Mental health has emerged as a pressing concern for young individuals belonging to Generation Z, those born after 1996.

A recent study shed light on their heightened emotional distress levels, revealing a significant disparity when compared with their Baby Boomer counterparts.

Jeff Fladen, director of special projects for the National Alliance on Mental illness-Tennessee, said the group works to enhance the lives of those affected by mental illness. He explains they have a new online portal to provide mental health resources for youths and those in Generation Z.

"One of our newest accomplishments was to develop a website called teenmh.org; M H for mental health," Fladen explained. "It's meant to be a safe place for teenagers to learn about mental health, how to get help for themselves, how to help a friend."

Fladen emphasized it is important for Gen Zer's who are employed to have health insurance including mental health care services, noting it is vital to recognize treatment can begin at any age, as more awareness is being directed toward early detection of mental health conditions.

Fladen emphasized the group's "Ending the Silence" school- and faith-based program pairs young adults with a mental health professional and gather in groups to define what is mental illness to try and reduce the stigma.

"Encourage people to be aware of what is anxiety and depression and eating disorders and more severe things like thoughts of suicide and delusions," Fladen outlined. "And what is mental health about, and to kind of demystify it and destigmatize it."

Fladen pointed out Tennessee has school-based mental health social workers and counselors who provide resources and services to children at their schools. Colleges in the Volunteer State also have mental-health clinics and programs for Gen Z college students.

Dr. Donald Tavakoli, national medical director of behavioral health for UnitedHealthcare, said members of Gen Z are just starting to enter the workforce and want health care at their fingertips, including telehealth, easy access to health data and online payment services. He stressed it is important for Gen Z to access their employer health care plan online to review and understand their coverage.

"Signing in to your health plan or calling the number on the back of your ID card," Tavakoli suggested. "They're often advocates that can describe in detail all of your actual benefits in terms of what you're eligible for, including your prescription benefits, that's going to be important for those that are on medications, there's an array of medications for mental health."

Tavakoli added many Gen Z adults, even up to age 26, can maintain coverage on certain plans through their parents' health insurance, giving them some time to transition.

A Pennsylvania nurse is sounding the alarm about proposed cuts to Medicaid funding now in Congress, cuts she said could jeopardize care for her son as well as millions of Americans.

The House version of the budget reconciliation bill would slash federal Medicaid spending by at least $700 billion to fund a tax-cut extension and other Trump administration priorities.

Jennifer K. Graham Partyka, a registered nurse in Northeast Pennsylvania, joined the "Fair Share for Americans" bus tour in Scranton this week. She said Medicaid is a lifeline for her 28-year-old son living with Crohn's disease.

"We were lucky, because when he was very sick, he qualified for Medicaid," Partyka recounted. "He was fully disabled until he started getting the treatments and started getting better. There's a version of that Medicaid called, like, 'Medicaid for working disabled people.'"

Medicaid covers about one in four Pennsylvanians, including 750,000 with disabilities. Partyka pointed out her son, who works full-time, would not be affected by the work requirements Congress wants to add for Medicaid eligibility. It would mean adults without children would need to work or volunteer 80 hours a month to keep their coverage. Republicans are pushing to pass the reconciliation bill by July 4 but debate could delay it.

Partyka emphasized Medicaid is one of the top five sources of payment to every hospital in the nation. With many already struggling to stay open and fully staffed, she thinks cutting Medicaid would also be disastrous for people's access to care.

"My professional experience with Medicaid is that most of the recipients of Medicaid are children," Partyka stressed. "I'm also going to share that 60% of people in nursing homes list Medicaid as their primary payer."

She added voters ultimately have the power to hold lawmakers accountable for the fallout from major budget decisions, noting many congressional seats will be up for grabs in 2026.


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Diabetes diagnoses are climbing, with about 37,000 adults diagnosed in Indiana every year, and doctors caution they are seeing more cases in younger patients.

Diabetes means the body is unable to maintain a healthy blood glucose or blood sugar level. Type 1 is caused by an autoimmune process affecting the pancreatic cells which make insulin. Type 2 diabetes means the body has reduced sensitivity to the insulin it naturally produces.

Dr. Tamara Hannon, pediatric endocrinologist at Indiana University's Riley Hospital for Children, explained why the body's response function changes.

"The pancreas can stop making enough insulin for a number of reasons," Hannon noted. "Could be genetic, the cells get damaged over time by having to work too hard, an infection, high blood fat levels, or just getting exhausted over time."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts if the rate of new diagnoses in kids and teens continues to climb, Type 1 diabetes cases would increase by about 65 % and Type 2 by about 700% by the year 2060.

There is no cure for Type 1 diabetes but its progression can be delayed with medication. For the more common Type 2, cell damage can be delayed or even reversed through weight loss, exercise, lifestyle changes and medication.

Hannon pointed out with the epidemic of childhood obesity, younger people are developing diseases traditionally diagnosed in adults, in part because of their food and beverage choices and other environmental factors. She added research shows sugary drinks in particular increase the risk for not only Type 2 diabetes, but liver disease and cardiovascular disorders.

"If you think about when you drink sugar versus when you eat foods that contain sugar, there's a different way that is absorbed and metabolized," Hannon observed. "If you drink something that's sugary, the sugar goes into your bloodstream quite quickly."

Hannon stressed the body has to mount a quick metabolic response to a rapid sugar download but the natural sugars in whole foods, like fresh produce and certain vegetables, are not absorbed by the body as quickly. According to the American Diabetes Association, 12%, or about 666,000 Hoosiers, are diabetic.


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The Missouri Foundation for Health has named the first five winners of its new "Spark Prize," an award backing Missourians who are working to promote health equity.

Each winner gets $200,000 in no-strings-attached funding to fuel their vision. Awardees were chosen for their potential to create meaningful, lasting change in the Show-Me State.

Evonnia Woods, a community organizer and movement builder, was one recipient, chosen for her progress and vision to advance racial, reproductive and economic justice across Missouri. She shared why the award from the foundation is unique.

"A lot of foundations, they want to see evidence that you're already doing what you're asking for funds to continue doing," Woods explained. "In this regard, it's like, 'Oh, you believe in me. This is good because I believe in me.'"

Unlike traditional grants, the Spark Prize is flexible and trust-based, given directly to individuals and not organizations. The recipients were selected from more than 170 nominations from diverse backgrounds, regions and sectors across Missouri.

Ciearra "CJ" Walker, founder and CEO of the Community Health Worker Coalition, which has trained more than 300 community health workers in St. Louis and supported more than 600 statewide, was a recipient. Walker, a Detroit transplant, shared the motivation behind starting her organization and her vision for the future.

"What we are hoping to do is to replicate across the country what's possible when we position ourselves," Walker noted. "Not just to extract from our community leaders, but to truly allow them to be architects of the system that they participate in and benefit from them accordingly."

Walker added her coalition also reinvested $30,000 dollars into its members through pay, training and growth support.