How is Armenia Healing its New Generation of Men after Nagorno-Karabakh War?

*Medical research has done wonders to rid populations of diseases; however, the U.S. health care system has failed to appropriate the right resources to Medicare patients with one or more chronic conditions. Health Quality Partners in Doylstown, PA enrolls Medicare patients with at least one chronic illness and hospitalization and sends a trained nurse to see them on a routine basis, whether they are healthy or sick. As a result, the HQP program has reduced hospitalizations and cut Medicare costs.

Doctors at Stanford University developed per-patient and per-month payment plans to better support patients with complex medical needs. The approach upends the typical per-service payment model. It has radically improved primary care by incentivizing healthcare providers to offer more comprehensive support.

While American medicine tops the charts for "acute care," it's notably sub-par when it comes to treating chronic conditions and focusing on prevention. This piece introduces a series on how the U.S. healthcare system's structure results in high expenses and inefficient treatments, and what various programs around the nation are doing to improve quality of care at lower costs.

Across the country, hospitals are embracing intensive intervention programs to help victims of violence — including those who have criminal histories — after they have been brought in for treatment of injuries. Such programs can help prevent retaliation, reduce the chance a patient will be violently injured again, and put people on track for success.

After a brutal incident led to a violent attack and the death of his son, Senator Creigh Deeds was determined to reform the mental health system in Virginia. The Deeds commission passed a series of reforms, among them a law that created a registry of open psychiatric beds, a transportation program so that people don’t have to be detained by police, and a program that offers housing for people with mental illness.

At least five people who were paralyzed are walking, thanks to a pain stimulator and physical therapy. The stimulator, which is implanted in the body, sends electricity to the spine, and combined with therapy, can retrain the body to walk again. “The first day I took steps on my own was an emotional milestone in my recovery that I’ll never forget, as one minute I was walking with the trainer’s assistance and, while they stopped, I continued walking on my own.”

Harm reduction is a quickly growing practices that aims to reduce drug-related deaths and the spread of disease often caused by dirty needles. Although public perception is still widely negative, the industry has seen success by using the act of offering clean needles as a first point of contact to offer other health and medical services.

Lidem, u kterých je vysoké riziko sebevraždy, může pomoct cílená péče na míru. V rámci reformy psychiatrie v Česku vznikají státem financovaná Centra duševního zdraví, která se zaměřují na cílenou, přístupnou a na klienta zaměřenou psychiatrickou a psychologickou péči. Centra zaměstnávají nejen psychiatry a zdravotní sestry, ale též sociální pracovníky, kteří jsou zapojeni do různých aspektů léčby člověka s duševním onemocněním. Klíčový je vztah s klientem, který s lékařem spolupracuje a spolurozhoduje o typu léčby. Služba zatím není v Česku moc známá a pomoc se tak nedostane ke všem, kteří ji potřebují.

Community health workers with North Carolina Formerly Incarcerated Transition Program (NC FIT) counsel people recently released from jails and prisons to help them get the care they need for mental and physical health problems. The program closes some but not all of the gaps left by the state's inadequate Medicaid coverage and prison health services. Banking on the trust that comes with shared experiences, the formerly incarcerated health workers can connect people with medication-assisted treatment for substance use, covid-related treatments, and mental health care, all common ailments post-incarceration.

Doulas are becoming a more widely used resource among pregnant people, particularly Black women who historically face racial inequities during pregnancy and childbirth. Groups like The Doula Network and the Southern Birth Justice Network are working to expand doula services by training and connecting pregnant women with certified doulas. Doula care is more holistic and studies show that women using doulas have about a 65% reduction in their odds of developing postpartum depression or anxiety when a doula is present during labor and delivery.