Originally published: . Volume 11, No. 11. Source pages: 7.
House Concurrent Resolution 21 by Rep. Wheat, Adams, Amedee and many others, requests the La. Dept. of Health to submit documentation to the federal Medicaid agency to provide financial relief for providers of services for people with developmental disabilities.
The Resolution urges and requests the Department to immediately submit requests for all retainer payments associated with the COVID-19 public health emergency for home- and community- based service providers and to submit all applicable documentation for a temporary rate increase for providers of adult day center services, home- and community-based services, and intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled not later than 30 days after the final adjournment of the 2020 2nd Extraordinary Session.
According to the Resolution, CMS is currently authorizing certain home- and community-based providers to bill and receive retainer payments for individuals enrolled in Medicaid even if the service cannot be provided during the COVID-19 public health emergency
On March 22, 2020, the Louisiana Department of Health ordered that all adult day center services shall close to protect the health and safety of individuals during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
The authors asked the Department to immediately submit requests for all retainer payments associated with the COVID-19.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 11, No. 11. Source pages: 8.
Rep. Freiberg authored House Concurrent Resolution 26, which requests the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, in collaboration with the state Department of Education, to issue guidance and policies relative to the creation and operation of micro schools. The Resolution is requesting a report by March 1, 2021.
In the Resolution, Rep. Freiberg writes that parents, educators, and administrators are continuing to search for safer alternatives to large congregate settings for education delivery; it is critical that students receive high quality instruction that best fits their needs while maintaining proper social distancing measures and complying with other guidance from public health officials
According to the text, a micro school is a neighborhood school generally enrolling fewer than fifteen students. He writes that micro schools could provide valuable in-person instructional opportunities while maintaining small class sizes and space for social distancing.
The Legislature of Louisiana urges and requests the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to study issues relative to the creation and operation of micro schools, by approved public schools and public school governing authorities, to help ensure that Louisiana students continue to have high quality and safe learning experiences amidst the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency and to submit a written report of its findings and conclusions, including any recommendations for related legislation, to the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education no later than August 1, 2021.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 11, No. 11. Source pages: 8.
HB 100 by Rep. Newell requires the Juvenile Justice Reform Act Implementation Commission to consider the well-being of youth in the juvenile justice system during a public health emergency and requires the commission to submit annual reports to the legislature.
Present law requires the commission to address issues such as: (1) The creation of a single state entity for providing services to children. The new law adds that the commission shall also consider the well-being of youth in the juvenile justice system during a public health emergency.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 11, No. 11. Source pages: 8.
Senator Mizell's Senate Resolution will authorize and direct the re-creation of the Louisiana Women's Incarceration Task Force under the jurisdiction of the Louisiana Legislative Women's Caucus and the Department of Public Safety & Corrections. The effort grant them new authority to study, evaluate, analyze, and undertake a comprehensive review of the state's and local municipal criminal justice systems as it relates to prenatal and postpartum care of incarcerated pregnant women and the need for babies to bond with their mothers. The Task Force is to report its findings and policy recommendations by February 1, 2021.
Sen. Mizell noted that according to United States Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2017, Louisiana had the seventh highest women's incarceration rate in the United States and incarcerated more than two thousand women at a cost of over $50 million. It is beneficial to the entire population of the state of Louisiana to develop a broadly diverse and cross- disciplinary task force to study correction systems for women.
The information gathered shall be used to develop policy recommendations for the Senate to:
(1) Develop practices and processes that avoid placing additional trauma or harm upon pregnant women as they navigate the criminal justice system.
(2) Address the holistic health of women to include access to hormone therapy, prenatal care, reproductive health, access to other medicine to maintain health, consistent health screenings, mental health access, and access to substance use and recovery resources.
(3) Increase and evaluate programming available to pregnant women during and after incarceration with the intention of self-determined development.
(4) Ensure the availability of gender responsive resources to support the dignity and quality of life of all women.
Participants listed include Chair of the Louisiana Legislative Women's Caucus, a physician specializing in OB/GYN designated by Our Lady of the Lake Hospital, president of the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association, or his designee, and president of the Louisiana District Attorneys' Association, among others.
The task force may request the Louisiana Legislative Women's Caucus, the Department of Public Safety & Corrections, and the office of the judicial administrator of the Louisiana Supreme Court to provide relevant data and staff expertise upon request.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 11, No. 10. Source pages: 6.
