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Tag: substance use
03/22/2023

Digital Health Tech: A Solution to Substance Use Disorders?

Article Excerpt: Healthcare is turning towards tech to develop effective therapies for substance use disorders
While there are several well-established pharmaceutical treatment options available for smoking cessation, and for opioid and alcohol use disorders, there is still a high demand for more effective therapies. According to GlobalData’s Medical Device Pipeline Analytics, there are 61 products in development for treating substance abuse disorders classed as healthcare IT.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/3unbwpmh

Article Source: Medical Device Network

Posted in: Emerging Technologies // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
03/10/2023

‘Simple but Effective’: Colombia Turns to Algorithms to Bolster Mental Health Services

Article Excerpt: At the age of 70, Carmen Suárez* is finally coming to terms with an event that happened five decades ago. It was a trauma that changed the course of her life and left her with depression. “I used to cry uncontrollably,” she says. “I was told to seek help, but I had neither the time nor the money. I realise now that I was stuck reliving the incident.” Over the course of a year, the Diada project (detection and integrated care for depression and alcohol use), an innovative project aimed at identifying people with or at risk of developing a mental health or alcohol use disorder, helped her recover.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/2jrfnkdt

Article Source: The Guardian

Posted in: Epidemiology // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
02/28/2023

MHT Delivers New Technology for Measuring and Improving Mental Wellness

Article Excerpt: Mental Health Technologies (MHT) offers a rapidly growing cloud-based platform primary care physicians and mental health professionals use to screen and test for mental health disorders, including depression and substance abuse. MHT helps providers identify areas where their patients are struggling and refers them to the proper behavioral healthcare professional…SmarTest is a tool that uses intelligence and historical data to define when-and how-a patient should be tested for various mental health conditions. It can base its decisions on patient information, such as age, gender, or other demographics.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/6ruxh22t

Article Source: Accesswire

Posted in: Emerging Technologies // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ;
02/27/2023

Dementia, Substance Misuse, and Social Determinants of Health: American Indian and Alaska Native Peoples’ Prevention, Service, and Care

Crouch MC, Cheromiah Salazar MBR, Harris SJ, Rosich RM. Dementia, Substance Misuse, and Social Determinants of Health: American Indian and Alaska Native Peoples’ Prevention, Service, and Care. Chronic Stress (Thousand Oaks). 2023 Jan 18;7:24705470221149479. doi: 10.1177/24705470221149479. PMID: 36699807; PMCID: PMC9869198.

A qualitative study was conducted to understand the cultural practices and beliefs among American Indian and Alaskan Native (AI/AN) Elders about Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD). Interviews investigated the etiology, course, treatment, and cultural meanings of ADRD as well as the social determinants of health related to ADRD and role of substance use disorder. AI/AN tribal Elders are identified as individuals who are designated culture bearers, wisdom holders, and role models in their respective communities. Twelve AI/AN Elders (mean age=73) who speak English participated in semi-structured interviews. The sample was predominantly female (66.7%), Athabascan Tribal heritage (58.3%) and retired (66.7%). All participants had a family member with ADRD but did not themselves have an ADRD diagnosis. Qualitative analyses identified 6 themes of etiology, barriers to treatment, and social determinants: (1) postcolonial distress; (2) substance misuse; (3) distrust of Western medicine; (4) structural inequities; (5) walking in two worlds; and, (6) decolonizing and indigenizing medicine. Findings highlight potential causal factors in disease development and manifestation as viewed by AI/AN Elders. This study exemplified historical and ongoing discrimination and stress in Western medicine and the importance of adopting a holistic view to address cultural health disparities.

Posted in: Cutting Edge Literature // Tagged: ; ; ; ;
01/06/2023

Deep Learning Algorithm Can Hear Alcohol in Voice

Article Excerpt: La Trobe University researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that could work alongside expensive and potentially biased breath testing devices in pubs and clubs. The technology can instantly determine whether a person has exceeded the legal alcohol limit purely on using a 12-seconds recording of their voice.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/4uhjh4kn

Article Source: Neuroscience News

Posted in: Emerging Technologies, Methodologies & Analytics // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
12/05/2022

Book Chapter Sneak Peak: Introduction And Aims of Digital Therapeutics for Mental Health and Addiction

Article Excerpt: In this first chapter, the book’s editors Jacobson, Kowatsch and Marsch “introduce a comprehensive overview of the field of digital therapeutics and research on their efficacy, effectiveness, scalability, and cost-effectiveness (pp. 1).” The authors are looking to introduce the topic of digital therapeutics to a broad audience and designed this book for people without a background in mental health or substance use. The authors’ vision includes conveying how advancements in technology can be leveraged to increase the effectiveness of interventions. Topics relating to structural considerations include the design of interventions, cultural adaptations, regulation, and data privacy.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/56jdnyae

Article Source: Centre for Digital Health Interventions News

Posted in: Dissemination & Implementation // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
11/14/2022

Dependence & Measurement w/ Dr. Alan Budney

Article Excerpt: Dr. Alan Budney joins Marcel and Erica on this episode of The CannaPod. Dr. Budney is a professor at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and serves as Director of the Treatment Development & Evaluation Core of Dartmouth’s Center for Technology and Behavioral Health.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/2w77c57n

Article Source: CannaPod Podcast

Posted in: Dissemination & Implementation // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ;
11/02/2022

Digital Solution for Smoking Cessation Shows Positive Results in Randomized Trial

Article Excerpt: A behavioral change digital health company has announced positive results from a randomized controlled trial for its app-based digital tool for tobacco use cessation. Pivot’s tool provides evidence-based tobacco cessation interventions, an interactive breath sensor, human coaching, nicotine replacement therapy, a digital support community, as well as behavioral therapy, the company stated in a press release.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/5dhkv6fe

Article Source: Healio

Posted in: Emerging Technologies // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
09/22/2022

Artificial Intelligence Tools Quickly Detect Signs of Injection Drug Use in Patients’ Health Records

Article Excerpt: An automated process that combines natural language processing and machine learning identified people who inject drugs (PWID) in electronic health records more quickly and accurately than current methods that rely on manual record reviews. Currently, people who inject drugs are identified through International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes that are specified in patients’ electronic health records by the health care providers or extracted from those notes by trained human coders who review them for billing purposes. But there is no specific ICD code for injection drug use, so providers and coders must rely on a combination of non-specific codes as proxies to identify PWIDs—a slow approach that can lead to inaccuracies.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/2p9b7wc3

Article Source: Medical XPress

Posted in: Emerging Technologies, Methodologies & Analytics // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ;