Thursday, July 17, 2003
The Quest to Protect Medical Privacy Article in the July
Psychiatric Times - "Now that the HIPPA compliance deadline has passed, it seems as though Congress is no closer to reaching a solution to the issue of patient privacy. What should physician groups such as the American Psychiatric Association be doing to support patient privacy, and are they doing enough?"
Health officials decry budget cuts, cuts in services (Colorado) Greeley Tribune story - "Services for indigent people, especially in the areas of mental health and substance abuse, are the most pressing health needs in Weld County. That was the consensus of some of Weld’s medical leaders who met Wednesday, via video conference, with 17 people from other Colorado cities and counties to help specify medical funding needs in the state."
Debate on Patriot Act hits home (Illinois) Column in the
Northbrook Star (Illinois) on a local forum on the Patriot Act, which "is now facing scrutiny from a public which fears the law will prove a greater threat to civil liberties than to terrorists." The story notes that "a core change in the law, and one most troubling to many critics, blurs the distinction between law enforcement investigations and surveillance aimed at foreign agents" - and quotes American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois Communications Director Ed Yohnka that "federal officials can now seek computer records, library, bookstore records, education records, health records, even mental health records without showing probable cause."
Search for wellness goes online York Daily Record (Pennsylvania) story on the latest survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which indicates that eighty percent of adult Internet users in the US have searched online for information about at least one of several major health topics. The survey found that 63 percent — looked for information on a specific disease or medical problem, 47 percent searched for information on a particular medical treatment or procedure. One in three Internet users has looked for prescription or over-the-counter drug information, one in four has looked for health insurance information and one in five has looked for mental health information. On the related page at the Pew web site on on
Internet Health Resources, both
the questionnaire used and the
full report are available in
Adobe Acrobat format.
Report Shows Worrisome Link between Child and Parental Mental Health Problems; Strong Need for Family-Based Treatment University of Washington press release via
PR Newswire - "New research from the UW's Washington Kids Count project shows the emotional well-being of Washington children is strongly linked to their parents' mental health. In turn, parents' mental health is profoundly sensitive to their children's emotions and behavior. According to the
Family Matters: Mental Health of Children and Parents report, elementary school children whose parents experienced symptoms of poor mental health or high parental aggravation (parents who feel stressed or angry toward their children) were almost five times as likely to have severe emotional and behavioral problems as children whose parents reported better mental health or only moderate aggravation. For adolescents, the risk of having severe emotional and behavioral problems was almost three times greater if a parent experienced symptoms of poor mental health or high levels of aggravation. Similarly, parents were about five times more likely to report mental health challenges if they had a child with severe emotional and behavioral problems. ... 'This research confirms what we know from working with children and families on a daily basis: that treating the family as a unit is critical in treating mental health problems,' said Scott Hanauer, director of Children's Home Society of Washington's Cobb Center for Youth..." See also, at the
Human Services Policy Center web site, a
policy brief based on the report and a
bibliography of resources on parent and child mental health available on the web. Both documents are in
Adobe Acrobat format.
US HIV doctors not taking their patients' mental health seriously Story at
Aids Map - "The majority of HIV-positive American patients are not asked about their mental health by their HIV doctor, according to American research presented as a poster at the Second International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment in Paris. The study involved interviews with 153 US HIV specialists and 253 of their patients. Although over 80% of doctors said that their patients’ mental health was a ‘high priority’ when making decisions about treatment, 62% of patients said that they had never been asked questions about their mental health by their doctor."
Brown County Board kills mental health center plan (Wisconsin) Green Bay Press-Gazette story - "The Brown County Board has put a proposed $32 million mental health center on the shelf permanently. After nearly an hour of debate Wednesday, the County Board voted against a proposal from Supervisor Rick Schadewald to hold off on any further decision on a building until early next year when a report comes from County Executive Carol Kelso’s mental health center task force. Instead, by a 24-2 vote, the County Board agreed not to move forward with the $32 million facility that had been approved but tabled last summer."
Officials to vote on mental health program (Pennsylvania) Observer-Reporter story - "Even as state budget constraints threaten to limit mental health services, Greene County will likely offer additional aid without the need for additional taxpayer money. County commissioners will vote on the matter today. Kevin McElligott, assistant administrator of Greene County Human Services, hopes to launch the Open Arms Drop-in Center by the end of August..."
