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A call for papers on psychedelic-assisted treatment for substance use disorders is presented.

Introduction: Implementation science (IS) offers methods to systematically achieve the Ending the HIV Epidemic goals in the United States, as well as the global UNAIDS targets. Federal funders such as the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) have invested in implementation research to achieve these goals, including supporting the AIDS Research Centres (ARCs), which focus on high‐impact science in HIV and mental health (MH). To facilitate capacity building for the HIV/MH research workforce in IS, "grey areas," or areas of IS that are confusing, particularly for new investigators, should be addressed in the context of HIV/MH research. Discussion: A group of IS experts affiliated with NIMH‐funded ARCs convened to identify common and challenging grey areas. The group generated a preliminary list of 19 grey areas in HIV/MH‐related IS. From the list, the authors developed a survey which was distributed to all ARCs to prioritize grey areas to address in this paper. ARC members across the United States (N = 60) identified priority grey areas requiring clarification. This commentary discusses topics with 40% or more endorsement. The top grey areas that ARC members identified were: (1) Differentiating implementation strategies from interventions; (2) Determining when an intervention has sufficient evidence for adaptation; (3) Integrating recipient perspectives into HIV/MH implementation research; (4) Evaluating whether an implementation strategy is evidence‐based; (5) Identifying rigorous approaches for evaluating the impact of implementation strategies in the absence of a control group or randomization; and (6) Addressing innovation in HIV/MH IS grants. The commentary addresses each grey area by drawing from the existing literature (when available), providing expert guidance on addressing each in the context of HIV/MH research, and providing domestic and global HIV and HIV/MH case examples that address these grey areas. Conclusions: HIV/MH IS is key to achieving domestic and international goals for ending HIV transmission and mitigating its impact. Guidance offered in this paper can help to overcome challenges to rigorous and high‐impact HIV/MH implementation research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The supply / demand issue in behavioral health care is a well-established fact, and the mental health toll of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to add challenges to an already taxed system. Existing healthcare models are not set up to adequately address the increasing mental health related needs. As such, innovative models are needed to provide patients with access to appropriate, evidence-based behavioral health care within routine clinical care. This paper introduces Precision Behavioral Health (PBH) as an example of such a model. PBH is an innovative, digital first care delivery model that provides an ecosystem of evidence-based digital mental health interventions to patients as a frontline behavioral health treatment within routine care in a large multispecialty group medical center in the United States. This paper describes the implementation of PBH within a practice research network set-up as part of an integrated behavioral health department. We will present how our team leveraged the RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance; "What is RE-AIM?," n.d.) implementation science framework, which emphasizes the design, dissemination, and implementation processes at the individual, staff, and organizational levels, to prioritize key implementation constructs to enhance the successful integration of PBH within routine care. We describe how each of these constructs were operationalized to aid data gathering for rapid evaluation and lessons learned. We discuss the benefits of these types of initiatives across multiple stakeholders including patients, providers, organizations, payers, and digital intervention vendors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite disproportionate rates of mental ill-health compared with non-Indigenous populations, few programs have been tailored to the unique health, social, and cultural needs and preferences of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males. This paper describes the process of culturally adapting the US-based Young Black Men, Masculinities, and Mental Health (YBMen) Project to suit the needs, preferences, culture, and circumstances of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males aged 16–25 years in the Northern Territory, Australia. YBMen is an evidence-based social media-based education and support program designed to promote mental health, expand understandings of gender and cultural identities, and enhance social support in college-aged Black men. Methods: Our adaptation followed an Extended Stages of Cultural Adaptation model. First, we established a rationale for adaptation that included assessing the appropriateness of YBMen's core components for the target population. We then investigated important and appropriate models to underpin the adapted program and conducted a non-linear, iterative process of gathering information from key sources, including young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males, to inform program curriculum and delivery. Results: To maintain program fidelity, we retained the core curriculum components of mental health, healthy masculinities, and social connection and kept the small cohort, private social media group delivery but developed two models: 'online only' (the original online delivery format) and 'hybrid in-person/online' (combining online delivery with weekly in-person group sessions). Adaptations made included using an overarching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing framework and socio-cultural strengths-based approach; inclusion of modules on health and wellbeing, positive Indigenous masculinities, and respectful relationships; use of Indigenous designs and colours; and prominent placement of images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male sportspeople, musicians, activists, and local role models. Conclusions: This process resulted in a culturally responsive mental health, masculinities, and social support health promotion program for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males. Next steps will involve pilot testing to investigate the adapted program's acceptability and feasibility and inform further refinement. Keywords: Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Indigenous, Australia, male, cultural adaptation, social media, mental health, masculinities, social support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental health concerns among juvenile-justice-involved youth (JJIY) continue to be a major health crisis in the United States (US). While scholarship has explored mental health concerns among JJIY, and the link to negative life outcomes, there are gaps in the existing research, particularly in effective interventions and models aimed at addressing both the mental health concerns and criminogenic risk contributing to recidivism and other negative life outcomes of this population. In this paper, we present Justice-Based Interdisciplinary Collective Care (JBICC), an innovative framework to address both the mental health needs and delinquent behavior of youth offenders. The model bridges community partners, with the purpose of informing future interventions, implementations, and research in this area. Increased justice-based interdisciplinary collective collaboration between the juvenile justice system and community programs/organizations would be a major benefit to youth offenders and their families. We also focus on the need for cultural responsiveness to be interwoven throughout all aspects of treatment. JBICC offers an opportunity to expanded services outside traditional settings and methods to ensure that youth offenders and their families receive validating and culturally responsive access to services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engineering professors are well positioned to support their undergraduate students, who often experience diminished mental health. This paper examines engineering professors’ perceptions of their undergraduate engineering students’ experiences of stress. The described perceptions include when they notice student stress, which stressors they perceive, and supports that these students use. In this qualitative study, we interviewed 24 engineering professors and four career advisors at 18 institutions in the United States about these topics. Results show that these professors often had consistent access to notice indicators of student distress. They described key sources of student stress: balancing responsibilities, significant academic stress, and a culture of competition. They were less likely to notice student stressors associated with interpersonal relationships and identity-related stressors, which are less related to their role as professors. Supports that professors described included interpersonal relationships and health and wellness activities. This lays a foundation for encouraging engineering professors to support their students’ mental health and wellness even more. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The author, who is Chair of Norfolk's Safeguarding Adults' Board (SAB) reflects on the impact of a Safeguarding Adults Review (SAR) and the actions that resulted. The purpose of the paper is to provide an insight into a significant SAR and the resulting actions desinged to change practice. Design/methodology/approach: The actions illuminate the power of hospitals and politicians over people's lives. It took the deaths of three young adults with learning disabilities, in a hospital, to move beyond the status quo and organise some very different service responses. Findings: "Progress summits" have considered local and national actions. There have been important gains and setbacks, including the delayed reform of the Mental Health Act. Despite uncertainties, SAB can be detonators to listening and taking action. Originality/value: This is a unique insight into the impact of a Safeguarding Adults Review and the actions that resulted from this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental health challenges have been recognized as one of the most prevalent issues impacting children and families within the United States. Children and families of color are disproportionately affected by this due to lack of access to preventative and ongoing supports, and programs that can help address their overall well-being. These issues are even more severe for those that are at risk or interact with the child welfare system. Social workers use various clinical modalities to assess and support them. In the recent years, child welfare agencies have turned to Evidence based programs (EBPs) as a best practice to meet the needs of children and families. The Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse, established by the Administration of Children and Families is a landmark effort to review and promote such EBP's that prevents foster care placements, including mental health programs. While the Clearinghouse has reviewed 141 programs and services, out of which 71 have been rated as promising, supported, or well-supported, there is a dearth of culturally responsive programs that have met the Clearinghouse criteria. Given the overrepresentation of African American and Native American Families in the child welfare system, and the critical role of the Clearinghouse in reviewing and promoting EBPs, this paper highlights the philosophical, administrative, cultural and logistical barriers for culturally relevant programs to be accepted into the Clearinghouse. It also provides specific recommendations on how the Clearinghouse and researchers can build EBPs that account for the intersection between mental health, social location and cultural identities of the children and families that social workers serve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

