A breast cancer diagnosis often causes anxiety and depression, but an empathetic doctor can help. Supportive communication is key to reducing patient uncertainty and promoting mental well-being, Rutgers University researchers have found. “Our findings suggest that provider communication is a key component to reducing uncertainty, and thus providers play a key role in helping to facilitate psychological well-being,” said lead researcher Liesl Broadbridge. She’s a doctoral candidate at Rutgers School of Communication and Information in New Jersey. Discussing uncertainties and responding with empathy to patients’ concerns is critical to their healing and recovery, according to the study authors. “Our findings are directly applicable as targets for communication training modules for health care providers, because by continuing to advance skills in empathic communication, clinicians can enhance the health care experiences of their patients,” Broadbridge said in a Rutgers news release. The researchers also investigated how managing psychological well-being differs during and after cancer treatment. Current and former patients have different types of appointments, such as treatment decision-making for current patients and watchful waiting for former patients. They have had different amounts of time to adjust to diagnoses and, potentially, have different relationships with their providers. “Although our findings were true for both current and former patients, the strength of the relationship between uncertainty and psychological adjustment was stronger for former patients than for current patients,” Broadbridge…  read on >  read on >

“Trigger warnings” are now widely accepted as away to help people avoid harm from disturbing content. Trouble is, they just don’t work, according to new research. Trigger warnings seem like an obvious good: They alert people that a book, video or other media will depict a fraught topic such as sexual assault, abuse or suicide. Forewarned, consumers can skip the content or at least be emotionally prepared for it. The problem is, trigger warnings appear to be ineffective at best — and maybe even be harmful in some cases, according to the recent analysis of a dozen studies. The researchers found that while there was evidence that trigger warnings sometimes caused “anticipatory” anxiety, they did nothing to relieve the distress of viewing sensitive material. Nor did the warnings deter people from viewing potentially disturbing content; in fact, they sometimes drew folks in. In sum, the studies “almost unanimously” suggest that trigger warnings do not work as intended, according to senior researcher Victoria Bridgland of Flinders University in Australia. Why then are trigger warnings so prevalent, from college classrooms to theaters and art galleries to news articles and social media posts? Once they caught on, they simply kept growing — likely driven by a sense that they seemed like the “right thing to do,” Bridgland said. “This is probably because we have a culturally ingrained notion…  read on >  read on >

Whether or not you have loved ones in the Middle East, the horrors of the violence and suffering in Israel and Gaza are heart-wrenching and difficult to bear. “It’s important to be informed, but don’t stress yourself out,” said Dr. Gary Small, chair of psychiatry at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. Ration your exposure to what you see, given the impact graphic news reports can have on mental health, Small advises in a hospital news release. “We live every day in a denial of the horrors out there in the world,” Small said, adding that catastrophic events, such as the massacres and kidnappings in Israel and the Sept. 11 terror attacks, put the very worst of human behavior in front of people’s eyes. He recommends finding a balance between being up to date with news and doing calming activities. These might include watching a light television show, spending time with loved ones or reading an engaging book. Brutal events like the attacks in Gaza and Israel can also lead to “social contagion,” where information and images are amplified and a collective stress emerges, Small said. To protect yourself, take breaks from social media, especially if you find yourself watching horrific images repeatedly, he advised. Reports of the violence in the Middle East can also trigger anxiety and depression, both in children and adults,…  read on >  read on >

A new rule allows health care providers to be reimbursed for treating homeless people wherever they are, rather than just in hospitals or clinics. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began allowing this change for both public and private insurers on Oct. 1, KFF Health News reported. “The Biden-Harris administration has been focused on expanding access to health care across the country,” CMS spokesperson Sara Lonardo told KFF Health News, explaining that federal officials created the new reimbursement code at the request of street medicine providers who weren’t being paid for their work. Now doctors, nurses and other providers can provide reimbursed care in a “non-permanent location on the street or found environment.” Most of the patients who will be helped by this are low-income, disabled and older people on Medicaid and Medicare, KFF Health News reported. “It’s a game-changer. Before, this was really all done on a volunteer basis,” said Valerie Arkoosh, secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services, which spearheaded a state-based billing change in July. “We are so excited. Instead of a doctor’s office, routine medical treatments and preventive care can now be done wherever unhoused people are.” Other states had already taken this on, starting with California in 2021. Hawaii also does this, and street medicine teams already do work in big cities like Boston and Fort Worth,…  read on >  read on >