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P U B L I C A T I O N S

PULSE ANNUAL No. 2
January 2003

Recent Trends, Challenges and Issues in Funding Public Mental Health Services in the US
March 2002

PULSE ANNUAL No. 1
October 2001

 

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PULSE is a free service of the Centre for Community Change International, gathering new and noteworthy Internet resources for mental health providers, family members of individuals with mental illness, consumers of mental health services and consumer advocates. PULSE is researched, edited and designed by Bill Davis.



daily link  Tuesday, September 10, 2002


Small Effects Are Not Trivial From a Public Health Perspective
Article by Michael Thase in the September Psychiatric Times - "Psychiatrists must not be too quick to dismiss the real benefits that antidepressants have for those patients for whom they are effective." See also the article by Irving Kirsch in the same issue, Antidepressants Versus Placebos: Meaningful Advantages Are Lacking on how clinical trials have not shown a benefit for antidepressants over placebo in the treatment of depression.  
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Depressive Disorders in Adolescents: Challenges in Diagnosis
Article by Jerry Rushton in the September Psychiatric Times - "Many adolescents experience depressive symptoms and some have episodes that go beyond transient feelings. Risk factors and predictive strategies are thwarted by the power of individual differences. Communicating with patient families; using the available innovative pharmacological, diagnostic and behavioral tools; and individualizing treatment approaches can improve outcomes."  
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Effects Of Current And Future Information Technologies On The Health Care Workforce
Article in the September/October Health Affairs - "Information technologies have the potential to affect the types and distribution of jobs in the health care workforce. Against a background of an explosively growing body of knowledge in the health sciences, current models of clinical decision making by autonomous practitioners, relying upon their memory and personal experience, will be inadequate for effective twenty-first-century health care delivery. The growth of consumerism and the proliferation of Internet-accessible sources of health-related information will modify the traditional roles of provider and patient and will provide opportunities for new kinds of employment in health-related professions."  
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US Steps Up Scrutiny of Health Insurers
Reuters story on comments by a Justice Department official that U.S. antitrust regulators "are stepping up scrutiny of health insurers, concerned that competition in the industry may have been crimped by a recent wave of mergers," and that health insurance companies have become an "area of primary concern" to the department's antitrust division.  
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Moving Consumers to the Head of the Class
Managed Care article - "Creating a customer base that's aware of the link between cost and services has become the next big challenge in managed care. It's a daunting task.... The idea has gotten more play lately for several reasons: reports that health benefit premiums may rise 20 percent in 2003, a turn away from capitation, and a recent ruling by the IRS that makes it financially more advantageous for employees to enroll in defined-contribution systems."  
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Preparing For Sept. 11 Memories And Reactions
A Hartford Courant story on the anticipated impact of media attention to the anniversary of the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington, which notes that in Connecticut, "state mental health officials are preparing to handle calls about psychological reactions including sleeplessness, anger and difficulty handling day-to-day activities. Several state agencies are working together to handle a possible influx of calls this week, and officials said citizens of varying age groups should be counseled differently." For a sampling of the many related stories, see Sept. 11: US changed psychologically (UPI), Mental health experts wary of anniversary (Daily Press, California), Schools' plans to observe 9/11 spark debate (Boston Globe), How Brain, and Spirit, Adapt to a 9/11 World (New York Times - registration required, but free) and the special section of this month's APA Monitor, Sept. 11: A year later, first noted here last Friday.  
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Insurer limits children's drugs (California)
Fresnbo Bee story on Blue Cross of California - "For nearly a year, one of California's largest health plans, concerned about the growing use of psychiatric drugs in preschoolers, has been informing pediatricians that it will block their youngest patients' access to anti-psychotics without a visit to a specialist."  
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Budget ax expected to strike (California)
Mercury News story - "More spending cuts are expected today in Santa Clara County, where supervisors will vote to slash an additional $17.4 million from the county budget....", including job cuts for social workers serving the mentally ill and abused and neglected children.  
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Urgent care for mental health takes pressure off hospital (Minnesota)
Minnesota Star Tribune story on the Diagnostic Evaluation Center, an urgent care program designed by Behavioral Healthcare Providers that provides an immediate psychological evaluation at the Fairview-University Medical Center ER in Minneapolis and also helps those who need outpatient care "navigate a disjointed mental health system."  
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Mental Help Cash Crisis (UK)
Story in The Sentinel on the closing of South Cheshire Community Council due to funding shortages.  
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New mental health clinic to bring services under one roof (South Carolina)
Camden Chronicle Independent story on the Kershaw County Mental Health Clinic, expected to be completed by August 2003, which will "have four quadrants which will house the four divisions of the mental health department: children`s services, living skills, adult services and administration."  
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