In a September 16 press release, Gov. Edwards commended First Lady Donna Edwards and the Louisiana First Foundation for convening its first virtual global summit to address human trafficking and raise awareness about this horrific crime. Recently, First Lady Edwards brought together leaders from the Vatican, first spouses from across the United States, and a host of national and state leaders in the anti-human trafficking sector for the Virtual Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Summit, according to the release.
"I'm incredibly proud of the work Donna is doing to raise awareness about this incredibly serious problem," said Gov. Edwards. crime in Louisiana, around the country and the world."
Participants included: Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Science and Pontifical Academy of Social Science in Rome; First Lady Yumi Hogan of Maryland; First Lady Marty Kemp of Georgia; First Lady Cecilia Abbott of Texas; Deputy Director Bill Woolf from the United States Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime; Dept. of Children and Family Service Secretary Marketa Walters, former Commissioner of The Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control Juana Lombard; Office of the Governor Children's Cabinet Executive Director Dr. Dana Hunter; Jessica Milan-Miller, director of Gingerbread House Child Advocacy Center and Father Jeff Bayhi, Catholic Priest and Founder of Metanoia Manor, which is a safe-haven for victims of human trafficking.
"Human trafficking is a very real problem that is widespread and sadly, it happens more often than we would like to think and often very close to home, said Mrs. Edwards. "I implore everyone not to turn a blind eye from this insidious crime but to learn more about how to recognize the signs and potentially save a victim's life."
If you suspect that someone may be a victim of human trafficking, please call the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1 (888) 373-7888 or Text "BeFree" to 233733.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 11, No. 10. Source pages: 6.
The Behavior Analyst Board published an Emergency Rule to implement a temporary reduction of licensing certificate renewal fees. The Declaration of Emergency published in the September Louisiana Register noted, "In order to assist the public during this crisis, the board has approved a temporary reduction of renewal fees for Licensed Behavior Analysts and State Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts."
This Emergency Rule is the Louisiana Behavior Analyst Board’s response to the disruption of normalcy experienced by the citizens of Louisiana due to COVID- 19. Proclamation No. JBE 2020-33 and Proclamation No. JBE 2020-41 declared a stay at home order posing a threat to the public health, safety, and welfare of Louisiana citizens.
"Temporary reduction of license and certificate renewal fees effective November 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020, due to COVID 19 disruption of normalcy shall be as follows: 1. annual renewal fee for licensed behavior analyst due by December 31, 2020—$200.00; 2. annual renewal fee for state certified assistant behavior analyst due by December 31, 2020—$125.00."
Regular fees are $400 and $250.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 11, No. 10. Source pages: 6.
Less than 24 hours after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this week, President Trump was allowed to take Regeneron’s antibody therapy, under the compassionate use clause for experimental medications.
In late September Regeneron officials had announced results showing that the synthetic antibodies reduced viral load.
In a study of 275 people, patients with increasingly higher baseline viral levels had correspondingly greater reductions in viral load at Day 7. The reduction in viral load compared to placebo were as follows: -Viral load higher than 105 copies/mL–50-60% reduction compared to placebo, viral load higher than 106–95% reduction, and higher than 107 –99% reduction. Among the first 275 patients, approximately 56% were Hispanic, 13% were African American and 64% had one or more underlying risk factors for severe COVID-19, including obesity (more than 40%). On average, patients were 44 years of age.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 11, No. 10. Source pages: 8.
Tulane's Dr. Michael Hoerger Finds Major Issue with Panic Attacks in Google Internet Data Sources
by Barri Bronston, Tulane News
A team of researchers at Tulane University used Google search data to examine trends in mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and based on that search, say panic attacks could be affecting millions.
The study was led by Michael Hoerger, an assistant professor of psychology in the Tulane School of Science and Engineering, and published in the journal Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy.
The team used Google Trends to analyze an extensive list of mental health-related terms that people searched for before and after the World Health Organization issued a pandemic declaration on March 11, 2020. They found a major jump in searches related to anxiety, panic attacks and treatments for panic attacks, especially remote and self-care techniques, in the weeks following the pandemic declaration.
“Our analyses from shortly after the pandemic declaration are the tip of the iceberg." Google Trends allows individuals to examine longitudinal population-level variation in the relative frequency with which people use specific Google search terms. Data are updated in real time and can be examined worldwide.
“Although by no means a ‘window into the soul,’ people’s search terms reflect relatively uncensored desires for information and thus lack many of the biases of traditional self- report surveys,” the study says.
“Google Trends analyses have been used to predict important societal outcomes, such as disease transmission, voting behavior and key economic indicators, and it can also be used to forecast population mental health symptoms and need.”
