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Officials Urge Residents To Check Smoke Detectors During Fire Prevention Week

Health and safety agencies are urging West Virginians to keep their home’s smoke detectors in good working condition during this year’s annual Fire Prevention Week.

Gov. Jim Justice issued a proclamation that West Virginia is observing Fire Prevention Week to raise awareness about fire safety.

The Department of Health and the Office of the State Fire Marshall encourage West Virginians to prioritize smoke alarm safety by implementing safety checks into their daily routines.

Smoke detectors should be located on each level of the home and outside all bedrooms.

Alarms should be tested monthly and the batteries should be changed annually. Smoke detectors should be replaced every 10 years.

Never disable an active smoke alarm. Clean cobwebs and dust from around alarms to avoid chirping or ‘nuisance alarms.’

For more Fire Prevention Week resources visit the American Red Cross website or contact your local fire station.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.

Better Family, Prenatal Care Key To Fighting Addiction, Says W.Va. Drug Control Director

Nearly two months after stepping into his role as director of the West Virginia Office of Drug Control Policy (ODCP), Stephen Loyd has outlined some of his priorities for addressing addiction in the state. Key among them is bolstering family and prenatal health care.

Loyd, a physician and addiction specialist, came to the Mountain State by way of Tennessee in August. He addressed members of the state’s Joint Committee on Children and Families Sunday during the West Virginia Legislature’s interim session.

From practicing medicine and navigating substance use disorder himself, Loyd said he came to recognize the importance of addressing addiction and its risk factors on the family level.

“The first step of prevention for substance use disorder is treatment of mom and dad, because it’s about the household that the kid was raised in,” he said.

Preventing substance use disorder can be easier than providing treatment retroactively, according to Loyd. This means the sooner in a patient’s medical journey that health care providers address addiction, the better.

In part, Loyd said this means helping residents access mental health resources, because unaddressed mental health needs can contribute to drug usage.

It also means ensuring health care providers can identify signs of substance use disorder and provide effective treatment, he said. Loyd added that a coordinated treatment system must help residents regardless of how they come to seek help — be it through law enforcement, family referral or their own volition.

“Building a system that, no matter where you touch this thing, you get the help that’s right for you,” he said. “That’s the goal.”

He said adults with substance use disorder are more likely to experience unexpected pregnancies, which could result in children being born with neonatal abstinence syndrome, a form of dependency on drugs among children exposed to them in the womb.

To address this, he advocated for increasing addiction support in prenatal health care settings, and providing parents access to “long-action contraception” like intrauterine devices, or IUDs.

IUDs are T-shaped plastic devices that can be inserted into the uterus to prevent pregnancy.

Most West Virginia health insurance carriers reimburse for IUDs, according to Loyd. But health care providers should ensure parents are aware that IUDs are an option, and that they remain widely accessible, he said. That way, residents can better plan for the possibility of parenthood.

“If we’re going to prevent babies being born drug dependent, we’ve got to have access to long-action contraception,” he said.

Loyd said he is “already encouraged” by the programs that exist in West Virginia to help families and expectant parents. But reinforcing resources related to addiction and health care more broadly can reduce family exposure to risk factors and prevent substance use disorder.

“The challenge now is: How do we increase the utilization?” Loyd said. “How do we decrease the stigma around people with substance use disorder so they’ll step out and get help?”

WVSOM Recognized By CDC For Pandemic Solutions

The West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine was recognized in a CDC report that examines how state and county-level agencies used COVID-19 grants.

The West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) was recognized in a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that examines how state and county-level agencies used the center’s 2021 COVID-19 health disparities grants.

Out of 108 grant awards, totaling $2.25 billion, Greenbrier County’s development of mobile testing units and no-cost medical transportation during the COVID-19 pandemic was one of three programs in the U.S. highlighted in the CDC’s report on rural health access provided by 2021 grants.

Greenbrier County is the second largest county in the state with a population of about 32,400 spread across 1,019 square miles of rural land.

The county also saw one of the state’s highest COVID-19 infection rates with hospitals reaching capacity and health department resources stretched thin.

“A grant like this allows you to bring people in right when COVID-19 is at its worst, and you can’t get out to see folks, but they can now get in to see you and get treatment,” said Don Smith, WVSOM’s communications director. “That made all the difference.”

The CDC’s health disparities grants were designed to be flexible, allowing local health departments to address pandemic-related challenges by building systems that continue to address ongoing health disparities.

“We don’t take solutions to the communities,” Smith said. “We go to the communities and find the problems, and then this grant allowed the flexibility. It didn’t say, ‘You have to do this.’ It said, ‘What are the problems in your community, and how can you fix them?’”

