Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Oregon State Hospital - Framework Master Plan, Phase I Report 85 page report in PDF format from the State of Oregon DHS - "The purpose of this Phase I Framework Master Plan is to provide an overview of the Oregon State Hospital (OSH) and the effectiveness of Oregon’s mental health system. The goal is to provide guidance to the Department of Human Services (DHS), the Governor and the Oregon Legislative Assembly in determining the future design, location and role of OSH in the Oregon State Mental Health System. ... The design team interviewed over 150 stakeholders consisting of key individuals and groups participating in or having specialized knowledge of the Oregon Mental Heath System. Information and data obtained provided the findings and established the framework for the Design Team’s conclusions and recommendations. The Steering Committee participated throughout the process by reviewing and commenting on the findings and conclusions."  
  

NAMI Florida Seeking Medication Access Protections Alert at the NAMI web site - "NAMI Florida and 64 other supporting organizations have appealed to Florida’s Governor, Health Cabinet Secretary, elected leaders, and members of the state’s Medicaid Pharmaceutical & Therapeutics (P&T) Committee for protections for Medicaid recipients as the state prepares to enforce recently approved revisions to the state’s pharmacy benefit."  
  

Half of Americans May Meet DSM-IV Criteria for a Mental Disorder During Their Lifetime  A new CME unit from Medscape - "About half of all Americans will have a mental illness during their lifetime, with symptoms beginning in the teen years for many, according to the results of a survey published in the June issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. A second study suggests that treatment is not usually initiated when patients first present..." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Social Network's Healing Power Is Borne Out in Poorer NationsThe second part of a Washington Post series, "MIND AND CULTURE: Psychiatry's Missing Diagnosis" - " a remarkable three-decade-long study by the World Health Organization -- one that many Western doctors initially refused to believe: People with schizophrenia, a deadly illness characterized by hallucinations, disorganized thinking and social withdrawal, typically do far better in poorer nations such as India, Nigeria and Colombia than in Denmark, England and the United States. The astounding result calls into question one of the central tenets of modern psychiatry: that a 'brain disease' such as schizophrenia is best treated by hospitals, drugs and biomedical interventions. European and U.S. psychiatrists were so shocked by the initial findings in the 1970s that they assumed something was wrong with the study. They repeated it. The second trial produced the same result. The best explanation, researchers concluded, is that the stronger family ties in poorer countries have a profound impact on recovery..." See also Racial Disparities Found in Pinpointing Mental Illness. [Viewing Washington Post stories requires registration, which is free.]  
  

U.S. Report Faults States' Medicaid Tactics New York Times story - "Two-thirds of the states use consultants to help them get more federal Medicaid money, often by using "questionable billing practices," and then reward those consultants by giving them a share of the money as a contingency fee, Congressional investigators said on Monday. These consultants are driving up Medicaid costs by recommending financial tactics that violate federal law or policy, the investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, said in a report to Congress." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Mental health reform good, but not when funds are low (North Carolina) Wilmington Star News story - "...The mental health reform plan enacted by the General Assembly in 2001 aims to treat people in communities instead of locking them in institutions, giving them more say in their treatment and helping them live as normally as possible. At 403 beds, Cherry Hospital’s capacity is down 31 percent from two years ago, according to figures provided by the Department of Health and Human Services. So why are admissions to state institutions going up? The N.C. Psychiatric Association issued a report card last week that found admissions of adult consumers to state mental hospitals are up 23.3 percent since 1999 and have risen dramatically since March 2004."  
  

Grant helps fund new mental health clinic (Utah) Daily Herald story - " Wasatch Mental Health has found a way to treat hundreds of people instead of dozens thanks to a $384,000 one-time payment from the state. This year the state Legislature appropriated $2 million to make up part of the $7.5 million annual loss of surplus federal Medicaid funds that were covering mental health treatment for more then 3,500 Utahns at local mental health centers. The $384,000 is Utah County's share of the $2 million, to be distributed in the next fiscal year, which starts Friday. That's also the day Wasatch Mental Health will open its Wellness Recovery Clinic -- a no-fee clinic open to the public for low-income people who need mental health care but don't have insurance coverage. Admission will be based on treatment need and income level. It will operate out of Wasatch Mental Health's main building, during the agency's regular hours. The staff already working at the agency will double as clinic workers."  
  

Teen Mental Health Declining in the United States PR Newswire story at Yahoo - "Adolescents in the United States are more likely to suffer from a mental health disorder than ever before, but getting these teens diagnosed and cared for is a challenge that is not being met, a new book warns. These findings are detailed in Treating and Preventing Adolescent Mental Health Disorders: What We Know and What We Don't Know - A Research Agenda for Improving the Mental Health of Our Youth (Oxford University Press), in which 150 mental health specialists analyze recent research on teen mental health problems. These experts found while one in five adolescents suffer from a mental health disorder, treating them is not a priority on the nation's public health agenda, and there is limited knowledge about how to best help them. The result: disorders are frequently undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, or teenagers receive treatment whose effectiveness has been mostly studied in adults..."  
  

From Evidence to Practice: Mental Health Promotion Effectiveness Red Nova story - "Mental health problems and mental and behavioural disorders are not exclusive to any special group, and are found in people of all regions, all countries and all societies (WHO, 2001). In Europe, mental and behavioural disorders have been estimated to cause 20 per cent of all Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) lost due to all diseases and injuries. DALYs is a methodology introduced in the Global Burden of Disease. It accounts for the disability and chronicity caused by disorders (Murray and Lopez, 1996). The DALY is a measure of health gap, which combines information on disability and other nonfatal health outcomes and premature death. One DALY is one lost year of healthy life..."  
  

Government asks GPs to do more for mental health (New Zealand) New Zealand Herald story - "The Government wants primary health clinics to take a greater role in diagnosing and treating people with mental illnesses. The call comes in the Government's second mental health and addiction plan, made public yesterday by Health Minister Annette King. One in three general practice patients has had a diagnosable mental illness in the preceding year, a study found. In the same survey, GPs said they had identified mental problems, from severe to mild, in half of the patients. The new 10-year plan comes after a decade of advances in mental health care - following the closure of the big psychiatric hospitals - but also amidst continuing serious problems..."