Tuesday, January 18, 2005

By Any Other Name: The Many Iterations of Patient Advocate in Clinical Research   IRB: Ethics & Human Research story at Medscape - " A satisfactory informed consent process for clinical research can be elusive under the best of circumstances. Prospective enrollees may be limited in their understanding of the process by poor education or serious illness. Conflicts of interest may bias investigators' presentations of information. Time constraints and a host of other factors can likewise intrude. In view of such challenges, some observers have proposed that, at least for some kinds of research, prospective enrollees should have someone - a 'patient advocate' or 'research subject advocate' - to enhance the process." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Psychotherapy helps anxiety disorder   UPI story at PsycPORT - "German researchers report psychotherapy can help patients who have generalized anxiety disorder, which commonly is treated with medication. A study published in the January edition of the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics finds chronic, constant worry or generalized anxiety, one of the most common mental disorders, usually is treated by using antidepressants and benzodiazepines, which include Xanax and Valium..."  
  

Pataki's proposed budget to put cap on Medicaid (New York)   Albany Times-Union story - "Gov. George Pataki today will unveil a roughly $105 billion budget with a conditional promise to cap exploding county Medicaid expenses. ... Pataki revealed perhaps his biggest and most controversial initiative Monday -- the plan to cap county Medicaid costs. The $7 billion tab has forced local governments to raise property taxes by double-digit rates for years. The cap is contingent on $1.5 billion in health care cuts -- $1.1 billion for the state and the rest for counties -- by taxing hospitals and nursing homes, reducing reimbursement rates and creating other efficiencies in the more than $44 billion Medicaid program. ... The governor also promises to take over county costs for Family Health Plus, the state health insurance program for working poor, and pare the program by abolishing coverage of adult dentist office treatments, mental health, podiatry and private nursing services."  
  

Judge blasts jailing of psychiatric patient (Canada)   Globe and Mail story - "The head of Ontario's mental-health review board expressed shock yesterday that a dangerous psychiatric patient has been improperly kept in jail for six years, instead of receiving hospital treatment that the board ordered for him. The patient -- a young man with an extraordinary history of violence -- has been kept behind bars in total seclusion. He has no access to books, television or any other form of stimulation, and gets one brief visit a week to an exercise yard."  
  

A special kind of nightspot (Illinois)   Chicago Tribune story - "At first glance, Lockport's Roxy seems like a typical nightclub. But it's not--all of Roxy's customers are mentally ill, and many also are developmentally disabled. As such, the bottles of sparkling grape juice behind the bar are the closest thing to alcohol. Instead of money, clients use tickets to order soft drinks, coffee and chips. ... Leaders of Lockport's Trinity Social Services seized the chance in 1995 to buy the abandoned movie theater and former restaurant because they thought it would be the perfect setting for social gatherings their clients could not get elsewhere without facing ridicule and stares. But in opening the club, Trinity has created what many in the mental health community say is a model for cutting-edge mental health services. The intimate atmosphere with the frequent holiday parties, birthday nights and special occasions has become the family life the Trinity clients lost long ago when mental illness tore apart their lives." [Viewing Chicago Tribune resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

More trusts seek flagship status (UK)   BBC story - "Another 32 NHS trusts in England have been given the go ahead to apply for foundation status. For the first time they include eight mental health trusts. So far 25 trusts have assumed foundation status, which gives them more freedom over their finances and the way they develop services."  
  

Mental health coalition faces uphill funding battle (Idaho)   Idaho State Journal story - "Members of a trail-blazing new coalition say mental health issues in Idaho are finally being brought to the forefront after years of lingering in the shadows. ... By bringing such issues into the light, the recently assembled, 67-member Idaho Mental Health Coalition hopes to change what most experts regard as an abysmal system for treating the mentally ill in Idaho. But, as a group of about 30 legislators saw in Boise on Friday, there's a lot of work to be done. 'We have a mental health care infrastructure that's really deficient,' said Rep. John Rusche of Lewiston during a luncheon at the Joe R. Williams Federal Building. 'But I'm really pleased to see an attempt to tie what we do have together so we have less seepage between the cracks.'..."  
  

In Peril: Cuts threaten mental health aid (Washington)   Story in The Columbian - "A program that keeps mentally ill children out of hospitals by sending counselors into their homes could end. And at least 40 mentally ill clients could lose the subsidies that enable them to live in boarding houses and residential treatment centers. The Bush administration's strict new interpretation of federal rules on Medicaid spending is sending shudders through the ranks of local mental health treatment providers. Already, 1,500 of the county's low-income mentally ill residents have lost services. Providers warn that more severely mentally ill people will end up on the street or in jails, hospital emergency rooms and homeless shelters." See also, at the same source, Patients not in crisis will lose coverage.  
  

Mental hospital ward in stabbing case compared to Beirut   Story in The Guardian - "The NHS apologised yesterday for bungling the care of a mental patient who stabbed a man to death shortly after discharging himself from a violent hospital ward, described by staff as "like Beirut". An independent inquiry found that mistakes in the treatment of Dale Pick, 35, who has paranoid schizophrenia, were linked to overcrowding and understaffing at the Beaumont ward of Bradgate mental health unit in Leicester, where he was a voluntary patient. "  
  

Mental health (West Virginia)   Charleston Gazette story - "...West Virginia remains the only state in the nation to require a full-scale hearing, involving a judge, testimony and precious time, to obtain mental-health care for a person who is unwilling to be treated. Supreme Court Justice Larry Starcher has long advocated recognizing that committing someone to a mental-health facility is a medical decision, not a criminal one. There are legal issues involved, to be sure. Anytime society decides to deprive people of their freedom, even for their own good, society must take great care to do it properly and only in justified cases."