The agreement was signed by the Dominican Minister of Public Health, Daniel Rivera, and the UASD rector, Editrudis Beltrán, alongside the executive director of the Montefiore Hospital, Dr. Phillip Ozuah, in a ceremony led by President Luis Abinader at the National Palace’s Green Room.

The agreement aims to enable Dominicans living in the United States to access healthcare with Medicare insurance and to facilitate collaboration in research and project activities. The partnership seeks to enhance academic and technological aspects to enable health professionals to acquire new experiences and improve healthcare delivery.

During the ceremony, President Abinader highlighted the importance of working without political or ideological differences in the healthcare sector, saying that the agreement would help to improve the quality of life and save lives. He also noted that the Dominican government seeks to purchase ambulances, masks, and other healthcare items at better prices through Montefiore.

The Dominican Minister of Public Health, Daniel Rivera, described the alliance with Montefiore Hospital as transcendent, particularly because of the institution’s demonstrated solidarity with the Dominican community. The alliance will also support the professional development of human resources in health.

The agreement received support from Congressman Adriano Espaillat, U.S. Representative for New York’s 13th congressional district.

After a two-year decline, U.S. suicide rates spiked again in 2021, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Suicide is now the 11th leading cause of death in the country — and the second among people between 10 and 35 years of age and fifth among those aged 35 to 54, per the report. 

As the need for mental health care escalates, the U.S. is struggling with a shortage of providers. To help fill this gap, some medical technology companies have turned to artificial intelligence as a means of possibly making providers’ jobs easier and patient care more accessible. 

CHATGPT FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS: CAN THE AI CHATBOT MAKE THE PROFESSIONALS' JOBS EASIER?

Yet there are caveats connected to this. Read on. 

Over 160 million people currently live in "mental health professional shortage areas," according to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

By 2024, it is expected that the total number of psychiatrists will reach a new low, with a projected shortage of between 14,280 and 31,091 individuals. 

"Lack of funding from the government, a shortage of providers, and ongoing stigma regarding mental health treatment are some of the biggest barriers," Dr. Meghan Marcum, chief psychologist at AMFM Healthcare in Orange County, California, told Fox News Digital. 

"Wait lists for therapy can be long, and some individuals need specialized services like addiction or eating disorder treatment, making it hard to know where to start when it comes to finding the right provider," Marcum also said. 

A Boston, Massachusetts medical data company called OM1 recently built an AI-based platform, called PHenOM, for physicians. 

The tool pulls data from over 9,000 clinicians working in 2,500 locations across all 50 states, according to Dr. Carl Marci, chief psychiatrist and managing director of mental health and neuroscience at OM1.

Physicians can use that data to track trends in depression, anxiety, suicidal tendencies and other mental health disorders, the doctor said.

"Part of the reason we're having this mental health crisis is that we haven't been able to bring new tools, technologies and treatments to the bedside as quickly as we’d like," said Dr. Marci, who has also been running a small clinical practice through Mass General Brigham in Boston for 20 years.

Eventually, artificial intelligence could help patients get the care they need faster and more efficiently, he said.

OM1’s AI model analyzes thousands of patient records and uses "sophisticated medical language models" to identify which individuals have expressed suicidal tendencies or actually attempted suicide, Dr. Marci said. 

"We can look at all of our data and begin to build models to predict who is at risk for suicidal ideation," he said. "One approach would be to look for particular outcomes — in this case, suicide — and see if we can use AI to do a better job of identifying patients at risk and then directing care to them."

In the traditional mental health care model, a patient sees a psychiatrist for depression, anxiety, PTSD, insomnia or another disorder. 

The doctor then makes a treatment recommendation based only on his or her own experience and what the patient says, Dr. Marci said. 

CHATGPT AND HEALTH CARE: COULD THE AI CHATBOT CHANGE THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE?

"Soon, I'll be able to put some information from the chart into a dashboard, which will then generate three ideas that are more likely to be more successful for depression, anxiety or insomnia than my best guess," he told Fox News Digital.

"The computer will be able to compare those parameters that I put into the system for the patient … against 100,000 similar patients."

In seconds, the doctor would be able to access information to use as a decision-making tool to improve patient outcomes, he said. 

When patients are in the mental health system for many months or years, it’s important for doctors to be able to track how their disease is progressing — which the real world doesn’t always capture, Dr. Marci noted.

"The ability to use computers, AI and data science to do a clinical assessment of the chart without the patient answering any questions or the clinician being burdened fills in a lot of gaps," he told Fox News Digital.

"We can then begin to apply other models to look and see who's responding to treatment, what types of treatment they're responding to and whether they’re getting the care they need," he added.