Panic attacks are characterized by an intense fear and sense of feeling overwhelmed, according to the National Institutes of Mental Health. During a panic attack, people may have a rapid heartbeat, sweat profusely, shake, or experience shortness of breath.
Researchers did not find an uptick in searches for depression, loneliness, abuse and suicidality. But they cautioned that their findings do not necessarily mean that people aren’t experiencing these mental health issues.
Instead, Hoerger said, the data may provide insight into what might be a foreboding of a much larger problem. He described it as a “mental health tsunami” related to unanticipated death, burnout and unemployment.
“Our analyses from shortly after the pandemic declaration are the tip of the iceberg,” Hoerger said. “Over time, we should begin to see a greater decline in societal mental health. This will likely include more depression, PTSD, community violence, suicide and complex bereavement. For each person that dies of COVID, approximately nine close family members are affected, and people will carry that grief for a long time.” Researchers said continued monitoring of Google Trends may reveal other mental health issues over the long term and not detected in this analysis. “These findings and continued surveillance can guide public mental health initiatives across multiple ecological levels that can mitigate the psychological toll of COVID-19,” the study says.
Besides Hoerger, who is also on the faculty of the Tulane Cancer Center, the research team included Laura M. Perry, Hallie M. Voss and Sanjana Easwar, students in the Tulane Department of Psychology. Sarah Alonzi of the Department of Psychology at Loyola University and James Gerhart of the Department of Psychology at Central Michigan University.
Dr. Hoerger (courtesy photo by Sally Asher)
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 11, No. 10. Source pages: 9.
Mini-conference & Virtual Year-Long Event The Louisiana School Psychological Association Announces Conferences
The Louisiana School Psychological Association is planning a mini-conference on November 6 and a full virtual conference from September 2020 to August 2021, according to the announcement from Brandon Wilks, LSPA President-Elect and Conference Chair.
The mini-event will take place from 8:00 am–4:00 pm, at the Doubletree by Hilton, 1521 West Pinhook Road, Lafayette, November 6. However, updates or changes will be posted on the association website given the changeable Covid environment.
"The LSPA Executive Committee (EC) has the health and safety of its members, guests, presenters, communities, and their families at the forefront of thoughts when planning and executing this in person gathering," wrote Wilks.
"As per the results of the Special Executive Council Meeting in May, the EC will be reviewing data and guidelines from the Lafayette community, state, CDC, and WHO to determine if the Mini- Conference will take place," noted Wilkes in the announcement.
The keynote speaker for the November 6 mini- conference we'll be Flint Smith, speaking on "Teleassessment & Teletherapy Guidelines."
Also presenting will be April Dunn, discussing Bulletin 1903 Revision, Reevaluation Pilot: LDOE.
"Necessary Components of Parent Training," will be presented by Dr. George Hebert.
Also provided will be information regarding "Addressing Critical Shortage through a Pilot Program with Distance Learners."
Amber Boykin, will facilitate COVID-19 Roundtables.
President elect Wilkes requested nominations for School Psychologist of the Year award and the Will Bergeron Memorial Scholarship to Laura Mcaciaszek, Immediate Past- President. Deadline for nomination submission is October 16, 2020.
According to the announcement an extended virtual conference conducted from September 2020 to August 2021, is in place and will provide 20 or more hours of approved continuing professional development credits.
Topics and presenters include the following: Using the NASP Excellence in School Psychological Services (ESPS): Andria Amador & Amber Boykin; Ethics and School Psychology: Laurie Klose; Intensifying Academic Interventions: Robin Codding; and Evidence Based Social Skills: Keith Radley & Evan Dart.
Also included will be Psychotherapy for Trans and Gender-Nonconforming Youth: Lee Purvis; History of School Psychology: Tom Fagan; Consumer- Friendly Reports: Kelli Henson; Cultural Competence: Anna Long; and Hot Topics in Special Education & Section 504 Law: Wayne Stewart.
"All who register and pay for the Mini-Conference will be refunded if the EC decision is made to cancel the Mini-Conference or if government guidelines prevent the Mini-Conference from being held," said Mr. Wilks. See the LSPA website for more information.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
After completing our 10-year research project on the effectiveness of treating mTBI, Persistent Postconcussional Syndrome (PPCS), and PTSD with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), we (Susan Andrews, PhD and Paul Harch, MD) published the major findings in Medical Gas Research1 in the March 2020 issue.
Dr. Harch, an acknowledged world leader in hyperbarics, in the Department of Medicine, Emergency and Hyperbaric Medicine Section, LSUHSC in New Orleans, conceived of the study, registered the study with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and was responsible for obtaining funding2.