WVSOM and its partners used the grant to develop a solution to the county’s transportation barriers to care.

WVSOM partnered with the Mountain Transit Authority (MTA), Greenbrier County Health Department and Greenbrier County Homeland Security to ease access to reliable transportation and community-located testing services.

“By providing this grant and the flexibility and allowing healthcare professionals in the communities to recognize the problem and then address the problem with a creative solution works,” Smith said. “I think that’s really the success story here, and that everyone in the community, our partners willing to collaborate, work together on a solution, and everyone coming to the table for the greater good.”

The medical transportation program in Greenbrier County is no longer operational.

“The grant did expire, but I think that’s one of the reasons for this report,” Smith said. “They wanted to gather the data, look at it, and see what worked. I think that’s one of the reasons why our program was selected as one of three in the country because they said, ‘This is something that can address problems in the future.’”

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.

Medically Assisted Death Is On W.Va.’s Ballot This November

On the ballot in November, West Virginia voters will decide whether or not to change the state’s constitution to prohibit medically assisted suicide.

Updated on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024 at 9:40 a.m.

This November, West Virginia voters will decide whether or not to change the state’s constitution to prohibit medically assisted suicide.

While West Virginia’s Amendment 1 lumps “the practice of medically assisted suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing of a person” together, they are different practices.

Assisted dying can take two forms: euthanasia or assisted suicide.

Euthanasia requires a physician to take an action to cause a patient’s death, typically a form of lethal injection. Euthanasia is not legal in the U.S., with the exception of capital punishment in the 27 U.S. states that allow the death penalty.

For an assisted suicide, a physician will prescribe a lethal prescription for the patient to self-administer whenever and wherever they choose.

Assisted suicide is legal in ten states and the District of Columbia. Internationally, the practice is legal in several European countries, Canada, Columbia and parts of Australia.

Requirements differ, but generally, individuals must have a terminal illness as well as a prognosis of six months or less to live to be eligible.

A 2022 study found 74 percent of medically assisted deaths in the U.S. had a diagnosis of cancer and 87 percent were enrolled in hospice or palliative care.

Assisted suicide is already illegal in West Virginia, but Del. Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock, believes the prohibition of the practice should be enshrined in the constitution of the state.

“Medically assisted suicide and euthanasia against men and women is storming the Western world, all we have to do is take a look at northern Europe, Canada and the 10 other states where it’s already legal,” McGeehan said. “It’s growing at an exponential rate, and it’s really a horde nihilistic phenomenon that most people aren’t aware of yet, and that was one of the reasons, because we really need to secure our state against this going forward in the future.”

During the regular session of the legislature, McGeehan, a sponsor of the resolution that turned into Amendment 1, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 4 that he was inspired to push for this constitutional prohibition after a constituent called and asked him to legalize medically assisted suicide in West Virginia.

McGeehan testified that he declined the request, but maintained correspondence with the constituent and tried to convince them not to travel to another state to carry out a medically assisted suicide.

Rusty Williams, the ACLU of West Virginia’s interim advocacy director, takes issue with McGeehan’s response to his constituent.

“The important part of the conversation is [that] our lawmakers are, they’re running counter to what we want,” Williams said.

The constituent eventually traveled to Oregon and passed away, spurring McGeehan into action.

Some lawmakers were concerned the resolution might prohibit capital punishment should it become legal in West Virginia. Therefore, the resolution was amended to include the caveat, “Nothing in this section prevents the State from providing capital punishment.”

When asked by lawmakers on the committee why he wanted to enshrine this prohibition into law, McGeehan said he and his fellow lawmakers will not always be in power, and he wants to prevent future lawmakers from legalizing the practice.

“The thought process is that we’re not always going to be here, and I don’t want to see in 10 years, suddenly this culture invade West Virginia like it has some of our border states already,” McGeehan testified.

On July 26, the ACLU of West Virginia published its opposition to Amendment 1, calling it unnecessary. Williams finds the proposed amendment deeply concerning.

“Our constitution exists to protect and expand rights, and I find it incredibly concerning that this is to take away a future right,” Williams said. “Medical aid in dying is already illegal in West Virginia. There’s already a statutory prohibition here. So enshrining it into the constitution, to me, runs counter to why the constitution exists in the first place.”

Williams said popular opinion in West Virginia might change, as it has nationally. A 2018 Gallop poll found that 72 percent of Americans support allowing terminally ill people to seek medical assistance in ending their own lives.

“A no vote doesn’t make any immediate changes to the lives of patients,” Williams said. “They’re still not going to be able to access this right because of the statutory prohibition. A yes vote just means that we are going to make it harder for legislatures down the road to again, if the will of the people changes.”

