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The Global Council on Brain Health (GCBH) is an independent collaborative of scientists, health professionals, scholars, and policy experts from around the world who are working in areas of brain health related to human
cognition. The GCBH focuses on brain health relating to people’s ability to think and reason as they age, including aspects of memory, perception and judgment. AARP convened the GCBH to offer the best possible
advice about what older adults can do to maintain and improve their brain health. GCBH members gather to discuss specific lifestyle issue areas that may affect people’s brain health as they age, with the goal of providing
evidence-based recommendations for people to consider incorporating into their lives.

Many people across the globe are interested in learning that it is possible to influence their own brain health and in finding out what can be done to stay as sharp as possible as they age. We aim to be a trustworthy source
of information, basing recommendations on current evidence supplemented by a consensus of experts from a broad array of disciplines and perspectives.

Knowledge about brain health is expanding rapidly. GCBH’s work empowers individuals to benefit from insights on the cutting edge of science and enhance well-being through the course of their lives.

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Telemedicine is changing lives – including for students in North Central Massachusetts.

Click here to learn more about Heywood Healthcare’s Tele Behavioral School Base Counseling Program.

Our hospitals are safe places to seek care for any medical emergency.  Your health can’t wait. We’re here for you.

In this video, listen as one of our hospital’s emergency department staff takes you through the patient experience when you arrive at Emerson Hospital’s ED during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Medical professionals care. They also experience higher rates of burnout and depressive symptoms than the general population.

In fact, suicide is estimated to be the second leading cause of death for medical residents, and American doctors take their lives at twice the rate of the general population. Samaritans, Inc. is here for you – and for your patients.

The mission of Samaritans is to reduce the incidence of suicide by alleviating despair, isolation, distress and suicidal feelings among individuals in the community, 24 hours a day; to educate the public about suicide prevention; to help those who have lost a loved one to suicide; and to reduce the stigma associated with suicide. Samaritans accomplishes this through services that emphasize confidential, nonjudgmental, and compassionate listening.

24/7 Crisis Services

Each day, people who are struggling turn to Samaritans in search of compassionate support. If you or anyone you know are feeling sad, lonely, hopeless, or uncertain about anything in your life, you can call or text Samaritans’ 24/7, free, confidential Helpline at 877-870-4673.

Grief Support Services

Losing a loved one to suicide is a uniquely painful experience. If you or someone you know or care for has lost someone to suicide, Samaritans offer several programs to support you in your grieving including peer support groups and individual home visits.

Community Education & Outreach

Samaritans also offers suicide prevention workshops. For health care professionals, workshops are geared toward helping both providers and patients. You and your team can learn:
•Risk factors and warning signs for suicide
•How to evaluate patients who may be suicidal and how to help them
•Coping skills and resources for patients, loved ones, and yourself

Visit Samaritans website to learn more about these programs and services, for yourself and/or your patients.

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Milford Regional Medical Center adopted Project SEARCH, a national transitional program to teach valuable life and job skills.  Designed for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities entering their last year of high school, Project SEARCH provides internship placement based on the student’s experiences, strengths and skills, with the end goal being competitive employment within the community.

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The Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety is a Massachusetts state agency that works with providers, patients and policymakers to advance the safety and quality of health care. Visit its website for actionable toolkits to improve safety in areas such as emergency medicine, sepsis, cataract surgery and more. Sign up for the Center’s monthly newsletter, Patient Safety Beat, for updates on local patient safety news and research.

The Center is also working with hospitals and outpatient practices across Massachusetts to help each develop its own sustainable peer support programs. This is part of a larger effort by the Center to ensure that all individuals – patients, family members, health care professionals and staff – affected by medical harm or a difficult outcome get the support they need.

Through this report, the National Quality Forum (NQF) offers the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and other stakeholders a review of healthcare quality measures (QM) relevant to addressing America’s opioid crisis. The report considers issues related to acute and chronic pain management and substance use disorders (SUD). It answers two guiding questions: (1) What are the priority gaps in QM science that need to be filled in order to reduce opioid use disorders (OUD) and opioid overdose deaths without undermining effective pain management? (2) What existing and conceptual measures should be deployed in the following types of federal medical payment programs to best address the opioid crisis moving forward: Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), alternative payment models (APMs), the Medicare Shared Savings Program (SSP), the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program (IQR), and the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program (VBP)?

The conclusions of this report emerged from an NQF-facilitated consensus development process engaging a 28-member Technical Expert Panel (TEP). The TEP was composed of physicians, nurses, patients, pharmacists, and others with expertise and experience in pain management and OUD. CMS funded this work pursuant to enabling legislation from the U.S. Congress, the 2018 Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities (SUPPORT) Act Section 6093. Ultimately, the guidance proffered here aims to achieve the application of the proper healthcare quality metrics across the U.S. healthcare system. Using the best metrics, in turn, aims both to continue to reduce opioid deaths verifiably, to encourage the implementation of best practices of pain management, to decrease the incidence of other SUDs, and to decrease illegal drug use by those unable to obtain prescription pain medication.

Read report here…

Based on the Coalition’s public messaging research, we have developed the Good Talk Toolkit to be a resource that supplements your organization’s capacity to build awareness and understanding for advance care planning. The messaging and campaign included here are intended to shift the frame of advance care planning away from end of life and life-sustaining treatment choices towards goals of care, quality of life and shared decision making thus also bringing it into closer alignment with palliative care principles.

Additional Information and Resources for Good Talk Campaign

Interested hospital-affiliated clinicians are invited to participate in one or more free, CME-credit-bearing webinars sponsored by Partners in Contraceptive Choice and Knowledge (PICCK). PICCK is the state-funded clinical and public health program designed to promote contraceptive choice and effective contraceptive counseling in Massachusetts.

Enacted in partnership with the state’s birth hospitals, the PICCK program provides education, training, and technical assistance to expand and sustain the capacity of hospitals statewide to provide contraceptive access. MHA supports this multi-year program, which launched in early 2019 and is housed at Boston Medical Center/Boston University School of Medicine.

PICCK is currently offering medical professionals a series of webinars on a variety of contraception-related topics. All webinars are free and offer CME credits. They run from now through May. The program’s next webinar is entitled, “What’s New in Contraception,” and will take place on Thursday, February 13, from noon to 1 p.m. Click here for a complete listing of all available PICCK webinars, as well as registration information.

In addition to the webinars and an annual meeting open to healthcare providers, Massachusetts hospitals and their affiliated practices and health centers are invited to partner with PICCK to receive a customized program that meets their facility’s needs. PICCK offers medical practices provider education and technical assistance related to workflow, billing, and materials. Visit www.PICCK.org for resources and materials, the program’s bi-annual newsletter, and more information.