Neuropsychology played a major role in gathering the outcome data to show how HBOT improves cognitive function even in the chronic phase of mTBI patients.
It is our hope, Dr. Harch as the principal investigator and Dr. Andrews as the neuropsychologist, that HBOT will soon become more available as insurance and Worker’s Compensation groups begin to approve it.
There are many important findings from the long-term study reported in the Medical Gas Research publication. However, for this news article, we want to focus on some of the findings that were surprising and particularly relevant to psychologists.
It’s time to rethink our definition or basis for “deficit.”
One of the most important findings from the two studies actually challenges a fundamental principle or standard upon which the entire field of neuropsychology has relied. In order to diagnose a Neurocognitive Disorder, neuropsychology relies on finding “cognitive deficits." In fact, the DSM 5 diagnostic criteria require: 1) evidence of significant cognitive decline from a previous level of performance in one or more cognitive domains (such as, memory, attention and concentration or executive function) or 2) a substantial impairment in cognitive performance, preferably documented by standardized neuropsychological testing. Deficits have traditionally been operationally defined as a T score below 40, which is equivalent to a standard score below 85. If literally followed the first criteria is difficult to satisfy since neuropsychologists rarely have premorbid comparison testing, and the second criteria is only achieved for the more severely injured. From the perspective of a referring clinician this is the biggest problem when they receive a report after referring a patient for neuropsychological testing.
The recruited subjects in the first phase of the research included 30 military veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan Wars with mild TBI and Persistent Postconcussion Syndrome (PPCS). Many of these men also suffered from PTSD and depression. In the second phase experiment, 50 military and civilian subjects with mild TBI and PPCS completed the full protocol (23 in the HBOT group and 27 in the Control Crossover Group that also received HBOT). The FDA required that we screen out active PTSD in the second phase of the study and stratify the two groups for amount of depression. The recruited subjects came in complaining of continuing cognitive problems, depression and anxiety, and post- concussion symptoms. They all reported that they were not completely “back to their normal” (pre-injury level) from before they were injured.
Once recruited, all subjects received a full battery of neuropsychological tests before and after treatment with hyperbaric oxygen therapy, including measures of IQ, learning and memory, measures of complex attention, executive function, language, perceptual- motor function, depression, anxiety, sleep, and Quality of Life. The first surprise was that the baseline testing revealed that most of the subjects were essentially “average” – not deficient – in the bulk of the cognitive domains tested (see Table 1). The mean scores before treatment ranged from 94 for delayed memory for the 30 military subjects to 111 on Full Scale IQ and Visual Working Memory Index for the Phase II Control Crossover group . In fact, had these subjects been tested before they were recruited, most of them probably would not have been included in the study by the current definition of deficit or impairment.
Even more surprising was how much each group gained in standard scores after the hyperbaric oxygen treatments (full protocol of 40, 1 hour treatments). The biggest cognitive gain was seen in the Delayed Memory Index (DMI) from the WMS-IV across all three sets of subjects who received HBOT. The military subjects showed the greatest gains, however, most of the military subjects experienced blast concussions compared to blunt concussions of the mostly civilian two groups in the Phase II research. In addition, many of the military subjects had experienced more than one such concussion, and also had PTSD scores 50% higher than the Phase II subjects. The military gains were almost a full standard deviation, while the civilian mTBIs each gained 10 to 11 points into the High Average range and generally reported that they felt more “back to their preinjury normal.”
When the data from the first experiment with military subjects was first published in 20113, there was a letter to the Editor by Wortzel et al4, who commented that our neuropsychological improvements were “dramatically larger than can be explained.” This comment was apparently based on the fact that the literature shows no decrement in intellectual functioning following mild TBI5. However, it has now been demonstrated in multiple Department of Defense (DoD) HBOT TBI.
studies that the comorbidity of PTSD amplifies the improvements seen with HBOT in TBI. Our military subjects had the highest average PTSD score of all of these studies, nearly 50% higher than the DoD subjects.
We recognize that it has been considered a “fact” that IQ is not usually affected by mild TBI. However, the data disputes that “fact.” One reason for why it seems that IQ is not affected by mTBI is that most neuropsychological data is generated after an injury and there is often only one time point tested. Improvement can be seen occasionally when two time points are available (like relatively soon after the accident and one to two years after the brain has had time to recover.) In addition, large decrements in global intellectual function, i.e., IQ, that falls outside the “normal” range, are only likely to be seen in more serious injury.