With the increasing mental health challenges and the widespread shortage of mental health providers, Dr. Marci said he believes that doctors will start using ChatGPT — the AI-based large language model that OpenAI released in 2022 — as a "large language model therapist," allowing doctors to interact with patients in a "clinically meaningful way."

Potentially, models such as ChatGPT could serve as an "off-hours" resource for those who need help in the middle of the night or on a weekend when they can’t get to the doctor’s office — "because mental health doesn't take a break," Dr. Marci said.

"The opportunity to have continuous care where the patient lives, rather than having to come into an office or get on a Zoom, that is supported by sophisticated models that actually have proven therapeutic value … [is] important," he also said. 

But these models, which are built on both good information and misinformation, are not without risks, the doctor admitted.

"The most obvious risk is for [these models] to give literally deadly advice … and that would be disastrous," he said.

To minimize these risks, the models would need to filter out misinformation or add some checks on the data to remove any potentially bad advice, said Dr. Marci.

Dr. Cameron Caswell, an adolescent psychologist in Washington, D.C., has seen firsthand the struggle providers face in keeping up with the growing need for mental health care.

"I’ve talked to people who have been wait-listed for months, can’t find anyone that accepts their insurance or aren’t able to connect with a professional that meets their specific needs," she told Fox News Digital. 

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"They want help, but can’t seem to get it. This only adds to their feelings of hopelessness and despair."

Even so, Dr. Caswell is skeptical that AI is the answer.

"Programs like ChatGPT are phenomenal at providing information, research, strategies and tools, which can be useful in a pinch," she said. 

"However, technology doesn’t provide what people need the most: empathy and human connection."

"While AI can provide positive reminders and prompt calming techniques, I worry that if it’s used to self-diagnose, it will lead to misdiagnosing, mislabeling and mistreating behaviors," she continued. 

"This is likely to exacerbate problems, not remediate them."

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Dr. Marcum of Orange County, California, said he sees AI as being a helpful tool between sessions — or as a way to offer education about a diagnosis.

"It may also help clinicians with documentation or report writing, which can potentially help free up time to serve more clients throughout the week," she told Fox News Digital.

There are ongoing ethical concerns, however — including privacy, security of data and accountability, which still need to be developed further, she said. 

"I think we will definitely see a trend toward the use of AI in treating mental health," said Dr. Marcum.

"But the exact landscape for how it will shape the field has yet to be determined."

Often dubbed "the silent killer," carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless — it’s been shown to cause severe injury or death in hours or even minutes.

Between 2009 and 2019, deaths from non-fire-related carbon monoxide poisoning have been on the rise, according to a new report released by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) last month.

There were 250 deaths related to consumer products in 2019, more than in any other year in the report.

Some 40% of those deaths were caused by engine-driven tools, including generators, power washers and lawn mowers. 

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Heating systems were behind another 28% of the deaths, the report said.

Kristie Dusenberry, a mother and grandmother who lives with her family on a farm in American Falls, Idaho, knows all too well the devastating impacts of carbon monoxide poisoning. 

Her 21-year-old son, Brenden Dusenberry, nearly died recently when fumes filled his small apartment.

About four months ago, her son had moved to Utah, where he was living in an apartment above his uncle’s garage. 

"He was excited about living closer to friends and had started a new job," Dusenberry told Fox News Digital in an interview.

When a few family members tried to call Dusenberry’s son over the weekend, no one was able to reach him. 

Around midnight on Sunday, Dusenberry got a call from her niece, who also lives at the house.

"She said Brenden was on the floor in the bathroom, couldn’t feel his left side and was throwing up," she said. "No one had seen or heard from him for more than 24 hours."

When first responders arrived, they suspected carbon monoxide poisoning. Tests confirmed dangerously high levels in the room where Dusenberry’s son was found.

Over the next few hours, Dusenberry slowly pieced together what had happened. 

Her son had gotten very sick over the course of the day, then woke up in the middle of the night with severe thirst. When he tried to get out of bed, his entire left side had gone completely numb.

"Brenden fell and hit his head on a dresser, then tumbled down the stairs to the bathroom, and that's where they found him," Dusenberry explained.

The source of the fumes was a new heater for the outdoor swimming pool, which had just been hooked up and was kept in the garage below the room where Dusenberry’s son was living. 

Something had malfunctioned with the heater — causing carbon monoxide to fill the air.

One of the doctors told Dusenberry that carbon monoxide is lighter than air.

"It actually floats and can go through sheet rock, or through any crack in the wall," she said.

While Dusenberry realizes her son is lucky to be alive, she worries about his long and uncertain road to recovery.

