NEW PULSE PUBLICATION: The inaugural issue of the PULSE Quarterly Briefing was published in late June and has already received a great deal of praise ("Brilliant" - Fran Silvestri, Director: International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership; "A triumphant inaugural issue" - Paul Lefkovitz, CEO: Behavioral Pathway Systems; "Very useful..." - Elaine Alfano, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law). The PQB comes bundled with two other services, the "PULSE Bulletin" (40 issues/year) and "Recent Resources" (10 issues /year) and organizational subscriptions include access to a set of Internet-based tools for distributing news and announcements. For details on subscriptions, please see the new PULSE Community Site.

 Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Outlining the World Health Report 2006 Announcement at the WHO web site - "In response to World Health Assembly resolution WHA57.19, the Director-General has declared the health workforce to be the theme of the World health report 2006. And for the first time, WHO is offering open consultation on the World health report via the World Wide Web and electronic mail. Broad participation is encouraged – from schools for the health professions to national and international financing institutions to the ultimate beneficiaries of health services, the general public."  
  

Terrorism, Mental Health, and September 11  44-page report in PDF format from the Century Foundation that "examines how post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) extended far beyond the New York population directly exposed to the September 11 attacks. Television coverage brought the disaster to a much larger audience and caused full-blown and sub-syndromal cases of PTSD throughout the nation. The report recommends increasing training for PTSD diagnosis and treatment so that primary care physicians are able to refer or assist patients suffering from the disorder. "  
  

Including behavior in health-disparities legislation APA Monitor story - "Although the adverse effects of behaviors such as limited physical activity, poor nutrition and alcohol and tobacco consumption are widely recognized as precipitators of stroke, lung disease, diabetes and other such diseases, the rising prevalence of these behaviors is still cause for national concern. As a result, psychologists have been developing effective evidence-based interventions to help modify these behavioral risk factors. APA's Public Policy Office (PPO) has been working to inform Congress and key federal health agencies of these interventions and emerging best practices in hopes that they reach more citizens to improve the nation's health status and lower the cost that unhealthy behavior inflicts on society."  
  

VA psychology conference advocates for new veterans' mental health APA Monitor story - " At the eighth annual Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Psychology Leadership Conference, April 29–30 in Dallas, VA psychologists and top VA and APA officials met to discuss ways to promote improved psychological services for veterans, including those who have served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Illustrating this year's conference theme, "Strong leadership in uncertain times," top officials including VA Deputy Secretary Gordon Mansfield and VA Under Secretary for Health Jonathan Perlin, MD, PhD--who received word while at the convention that the Senate confirmed him for a four-year term in the position--discussed mental health care's future at the VA..."  
  

Taking on policy APA Monitor story - "Adrienne Stith Butler, PhD, and Tracy Myers, PhD, have taken their psychology careers on a nontraditional path to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), where they address public policy issues ranging from ethnic inequalities in health care to psychological aspects of terrorism. As IOM program officers, they assemble and oversee interdisciplinary committees that examine policy issues related to public health. Based on their investigations, which are sometimes congressionally mandated, the committees produce reports that help to inform policy-makers and the public about health care, research and education. For example, one recent IOM report highlighted ways to increase the number of minority health-service providers."  
  

Mentally ill more likely victim than perp Science Daily story - "A Northwestern University study indicates severely mentally ill people are more likely victims rather than perpetrators of violence. Researchers at the university's Feinberg School of Medicine say more than one-fourth of individuals with severe mental illness were victims of violent crime during 2004 -- a rate nearly 12 times that of the general population. Depending on the type of violent crime, prevalence was six to 23 times greater among people with severe mental illness than among the general population, said lead author Linda Teplin, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Feinberg..."  
  

Cognitive Therapy Reduces Repeat Suicide Attempts by 50 Percent  National Institute of Mental Health press release - "Recent suicide attempters treated with cognitive therapy were 50 percent less likely to try to kill themselves again within 18 months than those who did not receive the therapy, report researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A targeted form of cognitive therapy designed to prevent suicide proved better at lifting depression and feelings of hopelessness than the usual care available in the community, according to Gregory Brown, Ph.D., Aaron Beck, M.D., University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues, who published their findings in the August 3, 2005 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). "  
  

Cambodian refugees feel stress decades later Reuters AlertNet story - "A majority of Cambodian refugees settled in the United States suffer from post-traumatic stress, deep depression or alcoholism decades after surviving their country's 1970s genocide, a study said on Tuesday. A survey of Cambodians who are representative of the 175,000 who have taken refuge in the United States found practically all had lingering effects from nearly starving to death and witnessing relatives and friends being murdered. An estimated 3 million died during the 1975-79 reign of the Khmer Rouge and in civil wars before and after. The prevalence of psychiatric illness found among Cambodian refugees is indicative of a larger crisis affecting the world's 42 million refugees, based on other reports published in this week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, which focused on the subject of violence." See also the free JAMA abstract, the summary of articles on "Violence and Human Rights" in the current issue and the abstracts of other articles of note - Cognitive Therapy for the Prevention of Suicide Attempts, Psychiatric and Cognitive Effects of War in Former Yugoslavia: Association of Lack of Redress for Trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Reactions, Predisplacement and Postdisplacement Factors Associated With Mental Health of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: A Meta-analysis, and the free article, Adult Schizophrenia Following Famine.   
  

Mental health agencies working on proposals to privatize state hospital (Indiana) Madison Courier story - "Two mental health agencies are putting together proposals for turning over Madison State Hospital to private ownership. Terry Stawar, president and chief executive officer of LifeSpring Inc. in Jeffersonville, said he is forming a coalition of elected officials, business leaders and other nonprofits to run MSH. LifeSpring is the hospital’s largest single client, Stawar said, with 35 beds allocated to its customers. Another group is being led by Quinco Behavioral Health Systems of Columbus. Richard Williams, president and CEO of Quinco, said his agency is forming a partnership with the mental health center in Bloomington and a similar entity in Indianapolis."  
  

Geriatic pyschiatry grant recognizes growing mental health needs of seniors Medical News Today story - "The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has made a $984,000 grant to the University of Rochester Medical Center to support the training of physician scientists for research careers in geriatric mental health. 'America is aging, at least one third of older people suffer from a mental disorder, and yet we have a critical, nationwide shortage of researchers trained in geriatric mental health,' said Jeffrey M. Lyness, M.D., director of the Program in Geriatrics and Neuropsychiatry at the medical center. 'Mental health problems like depression and dementias cause as much suffering as common medical conditions like heart disease and cancer, and we urgently need more researchers to identify fundamental disease mechanisms and develop the treatments of the future.' "  
  

Costly gap remains in mental health bills Op-ed column in the Raleigh News & Observer - "Medicare covers practically all other health care more generously than it covers outpatient mental health. It pays 80 percent of the cost of an outpatient doctor's visit if the visit isn't related to mental health, leaving only 20 percent for the patient to pay. Inpatient care is covered more fully still, with the patient paying a relatively small deductible after which Medicare picks up the whole tab, regardless of whether the patient is hospitalized for general medical or psychiatric causes."  
  

Mental health issues (Mississippi) Daily Journal editorial - "Mental health remains one of the most nettlesome issues in the laps of local and state governments. The available money - almost $500 million, including federal funds, in fiscal year 2006 - doesn't keep pace with the need for state-funded beds, state-paid, certified therapists/counselors, or funding for crisis centers established by the state. State funding actually has decreased by $30 million since 2000..."