People who have been injured often complain of not being “back to normal.” However, if their IQ or memory or attention is in the normal or average range when tested, the subject is not considered to have a loss of function. This often leads to the injured person’s complaints not being considered valid and therefore, they often do not receive the treatment they actually could still benefit from. One implication for the future is that some good way of determining “back to normal” needs to be considered.
Post-Concussion Symptom Inventories are Good Predictors of Outcome
The FDA required the use of the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI), which is a post-concussion symptom inventory, as our primary outcome measure for the second phase of the experiment. Two of the largest improvements for the subjects were on the NSI and memory. There was a huge decrease in headaches for the group receiving HBOT. The study demonstrated an approximately 85% improvement in headache, along with improved sleep, energy level, irritability and mood swings. Headache is one of the most debilitating post-concussion symptoms that often keeps people from being able to return to work.
At the time of the first phase of this research, many of the returning Iraqi and Afghanistan military were so distressed that they were committing suicide. A very important finding of the Phase I study was a significant reduction in suicidal ideation among the subjects.
Beyond the surprising findings of “deficits” in the “normal” range, increases in “from an Average IQ to a High Average IQ or more”, a major reduction in suicidal ideation, and greatly improved Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and anxiety, the important conclusion was that this study confirmed 30 years of animal and human experience, demonstrating significant improvement in PPCS with the 1.5 atmosphere oxygen dose. This dose of HBOT has been applied in multiple other randomized trials with similar results. Collectively, the body of data meets criteria for American Heart Association Level I Class A evidence for efficacy of HBOT in mTBI PPCS. It is now time for widespread application of and reimbursement for HBOT treatment of mTBI PPCS with or without PTSD.
_________________ 1 Paul G. Harch, Andrews SR, Rowe CJ, Lischka JR, Townsend MH, Yu Q, Mercante DE. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for mild traumatic brain injury persistent postconcussion syndrome: a randomized controlled trial. Med Gas Res. 2020; 10 (1): 8-20. 2 This study was supported by U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command Fort Detrick, No, No. W81XWH- 3 Harch, Paul G., Susan R Andrews, Edward F. Fogarty, Daniel Amen, John C Pezzullo, Juliette Lucarini, Claire Aubrey, Derek Taylor, Paul Staab, and Keith Van Meter. (2011). A Phase I Study of Low-Pressure Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Blast- Induced Post-Concussion Syndrome and Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder. Journal of Neurotrauma, 28-1. 4 Wortzel et al. (2012). A Phase I Study of Low- Pressure Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Blast- Induced Post-Concussion Syndrome and Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Neuropsychiatric Perspective. J of NT, 29-14. 5 Belanger et al., 2005 (a meta-analytical study that could only report general findings across nine cognitive domains.)
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy chamber being used by Navy personnel. (courtesy photo, US Navy) Dr. Harch (Right) as the principal investigator and Dr. Andrews as the neuropsychologist, hope that HBOT will soon become more available as insurance and Worker’s Compensation groups begin to approve it. (courtesy photo)
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
On September 11, Gov. Edwards announced details of his move to COVID-19 to Phase 3. He said that some businesses will be able to increase their occupancy, and bars may reopen subject to certain restrictions, but only in parishes that do not have high incidence of illness and only if local governments choose to opt in.
The State Fire Marshal’s office and the Louisiana Department of Health shares information with business owners via the Open Safely portal, located at opensafely.la.gov. In place until October 9, the newest order notes that restaurants, churches, salons, spas, gyms and other businesses will be able to open at a maximum of 75 percent of their occupancy, with social distancing in place. Bars will remain closed to on-premises consumption in parishes with high incidence of COVID as evidenced by their test positivity rate. Parishes with a positivity rate of 5 percent or lower for two consecutive weeks may opt- in to open bars for on premises consumption, under the restrictions in the Governor’s order.
"When re-opened, bars will be able to open at 25 percent capacity, up to 50 people, indoors for customers seated for tableside service. They may have no more than 50 customers outdoors, socially distanced, seated for tableside service. No live music will be allowed. All drinks must be ordered at the table and delivered by bar staff to the table. Sale and service of alcohol at bars, when they reopen, must end at 10 p.m., with all patrons cleared from the building by 11 p.m. When re-opened, no one under the age of 21 is permitted in any bar. […]
"The statewide mask mandate will stay in place under the new order. Masks have proven to be a key mitigation measure in the fight against the spread of COVID-19. The more Louisianans who wear masks, the more Louisiana businesses can stay open."
The order continues the recommendation that those at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 stay at home unless they must leave for an essential activity, such as getting food or medical care.
