Kevin Ridder

Nov 7, 2024 | healthjournalism.org | Kevin Ridder

Gun violence — with firearm suicide outranking homicide — continues to be the No. 1 cause of death for children and teens in the U.S., said KFF Health News’ Cara Anthony at AHCJ’s summit on mental and behavioral health. More than 10,000 youth from 1 to 24 years old will die by firearms every year, according to panelist Lois Lee, M.D., MPH, with Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. That’s roughly equivalent to one full school bus every three days.

Nov 7, 2024 | healthjournalism.org | Kevin Ridder

What is Congress likely to do to address substance misuse policy? That was the question during a fall summit session on the topic. Regina LaBelle with Georgetown University Law Center said she doubted Congress would accomplish anything new given the legislative body’s recent track record for doing nothing. “It would be commendable if they were able to get a budget passed,” she said.

Nov 7, 2024 | healthjournalism.org | Kevin Ridder

Alcohol misuse accounts for more than 4 million emergency department visits and nearly 2 million hospitalizations every year. Patricia Powell, deputy director of the federal National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, shared that startling data during a session at AHCJ’s October 2024 summit on mental and behavioral health, Powell and other panelists highlighted the need for journalists to cover alcohol misuse and alcohol use disorder the way they’ve covered the opioid crisis.

Nov 7, 2024 | healthjournalism.org | Kevin Ridder

Across the country, cities are rolling out crisis response teams — some with and some without law enforcement involvement — to respond to mental and behavioral health emergencies. During a session at AHCJ’s 2024 fall summit in Washington, D.C., panelists discussed the importance of filling gaps in the crisis care continuum and how some cities are approaching the issue. What is the crisis care continuum?

Sep 14, 2024 | benryan.substack.com | Benjamin Ryan |Erica Tricarico |Kevin Ridder |Katherine Reed

As veteran journalist and Blocked and Reported podcast host Jesse Singalpointed out in detail on Friday on X, a new primer on reporting about transgender health care published by the Association of Health Care Journalists on Sept. 12 is a highly misleading and at times outright false document. I will second Singal to say it is a shame, to say the least, that the AHCJ is not promoting circumspect and scientifically precise reporting on this crucial issue.