CIPC Blog

First let me say that the PHQ-9 is a fairly good tool for screening patients and identifying those who have an unmet behavioral health need.  While I think computer adaptive testing is a better approach and the way of the future, there are still plenty of settings where a paper and pencil PHQ-9 is the best we can do.

This blog post is authored by a graduate of our 2014 “Primary Care Behavioral Health” course.  Many of our former students go on to do significant work in the healthcare field.  Dr. Cherepanov’s experience includes global mental health work in Chernobyl, Chechnya, Kosovo, and Liberia.  She now works as lead clinician for refugee services at Lynn Community Health Center—one of CIPC’s long-term partners in integration training.

During public health complex emergencies (CE), healthcare workers play a crucial role. This work can be rewarding as it reminds health professionals about their mission and purpose. But just like “a perfect storm,” CE disrupts the fabric of community life, and the responders are subjected to the same ailments as their patients (Cherepanov, 2019). When responding to international CEs, humanitarians accumulated a great deal of experience dealing with extreme work stresses. This experience offers a valuable insight into the psychological challenges the frontline healthcare workers face during the pandemic and the best practices for managing them. 

This post first appeared in January 2021 in the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

The pandemic takes a toll on providers, caregivers, and clinicians who care for those afflicted.  CICP faculty member Dr. Paula Gardiner shares a ten-minute meditation practice that anyone can do to provide some self-compassion. More>

Two more patients of mine died this past weekend. Two more on top of two more on top of two more. I have lost more patients in the last three years from opioid deaths than I have lost patients from all causes during my entire career. 

Tina Runyan often posts on this blog about wellness and clinician burnout.  This post was prompted by the shootings in the Pittsburgh synagogue.  Read her comments about the concept and reality of sanctuary by clicking on the post title. 

Stress is universal and a part of our everyday lives.  Is all stress harmful? Can we learn to accommodate stress and make more skillful choices about how we respond to this inevitable part of our lives?  

Read what Dr. Runyan wrote to our family medicine residents by clicking on the title.