On Sept. 16, the League of Women Voters of West Virginia released a statement urging voters to reject Amendment 1.

“West Virginia already has laws on the books having to do with this,” said Judy Ball, chair of the League’s Legislative Action Workgroup. “This is not something new. That’s one of the problems with this amendment is it deals with issues that we already have dealt with in statute, and then it’s written in extremely vague terms, possibly to confuse the voter.”

Ball also said the league opposes Amendment 1 as it relates to capital punishment.

“The other thing is this amendment includes this reference to the death penalty, another thing that’s already in West Virginia law,” Ball said. “It was prohibited by West Virginia law going back to 1965, the league also opposes the death penalty. Why that’s in here? I have no idea, but it suggests that, to me, it suggests that what’s written into this amendment isn’t really what it’s about.”

Ball said she believes Amendment 1 is about control and an attempt by the government to intervene in decisions that should be personal.

“The legislature wants the government to control your life, to practice medicine without a license, and to intervene in places they don’t belong,” Ball said.

McGeehan believes that medically assisted suicide creates a setting where pressure is placed upon the elderly and disabled to see themselves as a burden.

“We want to send a signal to the rest of the country that we’re not going to stand for this nihilism and this dystopian nightmare that’s rapidly spreading across our country to save health care costs by killing the elderly, and we want to ensure that it never gains a foothold here in our state in the future, we want to send a signal that this should be the gold standard,” McGeehan said.

Election Day is November 5th.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated to include the source for McGeehan’s statement about saving health care costs.

Anti-Tobacco Advocates Disappointed With Lack Of Legislative Consideration

Advocates say they are disappointed lawmakers did not consider increasing funding for tobacco prevention during the second special session of the legislature.

West Virginia has the highest rate of smokers in the U.S. and tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of cancer and death from cancer in the state.

At least 21 percent of adults and 27 percent of high school students in the state use tobacco products, according to the American Lung Association’s most recent data.

Over the summer, tobacco prevention and cessation advocates met with lawmakers from both chambers in an attempt to amplify the state’s need for funding to curb West Virginia’s nation-leading smoking rates.

In a letter dated July 17, 2024, the West Virginia State Medical Association, the West Virginia Dental Association, the West Virginia Hospital Association and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), asked Gov. Jim Justice to include $4.5 million in tobacco prevention and cessation funding in his call for a special legislative session.

“We’re actually using a proposal for $4.5 million of additional funding, and that’s something that was endorsed by the governor’s [tobacco] task force back late last year,” Doug Hogan, the government relations director for ACS CAN in West Virginia, said. “It was presented in committee, and we feel that would be a very good first step in getting some additional funds for tobacco prevention here in the state.”

However, when the state’s second call for a special session of the year was announced, there was no mention of tobacco cessation funding.

Hogan said his organization delivered petitions to state officials with more than 900 signatures from West Virginians in all 55 counties, asking lawmakers to increase funding to West Virginia’s Division of Tobacco Prevention.

“Over the last several months, we have initiated several tactics trying to amplify the message that additional tobacco prevention funding is urgently needed here in West Virginia,” Hogan said.

Sen. Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, brought the petition to the Senate floor where it was referred to the Committee on Health and Human Resources.

West Virginia receives more than $232.6 million in tobacco revenue annually from tobacco settlement payments and taxes combined but invests less than one percent of that total, $451,000, in tobacco prevention and cessation programs.

“West Virginia ranks 50th in the country, dead last when you compare the amount of investment in tobacco prevention that West Virginia has compared to other states in the country,” Hogan said. “While West Virginia ranks dead last, 50th in the country, when you compare the investment level here to the investment of tobacco prevention programs in other states, West Virginia has, in return, the largest, the highest usage rates when it comes to children and also when it comes to adults.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that West Virginia spend $24.7 million annually to combat the health and economic consequences of tobacco use.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.

Free Mental Health Resources Online For All Students, Parents In W.Va.

According to the CDC, adolescent mental health in the U.S. was worsening before the COVID-19 pandemic, and now, the nation’s youth is experiencing a mental health crisis.

At the beginning of the year, West Virginia’s Department of Education partnered with the Cook Center for Human Connection to offer free online mental health resources to students and their parents. The pilot project began in just five counties but education officials were so impressed with the feedback they received that in May they expanded the program to include all of West Virginia’s 55 counties.

The U.S. Surgeon General has issued multiple advisories in recent years, sounding the alarm on the mental health of the nation’s children.

In 2021, 42 percent of high school students surveyed by the CDC reported feeling sad and hopeless. A decade ago, that figure was 28 percent.

