Monday, April 11, 2005

A Response to Schizophrenia and Recovery Letter by Ralph Aquila to Medscape Psychiatry & Mental Health in response to an interview on recovery with Stephen R. Marder - "I was ... somewhat taken aback by the statement that Dr. Marder made, in response to the question, 'Do you know of any community or country where a recovery model has been successfully implemented?' -- 'No, I don't.' I believe, as do many of my colleagues, that a number of successful recovery models have been established, particularly in the United States. There are, for example, The Assertive Community Treatment Model (nationwide); The Village (California); Thresholds in Chicago; and the Fountain House Model (national and international)..." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Eating disorders common among people in substance abuse treatment Item in CMHA/Ontario's Mental Health Notes - "Clinicians need to be aware of the high rate of eating disorders among both women and men who are in treatment for substance abuse problems, according to a recent article in the Canadian Journal of Public Health. Among 1,613 people who were seeking treatment for substance use disorders at a large metropolitan addiction treatment centre, 2.6 percent of men and 7.4 percent of women also currently had anorexia nervosa, and 1.5 percent of men and 7.6 percent of women had bulimia nervosa. Among individuals with eating disorders, 59 percent also had depression and 36 percent had social phobia. Individuals with eating disorders used a greater number of substances and experienced more negative results related to substance abuse."  
  

Family-Centred Care Initiative (Canada) Page at the web site of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health - "The Community Support and Research Unit (CSRU), in partnership with the Family Council, is leading the Family Centered Care Initiative (FCCI) with the goal of improving the care and support that CAMH provides to family members and working with families to improve the quality of life of clients." See also the framework for the initiative (in Adobe Acrobat format).  
  

Indians get scant help on mental health Duluth News Tribune story reprinted at PsycPORT - "Trying to get needed mental-health services to remote American Indian reservations has long been a problem for providers such as Jo Ellen Anywaush. As director of the White Earth Reservation Health Services in northern Minnesota, her staff is dedicated but small, and money is tight. ... American Indians face significant health challenges. Their average life expectancy is five years less than that of the general population. They are afflicted more severely than other ethnic groups with many health problems, including tuberculosis, alcoholism and diabetes. And in terms of mental health, American Indians are twice as likely to suffer from depression and almost twice as likely to commit suicide as the general population."  
  

Missouri House OKs slashing Medicaid  St. Louis Post-Dispatch story - "All the rallies at the Capitol, all the emotional pleas from people in wheelchairs, all the letters and e-mails the last three months made no difference. On Thursday, the Missouri House passed and sent to the governor a far-reaching bill that rolls back Medicaid, the government health care program for the poor. The vote was 89-69. The plan, combined with upcoming budget cuts, is expected to drop taxpayer-financed insurance coverage by this summer for about 100,000 parents, people with disabilities and elderly people..."  
  

Medicaid Accounting Tactic Is Criticized by Lawmakers Washington Post story - "This year, as they have done for many years past, California officials will use an accounting strategy that will yield nearly $2 billion more in federal Medicaid payments than the state might otherwise be entitled to. ... States have used this bit of creative accounting for more than a decade, with the knowledge and approval of the federal government. But this year, such tactics are at the heart of the biggest budget battle in Washington, one that has pitted the Bush administration against the nation's governors and the Senate against the House. The White House and its allies in Congress say the federal government could save as much as $20 billion over the next five years by clamping down on what they see as fraudulent or abusive budget gimmickry. They began pressing their case this week when the House and Senate budget chairmen met to work out a compromise budget resolution that singles out Medicaid for the largest reductions..." [Viewing Washington Post stories requires registration, which is free.]  
  

Live Webcast to Examine Mental Health Care System for Children Ascribe Newswire press release - " 'Children's Mental Health: Navigating the System,' the final event in the 2004-2005 Conversations at The Carter Center series, will be webcast live Thursday, April 14, 2005, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on http://www.cartercenter.org/. Panelists include mental health legislative activist Tom O'Clair and award-winning journalist Paul Raeburn -- men whose lives have been impacted by the realities of obtaining adequate mental health care for their own children. Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, a longtime advocate of mental health care for children and co-founder of The Carter Center, will make opening remarks. Dr. Thomas Bornemann, director of the Carter Center's Mental Health Program, will lead the discussion about the well-being of children in light of recommendations from the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. Panelists will also provide insight into systems of care that emphasize treatment of and recovery from mental illnesses..."  
  

White pulls for mental health clinic (Utah) Daily Herald story - "Utah County Commissioner Steve White said he wants to use $384,000 Wasatch Mental Health will get later this year from the state to open a volunteer mental health clinic for people who can't afford treatment. White plans to make a proposal for the clinic at the next Wasatch Mental Health board meeting on April 27. The county is already a partner in a volunteer medical clinic. ...  Until last year, mental health agencies in the state had been using cost savings from Medicaid to pay for services for people who don't qualify for the federal insurance program. But the federal government told mental health agencies last year they had to stop the practice immediately. In Utah County alone, 709 people were cut off from their mental health services through Wasatch Mental Health.."  
  

Legislators focusing on mental health reform (North Carolina) Shelby Star story - "It’ll take time, possibly years, but North Carolina will eventually reform its mental health program into a workable plan that serves everyone well, Cleveland County state legislators say. But right now, the concerns and confusion being expressed by those who get or benefit from mental health services are inevitable bumps in the road of change. Many concerns — such as abuse of services — are already under the microscope by policy makers. A community meeting in Shelby Thursday night hashed out those issues. Some were concerned that a program called Community Based Services, which pairs a one-on-one worker with a child with developmental or mental health disabilities during the school day, will be discontinued or scaled back..."  
  

Planned DMH changes rile mental health advocates (Massachusetts) Boston Herald story - "Proposed mental health regulations allowing psychiatric hospitals to control patients by withholding privileges and imposing other negative consequences has advocates worried. ... The proposed regulations floated by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health would allow psychiatric caregivers to impose negative consequences after positive behavioral supports have been tried. Common negative consequences are loss of smoking privileges or being kept from some portions of a unit..."  
  

Mental-health safety nets endangered by privatization (California) North County Times story - "For more than 30 years, San Diego County has provided mental health services to those who cannot afford them. Over the last several years, the county has outsourced 60 percent of mental health services to private providers with the goal of offering 'more cost-efficient services.' The remaining 40 percent of county mental health services is in the last phase of 'managed competition,' through which county providers bid against private mental health care providers for county contracts, with the lowest bidder winning. Managed competition has illuminated many aspects of privately provided mental health services, the most disconcerting of which is the fact that San Diegans will lack several critical mental health safety nets if these services are turned over to private companies. To date, the removal of these safety nets is of the largest concern for the North County region, as the county of San Diego may be losing both of its North County clinics to an outside competitor."