“We have seen some improvement in decreased COVID-like illness, new COVID cases and hospitalizations in recent weeks," said the Governor, "as our strong mitigation measures are working. That said, I want the people of Louisiana to know that moving into Phase 3 does not mean that COVID is no longer a problem for us because in fact it is. That’s why it is incumbent upon all Louisianans to follow the guidance, wear their masks and avoid going out when they are showing symptoms,” Gov. Edwards said.
“We all want to see a return to normalcy, but it is going to take all of us working together to get us there. There are still some looming factors that could come to bear on the fragile gains that we have made including students returning to schools at all levels, the outcome of the Labor Day weekend and the displacement of thousands of residents by Hurricane Laura from an area that had among the highest case counts in the state. If we see a spike in cases, we may be forced to go back to a more restrictive Phase 2.”
On September 17, Gov. Edwards implemented new federal guidance to expand nursing home visitation, allowing nursing homes to conduct outdoor visitation with social distancing. Nursing homes located in parishes with no more than 10 percent test positivity and without any new COVID cases among residents and staff in the last 14 days can allow indoor visitation.
Also on September 17, the Governor adjusted the order slightly regarding alcohol sales.
"Following discussions with restaurant and hospitality industry leaders, Gov. John Bel Edwards today altered his Phase 3 order to allow the on premises sale and consumption of alcohol until 11 p.m. at restaurants, casinos and bars in parishes that are eligible to opt in to reopen bars. However, all bars must still close by 11 p.m."
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell has announced that Dr. Arnold James is a member of the distinguished group of New Orleans health care professionals who have been named as Clinical Scholars by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the nation’s largest philanthropy dedicated solely to health issues.
According to the press release, Team emPOWER NOLA, includes Dr. Maurice Sholas, Dr. Lauren Teverbaugh, Dr. Arnold James, and Licensed Master Social Worker Rhonda M. Jackson, who make up RWJF’s Cohort 5. Their proposed project is, “Training Community Leadership of Naturally Occurring Social Networks to Improve Access of Children Suffering from Trauma to Mental Health Services." This prioritizes working with New Orleans youth that have lived through profoundly traumatic events.
The cohort seeks to develop interventions that heal, and partnerships that promote, trauma-informed spaces to treat and support children living with trauma. For this effort, RWJF awarded a three-year $432,000 grant to emPOWER NOLA, to design and implement the project.
Dr. Arnold James is a native of Columbia, SC and has practiced clinical psychology in New Orleans for nearly 30 years. He received his Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology, Master of Public Health and bachelor’s in Psychology from the University of South Carolina. His training also includes post-doctoral studies in psychoanalytic psychotherapy as a fellow with the New Orleans – Birmingham Psychoanalytic Society. He is currently employed with the Southeastern Louisiana Veterans Health Care System. He is a former assistant professor of psychology at Tulane University Medical Center and previously served as a visiting professor at Davidson College (NC) under the Knight Foundation Faculty Fellowship.
According to the announcement, the New Orleans City Council called for the New Orleans Children and Youth Planning Board (CYPB) to create the Childhood Trauma Task Force to develop a comprehensive plan to reduce the occurrence and impact of trauma on children and families within the city of New Orleans.
Research conducted by the Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies as cited by a task force for the City of New Orleans, surveyed 5,000 youth between 2012 and 2018. It found a startling prevalence of youth living through severely traumatic events. One in 5 had witnessed a murder; one in 3 witnessed domestic violence; four in 10 had seen someone shot, stabbed or beaten; and, more than half had someone close to them murdered. The existing institutions to treat and support children living with trauma are fragmented. Strongly cohesive naturally occurring social networks (NOSN), that have decades of history in the various communities of Orleans Parish, serve a strong healing purpose for people historically disenfranchised from traditional mental health and social supports.
The team proposes to increase the cultural competence of New Orleans’ fragmented mental health treatment network and empower communities to be more effective at accessing resources to support their children by partnering with NOSN organizations, including social aid and pleasure clubs as well as charter school system mental health professionals. Through this approach, the emPOWER NOLA project team is poised to address the two recommendations via the ingenuity of local talent – who are culture bearers themselves – with the structure and reach of the Clinical Scholars Program.
"I want to congratulate Team emPOWER NOLA, the 2020 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars New Orleans Cohort, on receiving this grant. When we design a New Orleans that truly puts children’s interests first, we create a New Orleans that shows love to all of her people,” said Mayor Cantrell.