One 2021 study found the number of youth experiencing depression and anxiety has doubled since the public health emergency began.

“We are in a youth mental health crisis in the country, the Surgeon General has identified that, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Foundation for Children’s Hospitals,” said Anne Brown, president and CEO of the Cook Center for Human Connection. “So that’s not a surprise, but there are certain states that have extra challenges.”

The Cook Center for Human Connection is a national organization working to end suicide that operates parentguidance.org.

In West Virginia, from November 2021 to October 2022, more than 3,000 children visited WVU Medicine emergency rooms for mental health care. According to WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital in 2019, that number was about 2,000 children.

A 2021 study by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) found that 708,000 people in West Virginia live in a community that does not have enough mental health professionals.

“I lived that, I know what that feels like to have a child who’s struggling and truly not have anybody that can see them,” Brown said. “I was three, six or 12 months away from services, whether I wanted a counselor, a therapist, or if I wanted a psychiatrist, there just wasn’t anybody to help. And so I had to drive these long distances, which is financially difficult, as well as time.”

NAMI also found that more than 55 percent of West Virginians aged 12 to 17 who have depression did not receive any care in the last year.

“This group of parents and children are struggling with mental health on a level that we’ve never seen before as a nation, and so the families don’t know exactly where to turn,” Brown said. “The reality is that 80 percent of families rely first on schools for their child’s mental health.”

The National Association of School Psychologists recommends a ratio of one school psychologist per 500 students. The association estimates the national ratio is one school psychologist per 1,127 students.

“In a school setting, the school psychologist really is the person who helps support and intervene in those situations for families and for children,” Brown said.

Michele Blatt, state superintendent of West Virginia Schools said in 2023, West Virginia’s school psychologist-to-student ratio was one per 1,750 students. She said the need for youth mental health services has never been greater.

“When we think about the rural areas of our state that do not have access to the mental health providers that you might see in some of our larger cities, then it’s just critical that we find a way to be able to support all of our families and all of our students, regardless of where they live in our state,” Blatt said.

Five West Virginia counties participate in Project AWARE, a 2020 to 2025 federally funded initiative to expand school-based mental health services in West Virginia. Blatt said she heard feedback that there wasn’t enough support for parents in the program, so she started looking for something to fill the gaps.

“We started investigating and looking around the various programs and was introduced to the Cook Center and their parentguidance.org opportunity that they had, and got positive feedback when they connected us with some other areas that were using it and so we decided to pilot it,” Blatt said.

The pilot began in Cabell, Clay, Harrison, Logan, Wirt counties, allowing students, parents and school personnel to log into parentguidance.org and peruse the catalog of courses 24/7 for free.

“The counties and the feedback we were getting was that it was received very positively,” Blatt said. “It was easy to use. It wasn’t hard for parents to log into the system and to gain access. And just having something that our schools could provide to parents was really starting to make an impact.”

After the success of the pilot, the West Virginia Department of Education entered a contract with the Cook Center to make ParentGuidance.org available to families at no cost to the user.

According to a May press release, across the country, 361 districts and 6,308 schools are using the organization’s model offering more than 3.3 million families in 46 states access to services.

“We’re paying about $3 million for a three-year contract for these services,” Blatt said. “For all parents, grandparents, foster parents, guardians of our students, and we’re utilizing the COVID relief funding that we received from the federal government to cover this contract at this time.”

While these free resources are available to all students, parents and school staff, they are online resources and not all West Virginians have access to reliable internet.

A 2020 survey conducted by WVU found that 83 percent of West Virginians have access to the internet in their homes. Of those reporting they do not have access to the internet in their homes, 33 percent reported accessing the internet through an internet-enabled mobile device like a smartphone or tablet.

That survey also found, in West Virginia, those with low incomes and those with lower educational attainment have the lowest rates of access to the internet.

Older residents also reported lower rates of access and ability to use the internet, which could be an issue for some grandfamilies trying to access these mental health resources.

Blatt says West Virginia’s internet connectivity was first addressed by the Department of Education when the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to close and instruction to be conducted virtually.

“Most instruction went virtual at that time, we did some partnerships and actually put in public internet access points in the parking lots of every public school, library, higher education facility, and even our National Guard armories around the state,” Blatt said.

Blatt said many of these public internet access points are still operational, but if a parent or guardian doesn’t have access to the internet, they can contact their school administrator, counselor or teacher.

“There’s a lot of programs out there that will provide a hotspot for our families or some type of connectivity so that they can utilize the resources whether it’s our one on one computing programs with our students, or if it’s like parentguidance.org,” Blatt said.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.