Tuesday, January 21, 2003

Medscape Newsletters
Overview of newsletters available from Medscape in their "Psychiatry and Mental Health" section. These are all subscription (fee-based) newsletters, though a selection of articles is routinely made available for free (links to which appear often in PULSE). You can click on the title of any of the newsletters to go to an index of free articles available from the past year, though as with all Medscape resources, viewing these pages requires registration, which is free - and highly recommended. PULSE subscribers may be especially interested in The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter, Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly, The Brown University Digest of Addiction Theory & Application and Mental Health Weekly.  
  

Will Buprenorphine Usher in New Era for Opiate Treatment? Article in Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly at Medscape on the FDA's approval of buprenorphine, which "means that opiate-dependent patients for the first time will be able to access treatment in office-based settings with primary care physicians using a narcotic-based, maintenance therapy drug." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Recovery: The Emergence of New Life from the Depths of Winter
The current issue of the fine Networks newsletter from the Canadian Mental Health Association, featuring four articles - Recovery: A Changing Environment ("The challenge to the mental health field is to support consumers by providing an environment that will.... enable them to live a satisfying, hopeful and contributing life"), Defining Recovery ("What do consumers expect and what is expected of mental health service providers when we talk about recovery?"), The Road to Recovery: A Personal Journey by Jean Johnson, and Shaping a Recovery Philosophy, based on the recovery philosophy "being the central testing point and guideline for proposals for change" adopted by the nine regional Mental Health Implementation Task Forces in Ontario. (Adobe Acrobat format)  
  

Making Gains: Research, Recovery and Renewal in Mental Health and Addictions
Information at the CAMH web site on a conference to be held September 28 - October 1 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. See also the call for papers and presentations (Acrobat format).  
  

CAMH Foundation: 2003 Courage to Come Back Awards
Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Foundation is seeking nominations (due by February 7) for their annual awards honoring "extraordinary people who have overcome the challenges of living with addiction and/or mental illness and have chosen to use their experience to contribute to the community."  
  

Psychiatric unit closing prompts crisis fears (Florida)
Herald Tribune story - "Less than two weeks from the close of the psychiatric unit at Bon Secours-Venice Hospital, some residents and professionals fear the move will profoundly stress an already over-taxed regional mental health-care system."  
  

Mental health plans criticised (New Zealand)
January 16 story at Stuff - "Two non-government mental health groups are skeptical of plans for a new management position to co-ordinate Auckland's mental health services. The groups were responding to the Mental Health Commission's review of services in Auckland, released last month."  
  

Medicaid, mental health funding boosted (Nevada)
A headline we don't see often these days, from the Reno Gazette-Journal's story on Gov. Kenny Guinn's proposals to allocate additional funds to serve new Medicaid recipients, to expand Medicaid eligibility, and to expand mental health facilities and services.