The press release noted that the mission of emPOWER NOLA is to empower formal and informal community leaders, and help them gain the tools to identify children in need and suffering from community and personal traumas, and to create and promote access to culturally competent care. Improved mental health for the current generation of children is not just morally essential, it is critical to the continued existence of the rich culture of the city. We are committed to equity in the culture of health in New Orleans, because that is required to nourish the community and its many unique customs and traditions.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program is a leadership opportunity for practitioners from diverse fields of health care. Interdisciplinary teams of health care providers collaborate to tackle complex health problems in their communities and build a Culture of Health nationwide.
RWJF Clinical Scholars, left to right: Dr. Lauren Teverbaugh, Dr. Maurice Sholas, Dr. Arnold James, Ms. Rhonda M. Jackson, MSW. (courtesy photo)
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 11, No. 10. Source pages: 2.
by Julie Nelson Everyone in Louisiana has their hurricane story. Laura just cut a path through 21 parishes and all but leveled Lake Charles. Ask a New Orleans resident and they’ll tell you their Katrina story. Ask someone from Alexandria, and you’ll get a Rita story. Ask a Baton Rouge resident and you’ll get a story about Gustav, or Andrew, or even Betsy.
Too late to evacuate and reasonably safe from falling trees, Archimedes and I wound up “riding out“ hurricane Sally recently at our vacation home in the Florida Panhandle. Thinking that she would go from a category one to a tropical storm, we were caught flat-footed when Sally rebooted to a category two in the middle of the night like an adolescent refusing curfew.
The only real consequence was the week long outage. No lights, no Internet, no television. We conserved battery power for our iPhones and computers, so modern life froze. My addictions failed me. No access to work information or news or my favorite distractions—Star Trek and Lucifer. By the third day Archimedes and I found ourselves in the undiscovered country. The noise and dizzy dancing of modern life quieted. Sally dragged in cool weather and we opened the windows. We drank coffee brewed over our campfire (gas stove). At sunset, sharing a bottle of Merlot, we watched the pink and blue sky fade. That's when Archimedes reminded me of his hurricane story.
He was 18 and happily working for “good money," $2.20 per hour, on the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, when Camille headed to shore in 1969.
Evacuation activities on the rigs were in turmoil and he substituted in as a welder's helper. With no safety equipment, he suffered flash burn to his eyes. He was blinded, in pain, and exhausted when his crew dropped him off at a coastline hotel to wait for a ride from his friend Vernon Whitfield (his real name), who had been working at the shoreline.
While the hotel owner and all the guests evacuated, Vernon finally arrived, and announced that they had no transportation, his car had given out.
Archimedes, exhausted and in pain, decided to settle in for some rest and to weather Camille at the hotel. But Vernon, typically reserved and unobtrusive, refused to leave without him. After several rounds of arguing, Vernon's dogged determination won out. The two hitchhiked to New Orleans, then caught a bus to Baton Rouge, the entire time Vernon leading Archimedes around by the hand.
Two weeks later, the young men were eager to return to work and retrieve Vernon's car. It took them a full day to reach the coast–– the roads were gone, completely washed out. Barges were wrecked on the beaches. Dead cows were sprawled in the trees. Camille made landfall as a Category 5.
Archimedes looked at me across the twilight of the room, and I knew what he was going to say next. The story never loses its impact for me.
“The hotel I had been planning to stay in was gone," he said. “All that was left was the slab.”
[Julie Nelson is a licensed psychologist, journalist, consultant, and publisher of the Times. She also holds other positions in the community. However, her opinions here are those of her own, and do not represent any group or association. She and the Times receive no compensation other than paid advertising. Email her at drj@drjulienelson.com, ––she welcomes feedback.]
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Originally published: . Volume 11, No. 10. Source pages: 3.
The Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists (LSBEP) is calling for nominations for a seat opening next July, when current Chair, Dr. Amy Henke, will complete her term, in June 2021.
In a message to licensees, Executive Director Jaime Monic wrote that the self- nomination period opens on October 2 and ends on November 1, 2020.
Nominations will be opened at the Board’s Long Range Planning Meeting scheduled for November 19, 2021, a public meeting. A 30 day, electronic election will follow, noted the announcement. The election period will begin following the opening of the nomination forms. Notices will be sent via email, through online voting. The election period will remain open for 30 days.
Those accepted to run must be a U.S. citizen and resident of Louisiana; have rendered service, teaching, training, or research in psychology for at least five years; have held a doctoral degree in psychology from a school or college as defined in La R.S. Title 37, Chapter 28 for a period of five years, and shall be licensed with the LSBEP for a minimum of five years.
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The Louisiana Psychological Association will host Dr. Robert Sternberg at their virtual fall/ winter workshop to be held November 6 and 7 online. Sternberg will talk on his theories about intelligence, creativity, and wisdom.