"Brenden’s heart is not fully working right now," she told Fox News Digital. "His lungs were inflamed when he got to the hospital, and he had to be put in a hyperbaric chamber to increase his oxygen levels."

TEXAS CARBON MONOXIDE LEAK HOSPITALIZES 6, INCLUDING 5 CHILDREN

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is sometimes used ​​for people who have moderate to severe carbon monoxide poisoning as a means of reducing the long-term cognitive effects. That's according to Dr. Kelly Johnson-Arbor, medical toxicologist and co-medical director at the National Capital Poison Center in Washington, D.C.

"People who have confusion, heart rhythm abnormalities or other evidence of heart damage, and other serious signs or symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, are potential candidates for hyperbaric oxygen therapy," she told Fox News Digital.

The doctors also realized that Dusenberry’s son’s kidneys weren’t functioning correctly, which meant he had to receive dialysis treatments.

"Brenden also has nerve damage on the left side of his body, and the doctors said it could take up to a year before he can use his left arm again," Dusenberry said. 

"He still can’t walk, and he can’t keep any food or fluids down."

She added, "They did say that all the carbon monoxide is gone — but all the damage it caused is not."

Dr. Dung Trinh, a brain health expert and owner of The Healthy Brain Clinic in Long Beach, California, said the most dangerous outcomes of carbon monoxide poisoning can include death, permanent organ damage and long-term neurological effects. 

"Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas that can bind to hemoglobin in the blood, reducing its ability to carry oxygen, leading to tissue hypoxia and damage to vital organs," he told Fox News Digital via email.

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In cases where carbon monoxide poisoning is fatal, Trinh said the specific cause of death is often related to severe tissue hypoxia (low levels of oxygen in the tissues) and damage to the brain, heart or lungs, which can lead to respiratory failure, cardiac arrest or other life-threatening complications.

The effects of carbon monoxide poisoning can vary, depending on the severity of the exposure and individual factors, the doctor explained.

"In some cases, with prompt and appropriate medical treatment, the effects may be reversible, while in other cases, they may be permanent," he said.

Certain people may be at a higher risk of dying or not recovering fully from carbon monoxide poisoning, such as infants, elderly individuals, pregnant women and those with pre-existing respiratory or cardiac conditions, the doctor said.

Those who survive carbon monoxide poisoning may experience adverse long-term effects. 

"These can include neurological symptoms like memory problems, difficulty concentrating and mood changes, as well as respiratory and cardiac issues, depending on the severity and duration of exposure," Trinh said.

Dawn Quintana, a 56-year-old former IT worker in Lake Point, Utah, experienced carbon monoxide poisoning at her workplace in 2013, when machinery was being used inside with all the doors and windows closed.

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After repeated daily exposure — 10 hours a day, five days a week, for 90 days — Quintana was regularly experiencing severe flu-like symptoms and lost her sense of taste. 

When she was finally tested at the hospital, her levels of exposure were dangerously high.

To this day, even after seven years of therapy, Quintana still experiences the lingering cognitive effects of carbon monoxide poisoning.

"Sometimes I know what I want to say, but it doesn't come out," she told Fox News Digital in an email. 

She also struggles with reading: "I can look at something and read it silently just fine, but if I try to read out loud, the letters start to fall away from the page and the left side of the page goes blank."

Quintana has not been able to return to work. She can no longer look at computer screens without getting dizzy and nauseated. Her relationships with friends and family have suffered.

"The struggle that I go through daily — the loss of dignity — I would not wish it upon my worst enemy," she said.

Each year, carbon monoxide poisoning claims the lives of at least 420 people and sends more than 100,000 people to emergency rooms in the U.S. each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The good news is that it’s 100% preventable.

"Some strategies for safety and precaution against carbon monoxide poisoning include regular maintenance and inspection of fuel-burning appliances, proper ventilation in enclosed spaces, using carbon monoxide detectors and avoiding the use of fuel-burning appliances indoors or in enclosed spaces without proper ventilation," Trinh said.

You may not be able to see, smell or taste carbon monoxide — but a working carbon monoxide detector can enable you to "hear" it, said Johnson-Arbor.

"Carbon monoxide detectors can be purchased for [about] $20 at big-box retailers, home improvement stores or even on Amazon," she told Fox News Digital.

Residential carbon monoxide detectors can be plugged into an electrical outlet or can be hard-wired into a home’s electric system, Johnson-Arbor said.

"Because carbon monoxide poisoning can cause excessive sleepiness, it’s important to have a detector installed within 10 feet of every sleeping area of your home," she said. 

Additionally, she recommends bringing a portable carbon monoxide detector when traveling, because some hotels or vacation rentals may not have them installed.

