Tuesday, August 05, 2003
Evidence Concerning the Effectiveness of Psychotherapies With Children and Adolescents Current Opinion in Psychiatry article at
Medscape - "Psychotherapies play an important role in the treatment of psychopathological disorders in children and adolescents. While there is no doubt that, in principle, psychotherapy can be effective in this age group, this does not apply to all psychotherapeutic interventions. It is therefore essential to find out which psychotherapies are effective in which patients and under which conditions. Recent studies investigating this question have focused on empirically supported psychotherapeutic treatments carried out in efficacy and effectiveness studies. A selection of these studies are discussed in this review." [Viewing
Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].
Mental health crisis looms As funding dwindles, counties struggle to bring services to troubled poor (California) Sacramento Bee story reprinted at the NAMI web site - "The scarcity of resources is not new. But as the state economy continues to slump and counties increasingly bear the responsibility for providing state- and federally mandated services, officials say it is about to get worse. Across the state, county mental health agencies are being forced to cut or significantly reduce services for the poor mentally ill. Advocates predict that, as staff and services are reduced, more of the mentally ill will become homeless, land in prison or commit suicide."
A Fight for Free Access To Medical Research Washington Post story on the Public Library of Science. The organization, "founded by a Nobel Prize-winning biologist and two colleagues, is plotting the overthrow of the system by which scientific results are made known to the world -- a $9 billion publishing juggernaut with subscription charges that range into thousands of dollars per year. In its place the organization is constructing a system that would put scientific findings on the Web -- for free."
Changes Sought at Hospitals for Veterans New York Times story - "The Department of Veterans Affairs announced plans today to close seven hospitals, open others and refocus its health care services as part of a major restructuring. The plan includes major changes at 13 facilities...." [Viewing
New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].
High Percentage Of Youth In The U.S. Report Symptoms Of Posttraumatic Stress And Other Disorders APA press release reprinted at
InteliHealth - "The carefree days of youth apparently arent so carefree anymore - if they ever were - according to the results of a new study of Americas adolescents. The study, involving 4,023 youth (ages 12-17) interviewed by telephone, finds that roughly 16 percent of boys and 19 percent of girls met the criteria for at least one of the following diagnosis: posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive episode and substance abuse/dependence. The findings appear in the August issue of the
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association."
Magellan Health Services Develops Innovative School Program (Maryland) Business Wire story - "Magellan Health Services recently completed a communication and educational outreach program with Pattonville High School, a campus serving 2,000 students in Maryland Heights, Mo. The Pattonville High School Self-Esteem Campaign was founded on the premise that teenagers' self-esteem and resilience play significant roles in coping with serious issues such as substance abuse, eating disorders, depression, suicide and attention deficit/attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADD/ADHD). The five-month long campaign used a combination of student forums, a self-assessment survey, a home mailing, faculty break-out sessions, and communication materials to address issues related to teenagers' self-esteem and self-confidence."
Program offers mental-health alternative (New Jersey) Brief
Atlantic County News story - "Three levels of government and three local service agencies came together at the Atlantic City Rescue Mission Monday to officially open a program designed to give people with mental illnesses an alternative to going to state hospitals."
Center offers mentally ill people hope (Michigan) Column in the
Detroit Free Press by Desiree Cooper on New Center Community Mental Health Services. "one of six mental health organizations nationally to lead a new education program to help chronically mentally ill patients understand and control the symptoms of their disease."
Did Medicaid take all the money? (Massachusetts) Opinion column by John E. McDonough in the
Boston Globe - "There's a myth around town that the Massachusetts Legislature restored Medicaid coverage for 36,000 desperately low-income people in the 2004 state budget by slashing the rest of state government. On the surface, the evidence is compelling. ... Medicaid spending increases have not had the damaging effects on other state spending that a simple analysis suggests. New federal dollars, restructuring state services to maximize federal revenues, and broader health spending trends are all parts of the real story. .... Rather than looking at which program ''took the money,'' we need to confront how our shrinking fiscal capacity undermines the values we all share."
Senate plans hearings on mental health care (Michigan) Brief story in the
Detroit News - "The state Senate on Monday announced public hearings to help secure adequate care for the mentally ill and to determine if state dollars are properly spent in the mental health care system. Citing a series of reports last month in
The Detroit News, Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema, R-Wyoming, asked the chairs of two health committees to hold joint hearings. They will begin the week of Sept. 15. Recommendations on policy and programs are to be delivered to the full Senate by the end of the year."
