A Population-Based Investigation of Health-Care Needs and Preferences in American Adults With Multiple Sclerosis

Background: Comprehensive and effective multiple sclerosis (MS) health care requires understanding of patients’ needs, preferences, and priorities. Objective: To evaluate priorities of patients with MS for their MS care. Methods: Participants included 3003 Americans with MS recruited through the National MS Society and the North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis patient registry. Participants completed a comprehensive questionnaire on aspects of their health-care experiences. Results: Participants identified the top 3 health-care priorities as (1) the affordability of MS health care, (2) ensuring that non-MS health-care providers have more education about MS and how it can interact with other conditions, and (3) access to an MS center or specialized MS clinic with MS health-care professionals together in one place. Participants receiving care in an MS center rated the quality and their satisfaction with care higher than those receiving care in other settings. Although having the opportunity to evaluate their health-care quality was important to the participants, only 36.4% had been provided the opportunity in the past year. Conclusions: This study identifies health-care priorities and concerns for Americans with MS

Mental Health Pandemic during the COVID-19 Outbreak: Calls for Help on Social Media

Heightened social isolation during the COVID-19 outbreak puts individuals at greater risks of loneliness (Bu et al., 2020) where elevated levels of loneliness are closely associated with depression (Killgore et al., 2020; Palgi et al., 2020; Weeks et al., 1980). Prior research has suggested that lonely individuals are more likely to seek mental health help from an online social platform (e.g., Reddit), a perceived comfortable environment for lonely people to seek mental health support through anonymous communication with a broad social network (Andy, 2021; Bonetti et al., 2010; Morahan-Martin et al., 2003). Therefore, this study aims to identify and analyze depression-related dialogues on loneliness subreddits during the COVID-19 outbreak, with the impact on depression-related infoveillance during the pandemic. With the collected data using Reddit API, our study utilized logistic regression and topic modeling to classify and examine depression related discussions on loneliness subreddits during the outbreak. Our results reveal that lonely individuals engaging in depression-related discussions are likely to be experiencing elevated risks of mental health problems and domestic issues, higher level of relationship seeking, and heightened need of social support. Furthermore, the results suggest an increase in dog adoption as a coping behavior and challenges in the online learning environment. Finally, returning users disclose and seek information on triggering factors of mental health problems, indicating the significance of peer-to-peer mental health support on loneliness subreddits. Our future work will clinically validate the current approach, which has implications on designing surveillance system during the crisis

Preliminary Outcomes of an Older Peer and Clinician co-Facilitated Pain Rehabilitation Intervention among Adults Aged 50 Years and Older with Comorbid Chronic Pain and Mental Health Conditions

The present study aimed to examine the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary effectiveness of an older peer and clinician co-facilitated Behavioral Activation for Pain Rehabilitation (BA-PR) intervention among adults aged 50 years and older with comorbid chronic pain and mental health conditions. This was a mixed-methods research design with eight participants aged 55 to 62 years old with mental health conditions including schizophrenia spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, personality disorder, and adjustment disorder. The quantitative data were assessed from observational methods, a pain rating scale and related measures. We used semi-structured interviews for qualitative feedback on experiences with the BA-PR intervention after participation. Overall, the participants had positive experiences following receipt of the BA-PR intervention. The recruitment and adherence rates for participants were 72.7% and 100%, respectively. Approximately 75% of the participants remained enrolled in the study. Findings from a paired t-test showed the BA-PR intervention was linked to significantly reduced prescription opioid misuse risk, t (7) = 2.42, p \u3c 0.05. There were also non-significant reductions in pain intensity and depression severity, in addition to improvements in active and passive pain coping strategies and behavioral activation. The BA-PR intervention is the first pain rehabilitation intervention specifically designed for middle-aged and older adults with comorbid chronic pain and mental health conditions. Our findings indicate promise for the BA-PR intervention to potentially reduce prescription opioid misuse risk, pain, and depressive symptoms. However, a quasi-experimental study is needed before rigorous effectiveness testing