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For plug-in detectors, the batteries should be replaced every six months or after any prolonged power outage.

"Never ignore an alarming carbon monoxide detector," Johnson-Arbor added. "These devices can save your life."

While many people associate carbon monoxide poisoning as a risk during the winter months due to malfunctioning furnaces and lack of ventilation, precautions should be taken year-round, warned Johnson-Arbor.

"During the summer months, people can be poisoned by carbon monoxide from faulty swimming pool heaters, indoor use of barbecue grills, gas-powered clothes dryers and other equipment," she told Fox News Digital.

If you suspect a case of carbon monoxide poisoning, it is crucial to immediately evacuate the affected area and seek medical attention without delay, Trinh said. 

"Carbon monoxide poisoning is a medical emergency and requires prompt medical intervention," he added.

Every day, more than 9,500 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with skin cancer, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation, a New York City-based nonprofit. 

Early detection and treatment is the key to a positive outcome, doctors say — and performing regular self-exams is the best way to catch the warning signs.

The Skin Cancer Foundation recommends checking your skin from head to toe at least once a month.

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"A change to a mole, a sore that won’t heal or a new growth may be a warning sign of skin cancer," said Dr. Nandini Kulkarni, medical director of surgical oncology for Inspira Health in Vineland, New Jersey.

"By conducting regular skin checks, you will become familiar with the pattern of moles, blemishes, freckles and other marks on your skin," she said. 

"When you notice a change, you should see your dermatologist."

Keep an eye out for any new, expanding or changing growths, spots or bumps on the skin, says the American Cancer Society.

Other warning signs include a sore that bleeds and/or doesn’t heal after several weeks, a rough or scaly patch of skin, a wart-like growth, or an irregularly shaped or colored mole.

"The letters A-B-C-D-E can help you remember what to look for," said Dr. Kulkarni.

These include:

A - Asymmetry 

B - Borders (irregular, raised)

C - Color (especially change in color of a prior mole)

D - Diameter (larger than a pencil eraser)

E - Evolving changes

The best time to do a skin self-exam is after a shower or bath, according to Dr. Kulkarni. 

For consistency, do the exam the same way each time. 

Choose a well-lit room and use both a full-length mirror and a hand mirror to ensure that nothing gets missed, the doctor said.

SKIN CANCER CHECKS AND SUNSCREEN: WHY THESE (STILL) MATTER VERY MUCH FOR GOOD HEALTH

In addition to the more obvious areas, such as the face, arms, legs and sides, remember to check hidden spots like between the fingers, the soles of the feet and the scalp.

"If needed, ask someone for help when checking your skin," Dr. Kulkarni suggested. 

"This can help with hard-to-see areas like your back and scalp."

"Skin cancer can occur anywhere on the body, even areas that are not exposed to the sun," said Dr. Kulkarni.

When examining your scalp, she suggests using a comb or blow-dryer to move your hair as you look so you can see more clearly.

The experts agree that self-exams should be a supplement to regular checks at the dermatologist, not a replacement.

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"Although you might become proficient at noticing changes to moles, freckles and other marks on your skin, differentiating between benign and malignant skin conditions takes years of training and practice," said Dr. Kulkarni. 

She recommends seeing a dermatologist at least once a year, or more frequently if you have specific concerns about changes to your skin.

​​To read more pieces in Fox News Digital's "Be Well" series, click here.

Climate Change is a global emergency, yet few countries have made plans to face it. Barbados Ministry of Health and Wellness staff and allied sectors recently met at the Accra Beach Resort in Barbados, to understand how climate change is affecting public health in the country, a first step in the creation of a Health National Adaptation Plan (H-NAP). 

The process to assess vulnerabilities and prioritize ways to manage or minimize the impacts of climate change in an area is called adaptation planning. H-NAPs consider the impact of climate change on people’s mental and physical health, and the social effects. These plans present actions to build climate-resilient health systems that can anticipate and protect public health. 

Barbados’ Chief Medical Officer, Dr Kenneth George, participated in the one-day meeting and took the opportunity to thank PAHO for its commitment to the development of the HNAPs. Meanwhile Acting PAHO/WHO Representative for Barbados, Dr Prabhjot Singh said that climate change does affect public health directly and urgent action is required.

Under the European Union-funded CARIFORUM Climate Change and Health project, coordinated by the PAHO/WHO Caribbean Subregional Program Coordination Office, Grenada and St Lucia have completed the H-NAP and plans are underway in Belize, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Bahamas, Haiti, Jamaica, Guyana and the Dominican Republic. Dr Alison Gajadhar, lead consultant for the development of the HNAP in Barbados stated that she was impressed by the level of participation and engagement of public health experts in Barbados.

The final HNAP Report will include key recommendations to inform the development of policy, strategy and plans and programmes to assist countries in the process of adaptation.  For more information on the project and the progress with the H-NAPs please visit the project website.

The post Barbados Begins Health National Adaptation Planning in EU-supported PAHO Project appeared first on Barbados Today.

By Anesta Henry

The Barbados Union of Teachers’ (BUT) plea for additional psychologists to be placed in schools has received full support from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Supreme Counselling for Personal Development Shawn Clarke.
He told Barbados TODAY that he has been advocating for more psychologists in schools since the resumption of face-to-face classes following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Clarke, whose organisation manages an anti-bullying prevention programme in several secondary schools, said that as far as he was aware, the Ministry of Education recently placed counsellors and safety officers at some schools.
Addressing Monday’s opening of the BUT’s Annual General Conference at the Radisson Aquatica, President Rudy Lovell said that with the increase in the incidents of violence in schools, the Ministry of Education urgently needed to hire additional psychologists since the present complement was woefully inadequate.
Lovell, who also called for an increased effort to provide psychological support to at-risk students and their parents, suggested that more guidance counsellors, support services, and safety officers should be assigned to schools.
In a response, Clarke said “I do think that the services of more psychologists are needed to help with our young people. And I have been saying that the Government doesn’t need to do it on their own, everybody doesn’t need to be an employee of the Ministry of Education.
“We have enough non governmental organisations in Barbados that have access to psychologists and psychiatrists and professional development counsellors on their teams that can partner with the Ministry of Education to make these services readily available to students,” he said.
“We just need to sit at the table and come up with a way that is workable and that is mutually beneficial to both parties.”
Clarke queried whether the psychologists and counsellors in the school system are equipped with the resources to provide the intense intervention that many at-risk students need. Students need to be assigned to a psychologist for at least three years, as opposed to just for a six-week term or an academic year, he added.
“The question is are the psychologists who are in the schools adequately prepared to see one child for that extended period? Secondly, with an enrolment of almost 1 000 students at schools, some of these psychologists and counsellors, are attached to two schools.
“Counsellors now have 2 000 students when you look at it. Do they have access to the facilities to be able to do prolonged counselling? For a lot of these children, a six-week fix is no fix.”
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb

The post Counsellor agrees with union on need for more psychologists in schools appeared first on Barbados Today.

The spate of fires across the island in recent weeks has led the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) to develop a system to update the public on air quality.
CIMH climatologist Dr Cedric Van Meerbeeck says the online monitoring system has been created in collaboration with various agencies.
“Air pollution, as you know, comes from different sources. The ones we have been suffering from in the last two months were smoke from wildfires, brush fires, cane fires and grass fires. I just want you to know that the CIMH is on top of it. We have noticed it. We have worked together with different agencies and we now have a monitoring product that we will put online for everybody to use, so that you know how bad the situation is at this time because there are things you can do to protect yourself,” he said.
Dr Van Meerbeeck was responding to a question posed by a member of the audience at a panel discussion hosted by the CIMH in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and The University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, on Tuesday night, at the Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business and Management.
Senior scientist in the NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory Dr. Roger Pulwarty highlighted that individuals’ health can be compromised by the combination of various pollutants in the atmosphere.
“When you add Saharan dust, when you add smoke and you add this especially indoor combination, you’re actually compounding health risks that cannot be separated immediately and that’s something we need to address,” he said.
“The complexity of the mixed pollutants [is] really the issue.”
(JB)

The post System created to update public on air quality appeared first on Barbados Today.

View the full post GHTA First Aid and CPR Training enhances safety and preparedness on NOW Grenada.

The Guyana government has banned the use of chemicals to clean drainage calls across the country, after concerns were raised by residents of Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara. After the concern was raised raised by a resident during a ministerial outreach led by Prime Minister Mark Phillips, the Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha made government’s position ...

After various complaints were presented, including one about altering the gestational age of deceased newborns to modify statistics, a vote was taken to create a collegiate department in the Perinatology area of the hospital to audit the records of births and neonatal mortality.

The proposed interim collegiate management would be made up of a representative of the CMD, the maternity hospital management, and the National Health Service (SNS). Senén Caba, the president of the Dominican Medical College (CMD), along with several other medical professionals, led the meeting and declared that the situation had to be addressed immediately for the benefit of the patients.

The activity was attended by Yocasta Lara, the director of the SNS Hospital Centers, Dr. Martin Ortiz, and the director of the Los Mina Maternity Hospital, Leonardo Aquino.