Dr. Sternberg is a Past President of the American Psychological Association, Professor of Human Development in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University, and Honorary Professor of Psychology at Heidelberg University, Germany.
He was cited in an APA Monitor on Psychology report as one of the top 100 psychologists of the 20th century and in a report in Archives of Scientific Psychology as one of the top 200 psychologists of the modern era. Best
Schools.Org includes him in the list of 50 most influential psychologist worldwide. According to Google Scholar, he has been cited over 187,000 times. He has an h index of 208 and an i10 index of 1112.
Sternberg will review his theory of intelligence and his view that while traditional IQ tests are a measure of analytical and verbal ability, overall human intelligence is broader and more multidimensional. He has postulated that broad-spectrum intelligence includes components or modules of analytical intelligence, creative or synthetic intelligence, and practical intelligence.
"Strengths and weaknesses are in terms of four kinds of skills," he explains, "creative, analytical, practical, and wisdom-based. In particular, the individual needs to be creative in order to generate novel and useful ideas; analytical to ascertain that the ideas he/she has (and that others have) are good ones; practical in order to apply those ideas and convince others of their value; and wise in order to ensure that implementation of the ideas will help ensure a common good through the mediation of positive ethical principles."
Sternberg earned his undergraduate from Yale (summa cum laude) and his PhD from Stanford University. He holds 13 honorary doctorates.
He has won more than two dozen awards for his work, including the James McKeen Cattell Award (1999) and the William James Fellow Award (2017) from APS. He also is the winner of the Grawemeyer Award in Psychology (2018).
Dr. Sternberg is the author of over 1800 publications. His books include Successful intelligence (New York: Plume, 1997),
Wisdom, intelligence, and creativity synthesized, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003), and he is editor for Handbook of wisdom: Psychological perspectives (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005) and Cambridge handbook of intelligence, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011).
A sample of his chapters include, "Foolishness," Handbook of wisdom: Psychological perspectives (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005), "The meaning of wisdom and its development throughout life," in W. Overton (Ed.), Handbook of lifespan human development (New York: Wiley, 2010), and "The theory of successful intelligence," in Cambridge handbook of intelligence (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011).
As well as a Past President of the American Psychological Association, Dr. Sternberg has served as President of the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, the Eastern Psychological Association, and the International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology.
Sternberg also has been president of four divisions of the American Psychological Association and Treasurer of the Association of American Colleges and Universities.
He has authored textbooks in introductory psychology, cognitive psychology, and communication in psychology. Sternberg is a member of the National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
"My theories on intelligence can be divided in two parts," he explains, "the theory of successful intelligence and the theory of practical intelligence––common sense.
"The traditional view of intelligence is that it comprises a single general ability (g), under which are hierarchically arranged successively more specific levels of abilities, such as fluid ability (the ability to think flexibly and in novel ways) and crystallized ability (cumulative knowledge)," he writes.
"The augmented theory of successful intelligence, in contrast, suggests that
intelligence is more complex than this. Successful intelligence is defined as one’s ability to set and accomplish personally meaningful goals in one’s life, given one’s cultural context. A successfully intelligent person accomplishes these goals by figuring out his or her strengths and weaknesses, and then by capitalizing on the strengths and correcting or compensating for the weaknesses," he notes.
"Practical intelligence, or common sense, according to a theory I developed with Richard Wagner, is based in large part upon tacit knowledge, or what one needs to know to succeed in a particular environment that is not explicitly stated and often that is not even verbalized.
"The balance theory defines wisdom as the use of one’s intelligence, creativity, common sense, and knowledge and as mediated by positive ethical values toward the achievement of a common good through a balance among (a) intrapersonal, (b) interpersonal, and (c) extrapersonal interests, over the (a) short and (b) long terms to achieve a balance among (a) adaptation to existing environments, (b) shaping of existing environments, and (c) selection of new environments."
Sternberg has also been the founder, editor-in-chief, associate editor, consulting editor, contributing editor, or member of the editorial of some 50 academic journals. He has occupied a number of provostships, deanships, and other administrative posts, as well as serving for a time as President of the University of Wyoming. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The Louisiana psychological Association (LPA) is the state affiliate of the American psychological association. According to Dr. Amanda Raines, co-chair, the November event will also include a scientific poster session hosting researchers from around the state, and also The Science Café event where psychological scientists describe their laboratories from across Louisiana.
According to organizers, registration will begin in late September for the event. Along with LPA members, registration is open to the public.
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