Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Mother's depression associated with increased risk of child's antisocial behavior JAMA/Archives press release at EurekAlert - "Significantly higher levels of antisocial behavior were found in seven-year-old children whose mothers were depressed during the child's first five years of life, according to an article in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. 'Children of depressed mothers have elevated conduct problems, presumably because maternal depression disrupts the caregiving environment,' according to background information in the article. Researchers have identified three possible explanations for the association between a mother's depression and antisocial behavior (ASB) in their children: 1) depressed women are likely to have antisocial personality traits related to depression, 2) are likely to bear children with antisocial men, 3) and the children of depressed mothers may inherit a genetic predisposition for antisocial disorders."  
  

The Economic Burden of Bipolar-Related Phases of Depression Versus Mania Drug Benefit Trends story at Medscape - "Health care resource utilization and costs of bipolar depression compared with costs of bipolar mania were determined retrospectively using data from 1998 to 2002 obtained from a national managed care claims database. Medical claims and health care events were characterized as depressive or manic using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes. Costs were compared using t tests and multivariate linear regression. Depressive episodes occurred 3 times as often as manic episodes in persons with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Annual bipolar depression-related outpatient and inpatient costs were 4 and 2 times higher, respectively, than costs related to mania. Estimated costs of a depressive episode and a manic episode were $5503 and $2842, respectively. In this sample, bipolar-related depressive episodes predominated, used more health care resources, and cost more than manic episodes." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Suicide Rates Have Decreased With Increased Use of SSRIs, New-Generation Non-SSRIs  Medscape Medical News story - "Suicide rates have dropped in association with increased use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and new-generation non-SSRIs, according to the results of an analysis of a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) national vital statistics study published in the February issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. However, the investigators acknowledge that this type of data cannot demonstrate causal relationships." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Evaluating Cultural Competence Among Behavioral Health Professionals Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal article in Adobe Acrobat format - "Persistent racial and ethnic disparities in access and utilization of behavioral health services have highlighted the need for cultural competence among providers. In response, many agencies are now implementing education and training programs to ensure that behavioral health professionals improve their skills when serving diverse ethnic, racial, and cultural populations. The evaluation of these trainings is vital to ensure that they both improve the cultural competence of providers and promote recovery among persons with severe mental illnesses. This paper discusses the philosophical and practical issues related to measuring cultural competence, based on the evaluation of statewide cultural competence trainings for behavioral health professionals. The evaluation process illustrates the challenges of operationalizing cultural competence, balancing the needs of program implementers and evaluators, and developing a robust and feasible evaluation design, which assesses outcomes both for persons in recovery and providers. "  
  

What is Collaborative Mental Health Care? A paper by the Canadian Collaborative Mental Health Care Initiative (Adobe Acrobat format). As noted in CMHA/Ontario's Mental Health Notes, the paper "introduces the collaborative mental health care framework, which is based on research and an analysis of existing collaborative mental health care initiatives. Besides the key elements that define collaborative care, the framework identifies four fundamentals to implementing successful collaboration: policies, legislation and funding regulations, sufficient funds, evidence-based research and community needs."  
  

Study Questions Suicide-Antidepressant Link Story at Ivanhoe - "Curtailing the use of newer antidepressants because of recent reports that they may increase the risk of suicide in adolescents may be likened to throwing the baby out with the bathwater, according to researchers from UCLA. The report suggests these drugs, known as serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs, are true life-savers and are responsible for a significant reduction in the overall rate of suicide since they were introduced in the 1980s."  
  

Vance County takes mental health agency actions (North Carolina) Daily Dispatch story - " Vance Commissioners signed a resolution Monday night to help form a new "local management entity" for mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse. ...  The mental health services agencies to be consolidated are the Vance-Granville-Franklin-Warren Area Authority and RiverStone Counseling and Personal Development. The new entity would be accountable to a five-county area comprised of Franklin, Granville, Halifax, Vance and Warren. The consolidation, which would affect more than 200,000 people, is being required by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services which is responsible for funding area authorities and local management entities."  
  

Mental health, Medicaid priorities in HHS budget (Utah) Salt Lake Tribune story - "Mental health providers and Medicaid recipients are the big winners in preliminary budgets approved Monday for Utah's Departments of Health and Human Services. After more than two hours of debate, a joint appropriations committee recommended among its top spending priorities: $2.5 million to expand the state's mental hospital; $3 million for local mental health providers; and a 2.5 percent pay hike for employees who contract with cities and counties to offer services for the elderly, substance abusers and the mentally ill."  
  

Health plan for vets called inadequate  Story in The Oregonian - " The Bush administration's proposal to fund health care for veterans is "woefully inadequate" to meet the needs of soldiers coming home from Iraq and tocontinue treatment for those who fought in other wars, Rep. Darlene Hooley said Monday. Hooley, D-Ore., and Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., asked the president to increase funding for veterans health services to meet growing needs as thousands of troops return after combat in Iraq. ... Baird said veterans' health services have been underfunded since the war began, and that not catching up now, especially for soldiers suffering post traumatic stress and other mental health needs, means there could be casualties at home. " See also the paper's related editorial.  
  

Justice for the mentally ill (Texas) Houston Chronicle story - "Harris County's felony judges are considering the creation of a so-called mental health court, with the hope of producing more success stories like Blair, who, by most accounts, has prospered under court supervision. Similar to the drug court created here in 2003, a mental health court would be designed to channel specialized medical treatment and legal consideration to those with such conditions as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and psychotic episodes. With the amount of prison and jail space dwindling statewide, court officials are exploring alternatives that may save money and reduce crime..."  
  

Mental health nurses face review (UK) BBC story - "A review of mental health nursing has been announced to help the profession keep pace with NHS reforms. Chief Nursing Officer Chris Beasley said the review will look at issues to do with race equality, the Mental Health Bill and public health plans. She said nurses needed to be given a clear direction as the NHS moves towards more patient-centred care. A new framework for England's 45,000 nurses, the first for 10 years, is due to be published by the end of the year."