Monday, February 09, 2004

Brief Psychotherapies for Depression: Current Status
Current Opinion in Psychiatry article at Medscape that reviews "...recent randomized controlled trials and current research on mediators and moderators of treatment effects in psychotherapies for depression." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Comprehensive Management of Behavioral Disturbances in Dementia
A new CME unit at Medscape - " The average life span has been steadily increasing. With this increase in longevity, we are now confronted with new healthcare problems and challenges. The rate of dementia has been dramatically increasing as the population ages and this trend is expected to continue. In order to address the multifaceted needs and demands of the individual with dementia, a broad-based comprehensive treatment approach must be implemented. The physician must therefore extend the individual care model to a more systemic and broadly based system of care..." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Mentally ill on crusade to overcome powerful opposition (Ohio)
Story in The Advocate - " For nine years, Ohio Rep. Lynn Olman has been on a personal crusade on behalf of the more than 300,000 mentally ill residents of Ohio. The Maumee Republican has lobbied his colleagues and spent more minutes than he can count giving testimony in committee and speeches on the House floor. He has begged and pleaded, offering up his own personal story of how his brother, Kurt, committed suicide 15 years ago after suffering from depression. Olman, the dean of the Republican House caucus, has fought to require insurance companies to offer the same coverage for mental illnesses that they do for physical ones. While Gov. Bob Taft and the Senate may ultimately prevent the bill from getting into law, this past week the House reversed years of opposition and passed the measure..."  
  

Methadone Deaths Not Linked to Misuse of Methadone from Treatment Centers
SAMHSA press release - "Methadone-associated deaths are not being caused primarily by methadone diverted from methadone treatment programs, a panel of experts convened by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), reported. The methadone report was released today by SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment Director, H. Westley Clark, M.D., J.D., M.P.H., at the Sixth International Conference on Pain and Chemical Dependency in New York City. The consensus report, 'Methadone-Associated Mortality, Report of a National Assessment,; concludes that 'although the data remain incomplete, National Assessment meeting participants concurred that methadone tablets and/or diskettes distributed through channels other than opioid treatment programs most likely are the central factor in methadone-associated mortality.'”  
  

Cuts threaten programs for Oregon’s mentally ill
Story in the Statesman Journal - "...all too often, in this state and many others, mental health treatment has been poorly funded, leaving legions of desperately ill people to fend for themselves. Without treatment and support, some end up homeless. Others commit crimes. In the wake of voter rejection of tax-increasing Measure 30, advocates for mentally ill people fear that thousands more Oregonians will lose their crucial mental health assistance, from outpatient treatment to prescription medications. They warn that if that happens, some will be cast adrift or join a growing influx of mentally ill people doing hard time in Oregon prisons and jails..."  
  

Future of mental health discussed (Tennessee)
KnoxNews story - "Almost 130 people - mental health consumers and representatives from about 35 agencies - showed up at a state-sponsored meeting Thursday to "brainstorm" about the future of mental health in Tennessee. The meetings - also held in January in Middle and West Tennessee - are "Phase One" of a two-part plan to develop a consensus about changes the state Department of Mental Health and Development Disabilities should make in the mental health system in the next two years. Information gathered at these forums and at smaller, follow-up meetings scheduled for March and April will be "distilled" into a report and given to state planners..."  
  

Editorial: Insuring mental health (Washington)
An editorial in the Seattle Times - "About 20 percent of Americans struggle with mental illness each year, but fewer than half ever seek treatment, a 1999 U.S. Surgeon General report found. A key reason: The cost to the patient, who usually has to pay more for a mental-health-care visit than for a physician's visit. Many insurance plans have higher copayments for mental-health care and stricter limits for visits or inpatient stays. But supporters of legislative proposals that would require employers' health care to treat mental and physical illness in similar ways say there's a greater cost. Employers pay through lower productivity and increased sick leave. And society pays in criminal-justice and public-health-care costs..."  
  

Lawmakers decry mental health cutback (Vermont)
Brattleboro Reformer story - "Windham County lawmakers blasted a proposed 1 percent increase in the governor's proposed budget for community mental health care on Friday, saying that more funding is needed for facilities like Health Care and Rehabilitation Services in Bellows Falls. ... Earlier this week, officials from HCRS said that they had hoped to be able to offer a 3 percent salary increase to employees next year, but that the governor's 1 percent budget increase would not allow it. Wage increases at HCRS have averaged about 1.5 percent over the past decade, and HCRS officials said they wanted to stave off the high staff turnover, which came to about 20 percent in 2002.  
  

Bill enhances rural mental health options (nebraska)
Story in The Nebraskan - "Study after study has shown the rural communities of Nebraska are lacking mental health professionals. But Sen. Doug Cunningham of Wausa says he has a proposal to help this problem without costing taxpayers a thing. An existing law provides medical and dental students with student loans if they promise to practice in a rural community after graduation. Cunningham wants to amend this law with a bill that would extend the loans to mental health students..."  
  

Mental health services 'racist' (UK)
BBC story - "A draft report into the death of a black man at a secure unit says psychiatric patients from ethnic minorities face institutional racism. ... Campaigners say the report, obtained by the BBC, is the mental health equivalent of the Macpherson Report, which looked at police racism. The Department of Health said there was no place for racism in the NHS. The inquiry team is calling on the government to appoint a black mental health tsar to oversee fairness and improvements in the system."  
  

Mental health drug costs strain budgets (Wisconsin)
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel story - "The rising cost of prescription drugs has some Wisconsin counties struggling to sustain programs that provide free medication to indigent mental health patients. Some mental health advocates worry that patients caught in a financial pinch might stop taking medication needed to control depression, schizophrenia or other illnesses."  
  

Focusing on Maori mental health (New Zealand)
Massey News story (Massey University ) - "A gathering of the nation’s leading researchers and authorities in the child and adolescent Maori mental health workforce will synergise current strengths and identify future directions. Te Rau Tipu, a three-day Maori Mental Health Child and Adolescent Workforce Conference, starts on February 9 at Te Putahi a Toi, Massey University’s School of Maori Studies in Palmerston North. With a focus on child and adolescent mental health, the conference is a valuable opportunity for the Maori workforce to meet and discuss development and issues around collaboration between the various sectors. It is also an opportunity for different groups in the workforce to inform upon workforce development, practice, policy and strategic direction."