Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Housing Alert: Congress and the Bush Administration Consider Major Changes to Section 8 Program
An alert at the NAMI web site - "House and Senate negotiators this week are considering major changes to the Section 8 rental voucher program as part of final deliberations on the FY 2005 budget for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Thse changes could include adoption of major portions of the Bush Administration's “Flexible Voucher” plan to convert Section 8 to a capped block grant program and create disincentives to prevent local housing agencies from targeting rental assistance to extremely low-income households – especially people with mental illnesses who are on Supplemental Security Income (SSI). ... Advocates are strongly encouraged to contact members of Congress and urge them to support provisions in the Senate version of the FY 2005 VA-HUD Appropriations bill..." The page also includes a link to background information.  
  

Debating the Evidence on Gulf War Illnesses
New York Times article - "When a Department of Veterans Affairs panel produced a provocative report last week on the illnesses of veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf war, it stepped into a treacherous territory where patients' suffering meets scientists' skepticism. By dismissing combat stress or other psychological causes and finding a "probable link" between the veterans' health problems and exposures to pesticides, sarin or other chemicals, the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses suggested that it was correcting the record based on the latest scientific evidence. But some outside scientists, including several whose earlier gulf war studies found scant support for the chemical theory, wondered whether the committee was instead stretching thin data to tell veterans what they wanted to hear."  
  

Having a Confidant May Ward Off Depression in Children
Reuters Health story at Yahoo - "Among abused and neglected children who are genetically prone to develop depression, the risk of doing so may be reduced if they have someone to talk to, share good news with and get advice from, new study findings show. ... Researchers have also found that the availability of a caring, stable parent or guardian may positively influence the long-term development of a person with a history of abuse."  
  

Cognition, Quality of Life Improves After ECT for Depression
Reuters Health story at Medscape - "Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is associated with early improvements in mood, quality of life, and global cognition in patients with major depression, according to a research team at Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Although ECT effectively treats major depression, the UK's National Institute for Clinical Excellence recently recommended that the use of ECT be limited until more information regarding its effects on quality of life (QOL) become available. Therefore, lead investigator Dr. W. Vaughn McCall and colleagues examined ECT's antidepressant efficacy, along with the treatment's cognitive side effects and impact on changes in function and QOL. They report their findings in the November issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry." "med"  
  

Mental health receives high marks in survey (Michigan)
Holland Sentinel story - "Community Mental Health of Ottawa County has received high marks from the people who use its services. A consumer survey conducted at each of the department's regional offices in October showed a high level of satisfaction... Community Mental Health has taken the satisfaction surveys twice a year at its offices for several years. The questionnaires are offered to all consumers."  
  

Board starts public-relations work on mental health tax (Missouri)
Columbia Daily Tribune story - "When the Boone County Mental Health Board rallied to pass a tax to improve care in the mid-1990s, it failed largely because members didn’t explain how the money would be spent. Today’s board of trustees says the need for more money to improve and add mental health services is greater than ever as the county’s population grows and state funding for mental health declines, and members vowed not to repeat the mistake."  
  

King's Fund £1 million boost for mental health care (UK)
Medical News Today story - "Mental health hospital facilities across England are to receive a £1 million funding boost as part of the King's Fund's Enhancing the Healing Environment scheme. Projects will take place in each of the 23 strategic health authorities outside London and are aimed at improving the mental health care environment for both patients and staff."  
  

St. Charles gets mental-health grant (Oregon)
Story in the Bend Bulletin - "The St. Charles Foundation has received a $431,302 federal grant to provide mental health care to rural communities over a new teleconferencing network based in Bend. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Oregon Rural Development Director Lynn Schoessler formally awarded the grant to the foundation Monday at St. Charles Medical Center-Bend. The foundation is the hospital's fund-raising arm. St. Charles Leader/Manager for Behavioral Health Services Robin Henderson said the new system will give rural communities in Central and Eastern Oregon access to a variety of medical services currently only available in Bend or on other side of the Cascades."  
  

Mental Health Care Emergency Looms, Northern Virginia Officials Warn
Washington Post story - "Four psychiatric wards in Northern Virginia have closed recently or will be shut down soon, eliminating 100 beds and threatening to create a mental health care crisis, health officials say. The closures at four suburban hospitals are the result of national trends in health care economics, but the fallout could mean longer waits in emergency rooms, more mentally ill patients in jails and fewer options for very troubled -- and occasionally dangerous -- people, mental health advocates say." [Viewing Washington Post stories requires registration, which is free.]  
  

Mental health training lauded (Ohio)
Cincinnati Post story - "Cincinnati officials are hailing as a success the police department's training program to help officers deal with suspects who have mental health problems. Launched two years ago as part of a settlement with the U.S Justice Department on reforming police practices, the program's goal was to use mental health case workers to train 90 officers on how to deal with people who are mentally impaired and to defuse potentially violent situations. "  
  

Codey creates panel to study mental health system (New Jersey)
Story in the Courier-Post Online - "In his first day of a 14-month temporary term, acting Gov. Richard J. Codey turned his newfound gubernatorial power Tuesday toward his longtime passion for helping the mentally ill by pushing for improvements to the state care system. 'The role of government at its core is to help people,' Codey said at a news conference at the State House, several hours after joining patients at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in Parsippany for breakfast. 'And nowhere is the need for help more prevalent than in the area of mental health,' Codey said before signing an executive order that creates a task force to study New Jersey's mental health system, his first official action as acting governor. Mental health advocates heartily praised Codey's commitment to their cause, which they said has long been ignored. The task force will examine issues ranging from housing to community programs to construction at state hospitals in its report due March 31." See also The new mental health task force in the Newark Star Ledger and Acting Governor Has an Ambitious Plan of Action in the New York Times [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].