral health care delivery, the use of telebehavioral health has rapidly increased. This growth appears to be here to stay and research must be conducted on what this means for the field. This article describes behavioral health provider perspectives on the use…
Mental health paraprofessionals are important for helping to provide services, reduce costs, and address workforce shortages. Different subspecialities of paraprofessionals have different certification requirements that vary greatly by state and limit their scope of practice. This report describes a study that analyzed the data on requirements to become a certified behavioral health paraprofessional in each…