U.S. service members are at an enhanced risk for developing mental disorders. To address these challenges, while promoting operational readiness and improving mental health outcomes, the Department of Defense directed each service component to develop and implement universal resilience enhancing programs. This paper provides a review of theoretical approaches conceptualizing resilience to trauma, including the theoretical foundations of programs currently in place. The resilience programs of U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps are described, and available program effectiveness data are reviewed. Gaps between theory and practice are identified and an alternative method of assessing psychological readiness in Army units that is informed by resilience theory is offered as one way to address these gaps and scientific concerns. By comprehensively assessing the stressors affecting Soldiers at regular intervals, military leaders may be able to better identify and mitigate stressors in a systematic way that bolsters individual and unit psychological fitness. An enhanced psychological readiness metric stands to strengthen the validity of current resilience programs, bring clarity to the mechanisms of resilience, and provide a novel way for leaders to promote readiness in their units. Application of this metric within the infrastructure of existing reporting systems stands to improve mental health outcomes for Service Members, enhance the psychological readiness of the force, and reduce healthcare costs over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental racism has long plagued the United States and continues to do so as the effects of climate change worsen and grow. These effects have a broad impact on every aspect of life from physical and mental health to financial stability and access to opportunities. In order to more fully understand the consequences of climate change on people, it is helpful to develop an understanding of the historical, economic, and political dimensions of climate change. This paper aims to assist in understanding as well as provide sources of engagement for social workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There were 9.7 million Native Americans (American Indian, Alaska Native-AI/AN- these acronyms will be used interchangeably with Native Americans throughout the paper) in 2019 comprising 2.9% of the U.S. population. Native American populations have disproportionately higher rates of mental illnesses compared to other racial groups in the U.S. Mental health is a significant public health concern for this population, impacting different areas of their lives including employment. Additionally, Native Americans continue to experience significant disparities in access to Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services and have poor employment outcomes. However, little is known about the relationships among demographic factors, vocational rehabilitation services, and employment outcomes of Native Americans with mental illness. Consequently, the current study examined how demographic factors and VR services are related to successful employment outcomes for Native American VR clients with mental illnesses using data from the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) program year (2019) Case Service Report (9–11). Both descriptive analysis and data mining approaches were used to answer the research questions. Chi-square Automatic Interaction Detector (CHAID) analysis was used to determine which of the VR services could best predict the successful employment outcome of Native Americans with mental illness. The findings of the data mining approach revealed that among all the vocational rehabilitation services, job placement assistance was the strongest predictor of successful employment among Native American clients with mental illnesses. The second most important service predicting successful employment for those who received job placement assistance was shown to be maintenance. Implications for rehabilitation counselors and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States, nearly 13 million adults are incarcerated in prisons and jails annually with significant negative public health consequences. Incarcerated individuals have disproportionate rates of behavioral health disorders (BHDs); untreated BHD symptoms bring people into incarceration settings and are associated with re‐arrest after release. Although lack of treatment motivation is often used to explain these outcomes, individuals may have limited knowledge about BHDs and their symptoms, when and why treatment is warranted, and how to access treatment during custody and in the community. We propose a new construct called behavioral health literacy to facilitate linkage between individuals with BHDs and appropriate treatment options. In this paper, we define behavioral health literacy, review extant literature, describe why behavioral health literacy is needed, and explore how behavioral health literacy interventions may be developed to expand knowledge and guide policy and practice, ultimately improving both behavioral health outcomes and reduce criminal legal system involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suicide is a critical public health issue in the United States, recognized as the tenth leading cause of death across all age groups (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). Despite