What’s Happening in Colorado
* After months of solicitation, the Office of Civil and Forensic Mental Health announced that they have received several responses to the request for applications for contracted Mental Health Transitional Living Homes beds.
These homes will be used as a transition to a less restrictive setting for individuals with severe mental health conditions. Clients may stay as long as necessary for stabilization with a goal of reintegrating clients successfully in the community. For additional updates, please visit: https://cdhs.colorado.gov/mental-health-transitional-living-homes
* MAPS Psychedelic Science Conference: Thousands of people across the country and the world – including celebrities like NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers – descended on Denver for the largest psychedelic science conference to date.
Policymakers, scientists, therapists, and community activists came together to discuss a new landscape for the healing properties of natural medicines, with Colorado being the second state in the nation to legalize five natural types. During the five-day event, a consensus emerged focused on treatment, healing, and responsible use and access. Read about what happened at the conference here: https://www.cpr.org/2023/06/25/denver-psychedelic-mushrooms-conference-health-and-policy/
A View from Washington, D.C.
* The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released a new data report Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Behavioral Health:
Results from the 2021 and 2022 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, indicating that lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults are more likely than heterosexual adults to use substances, experience mental health conditions including major depressive episodes, and experience serious thoughts of suicide. Read the full report here: https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/reports/rpt41899/2022_LGB_Brief_Final_06_07_23.pdf
* The American Medical Association adopted policy aimed at clarifying how body mass index (BMI) can be used as a measure in medicine. The new policy evaluated the problematic history with BMI and explored alternatives.
The report also outlined the harms and benefits of using BMI and acknowledged that BMI is an imperfect way to measure body fat in multiple groups given that it does not account for differences across race/ethnic groups, sexes, genders, and age-span. Read the new policy here: https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/ama-use-bmi-alone-imperfect-clinical-measure
* The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published National Model Standards for Peer Support Certification – PDF for substance use, mental health, and family peer workers.
The national model standards were created to accelerate universal adoption, recognition, and integration of the peer workforce across all elements of the healthcare system. A peer worker is someone who, through their own lived experience of addressing a substance use or mental health issue, works to help others. Read about the model here: https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/pep23-10-01-001.pdf
