Wednesday, March 26, 2003
Communicating in a Crisis: Risk Communications Guidelines for Public Officials An e-mail from Charles Curie alerted us to this SAMHSA publication - "a brief, readable primer" on communicating effectively during a crisis takes planning; preparation; an understanding of communications protocols, messaging and the media; and the ability to manage the flow of information." The link above leads to a page indexing separate portions of the primer as web pages, but the
whole publication is also available as an
Adobe Acrobat document.
Drug argument embroils psychiatrists, pharm cos. CNN story - "With little fanfare but much passion, a movement has arisen in recent years against what critics regard as a psycho-pharmacetical industry that has slowly undermined the therapeutic foundations of psychiatry with a drug- and profit-driven model for treatment of illnesses, real and -- they say -- imagined."
HHS audit finds lapses (New Hampshire) March 20
Nashua Telegraph story - "Legislative budget auditors painted a picture ... of poor oversight of the delivery of prescription drugs to low-income residents, senior citizens and the disabled under the Medicaid program."
Long-Term Care Financing and the Workforce Crisis A white paper (in
Adobe Acrobat format) from Citizens for Long Term Care which calls for an overhaul of long-term care financing to create a system "designed around the relationship between the long-term care client and his or her worker." CLTC is a coalition of long-term care providers, insurers, and consumer and worker advocates.
Related white papers from the past two years can be downloaded by providing CTLC with your e-mail address.
Magellan's bankruptcy leaves local providers, insurers seeking funds (Pennsylvania) Philadelphia Business Journal story - "Documents contained in last week's bankruptcy filing by Magellan Health Services Inc. show Philadelphia-area insurers and health-care providers are among the mental-health benefits manager's largest debt-holders. Nine of the Maryland company's 40 largest unsecured creditors are either based in the Delaware Valley or have strong ties to it."
Mentally ill need advice of doctors, not bureaucrats (Florida) Opinion column in the
Tallahassee Democrat by Lynne Montgomery-Hernandez is executive director of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill-Florida - "...in an effort to achieve short-term savings, the Agency for Health Care Administration is considering a policy to force people with serious mental illnesses to fail on a less expensive medication before granting them access to a medication their doctor believes would be the most effective. Without access to appropriate medications and treatment, many people with severe mental illnesses will become homeless, commit suicide or end up in hospitals or our jail and prison systems."
New Center to Research Minority Health Care Story in the
Columbia Spectator Online - "The National Institute of Health's National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities recently awarded Columbia University researchers a grant of $6 million over the next five years. With that sum, the University has established the Center for the Health of Urban Minorities. CHUM is one of 10 research centers on minority health and health disparities nationwide that have been established under the NIH's Project EXPORT, which stands for Excellence in Partnerships for Community Outreach, Research on Disparities in Health, and Training."
War coverage takes toll on mental health Press of Atlantic City story - "Ratings for the cable news channels are up. So are the number of people seeking counseling for stress and anxiety. That's no coincidence, according to Mark Besen, of AtlantiCare Behavioral Health, which has seen demand for its services increase by 25 percent since the start of war in Iraq."