the Islamic prohibition on suicide, suicidal ideation and suicide mortality persist among Muslim populations. Recent data suggest that U.S. Muslim adults are particularly vulnerable, with a higher attempt history compared to respondents from other faith traditions. While the underlying reasons for this vulnerability are unclear, it is evident that culturally and religiously congruent mental health services can be utilized to steer suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention in Muslim communities across the United States. However, the development of Suicide Response toolkits specific to Muslim populations is currently limited. As a result, Muslim communities lack a detailed framework to appropriately respond in the event of a suicide tragedy. This paper aims to fill this gap in the literature by providing structured guidelines for the formation of a Crisis Response Team (CRT) through an Islamic lens. The CRT comprises of a group of individuals who are strategically positioned to respond to a suicide tragedy. Ideally, the team will include religious leaders, mental health professionals, healthcare providers, social workers, and community leaders. The proposed guidelines are designed to be culturally and religiously congruent and take into account the unique cultural and religious factors that influence Muslim communities' responses to suicide. By equipping key personnel in Muslim communities with the resources to intervene in an emergent situation, provide support to those affected, and mobilize community members to assist in prevention efforts, this model can help save lives and prevent future suicide tragedies in Muslim communities across the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suicide among American Muslims is understudied, despite recent research highlighting increased suicide attempts among this population. While suicide is forbidden in Islam, formal guidelines for addressing and responding to suicide within Muslim communities did not exist until recently. The Stanford Muslim Mental Health and Islamic Psychology Lab has responded to a number of suicides in Muslim communities across North America and implemented an original model for suicide response and community healing. This approach incorporates Islamic principles and values to create a culturally and religiously congruent response to suicide that can support loss survivors and steer impacted communities toward healing. The Muslim Postvention Community Healing session described in this paper aims to provide a safe space for individuals impacted by suicide to come together and process their emotions, while also using Islamic teachings to guide the healing process. This unique model has the potential to serve as a valuable resource for Muslim communities across North America, and beyond, in addressing and responding to suicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the relationship between religiosity, spirituality, and loneliness in the United States, using the 2018 General Social Survey to assess their interactions against a backdrop of declining traditional religious affiliation and a rise in "spiritual but not religious" identification. It examines religion and spirituality's capacity to counteract loneliness, a condition with significant health implications. The analysis uncovers complex relationships between aspects of religious life and loneliness, showing no mitigating role of spirituality when controlling for other factors, with complex and varied negative relationships of religious service attendance and self-rate religiosity to different aspects of loneliness. Yet, any potentially protective effect of religion varies, with minority religious groups reporting feelings of increased loneliness. These findings underscore religion and spirituality's nuanced roles in emotional well-being, indicating that their benefits (or not) against loneliness are complex, varied, and depend on the aspect of religion or loneliness observed, along with non-religious factors. The paper contributes to the literature on societal loneliness, changing religious and spiritual engagements, and highlighting the need for a comprehensive approach to explore the role of religion and spirituality in understanding loneliness specifically, and personal and social well-being more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aimed to explore BDSM involvement and its effects on mental health. The study had four objectives: (1) quantify frequencies of BDSM self-labels, (2) describe patterns of BDSM involvement subtypes (i.e. fantasy, behaviour, and identity), (3) compare BDSM-related involvement among two samples: members of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) and a non-NCSF sample of adults interested in or practicing BDSM, and (4) understand whether BDSM identity specialty interest group membership is associated with enhanced health (i.e. coping). Data were drawn from archival survey data on sexuality and health. Participants (N = 1036) completed BDSM identity and behaviour measures. The most common BDSM identities were 'dominant' and 'submissive'. NCSF members adopted BDSM identity labels more frequently compared to general adult BDSM practitioners. Dominant and submissive fantasy and behaviour varied by gender, sexual orientation, and relationship status. For example, cisgender men reported elevated patterns of dominant and lowered submissive BDSM involvement. Compared to non-NCSF members, NCSF members reported higher dominant and submissive fantasies and behaviours, and better mental health and emotion regulation. Finally, submissive fantasy involvement displayed statistically significant, but weak, positive associations with psychological health. Potential implications for public health practice, theory development, and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]