Characteristics of Youth in the U.S. Receiving Services From a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH)

Using data from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health, this study identifies the characteristics of those youth served and not served by a medical home. Although Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PCMHs) are being piloted with Medicaid clients, these national data indicate that adolescents are least likely to receive services from a medical home as are youth of color, those with family income levels between 0–99% of the Federal poverty level, and those currently uninsured. These populations, as well as children with special health care needs and youth in the child welfare system, however, may be those most likely to benefit from a PCMH.     

The DNP/MPH Dual Degree: An Innovative Graduate Education Program for Advanced Public Health Nursing

Strong professional priorities, evolving Affordable Care Act requirements, and a significantly limited public health nursing workforce prompted the University of Colorado College of Nursing to collaborate with the School of Public Health to implement one of the first Doctor of Nursing Practice/Master of Public Health dual degree programs in the nation. Federal grant funding supported the development, implementation, and evaluation of this unique post‐baccalaureate dual degree program, for which there were no roadmaps, models, or best practices to follow. Several key issues emerged that serve as lessons learned in creating a new, novel higher education pathway for Advanced Public Health Nursing. This paper highlights two of those: (1) marketing, admission, and matriculation across two programs, and (2) enhancing curricula through distance coursework and interprofessional education. When collaboration with a school of public health is possible, the Doctor of Nursing Practice/Master of Public Health dual degree is an efficient way to prepare public health nurses' with the highest level of public health knowledge, practice, and leadership expertise.     

Trend Disparities in Emotional Distress and Suicidality Among Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Minnesota Adolescents From 1998 to 2010

BACKGROUND

Sexual minority young people have demonstrated higher rates of emotional distress and suicidality in comparison to heterosexual peers. Research to date has not examined trends in these disparities, specifically, whether there have been disparity reductions or increases and how outcomes have differed over time by sex and sexual orientation group.

METHODS

Minnesota Student Survey data, collected from 9th and 12th graders in 3 cohorts (1998, 2004, 2010) were used to examine emotional distress and suicidality rates. Logistic regression analyses were completed to examine outcome changes over time within and across sexual orientation/sex groups.

RESULTS

With few exceptions, sexual minority youth are at increased risk of endorsing emotional distress and suicidality indicators in each surveyed year between 1998 and 2010. Young people with both‐sex partners reported more emotional distress across all health indicators compared to their opposite‐sex partnered peers. With a few exceptions, gaps in disparities between heterosexual and sexual minority have not changed from 2004 to 2010.

CONCLUSIONS

Disparities in emotional health persist among youth. Research is needed to advance understanding of mental health disparities, with consideration of sexual orientation differences and contextualized to sociocultural status and changes over time. Personalized prevention strategies are needed to promote adolescent mental health.