Tuesday, May 25, 2004
NAMI Maine Executive Director Wins National AwardStory at the NAMI web site - "Carol Carothers, executive director of NAMI Maine, who led Maine’s initiative to prevent inappropriate incarceration and improve treatment of people with mental illnesses has been awarded $120,000 and the nation’s highest honor for community health leadership. She is one of 10 outstanding individuals from around the United States chosen to receive a Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Program (CHLP) award."
Medscape Journal Scan - Psychiatry, April 2004"Journal Scan is the clinician's guide to the latest clinical research findings in the
American Journal of Psychiatry, The Lancet, Archives of General Psychiatry, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, and
Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology." "med"
Differences in consumer and family caregiver perspectives on mental health services (Australia)Item in CMHA/Ontario's
Mental Health Notes - "Consumers have experienced increased opportunities for participation in both their individual treatment and the broader system, while caregivers say that they are still excluded from participation in their family members’ care, and much less in overall service delivery, according to the results of a qualitative research study published in
Issues in Mental Health Nursing..."
The Feasibility of a Mental Health Curriculum in Elementary School Article in the
Canadian Journal of Psychiatry - "Our project assessed the feasibility of incorporating a mental health curriculum at the elementary level to be taught by schoolteachers. We describe the development, delivery, and short-term impact of this pilot project on children’s knowledge and attitudes. We chose a francophone rural community within a predominantly anglophone province because the community has less access to valid mental health information."
Family Members & Caregivers Resource Center A new web site from CMHA/Ontario "to provide practical information specifically for the loved ones of people experiencing mental illness," including questions and answers, newsletters, readings and information on support groups.
Minister Announces New Guidelines to Assist Police Response to Persons with Mental Illnesses (Canada)Press release at the web site of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police - "Police services across Ontario are getting a new tool that will help front-line officers better respond to incidents involving persons with serious mental illness, Monte Kwinter, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, said today. ... The manual,
Not Just Another Call . . . Police Response to Persons with Mental Illnesses, complements other policy, education and training efforts by police services in Ontario and is a result of various coroner’s inquests recommendations and extensive consultation with those who have first-hand knowledge of the challenges faced by police officers when dealing with mentally ill persons." The full
manual is available in
Adobe Acrobat format.
Generic OxyContin hits streets before storesCNN story - "The generic form of the powerful painkiller OxyContin already is for sale on the black market in Appalachia, even though it's not yet available in all pharmacies. Dan Smoot, chief detective for an anti-drug task force in eastern Kentucky, said undercover narcotics investigators began purchasing the generic drug from street-level dealers earlier this week. Investigators suspect a shipment of the drug was stolen from a storage building in eastern Kentucky..."
Roundtable Examines Strategies to Combat Rising Mental Health Costs in Global Organizations PR Newswire item - "Multinational industry leaders came together recently to discuss best practices for managing the high costs associated with employee behavioral health and wellness on a global basis. FGI, a leading North American-based provider of international employee and employer support services, hosted an exclusive roundtable discussion that included senior level Benefits and Employee Assistance Program (EAP) leaders from global organizations in the pharmaceutical, chemical, financial and technology sectors, including Microsoft and The Dow Chemical Company. The stage for the discussion was set by examining statistics such as "20% of the world's population suffers from mental health conditions" (WHO & ILO), along with implications for employers that include higher costs in health care, disability, reduced productivity, increased absenteeism and staff turnover."
As grant expires, Mental Health Court's fate uncertain (Tennessee)Story in
The Tennessean on Davidson County Mental Health Court - "...the only one of its kind in the state. The court's total annual cost of $106,000 was funded by a $79,000 federal grant and $27,000 from Metro government. But the federal grant is expiring, and court officials are hoping Metro government will pick up the full tab. The court began in January 2001"
