Monday, April 18, 2005

High-Cost Users of Pharmaceuticals: Who Are They? Report, in Adobe Acrobat format, from the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, brought to our attention by CMHA/Ontario's Mental Health Notes - "Much of the available literature on heavy users of prescription medications originates from studies of elderly Americans with prescription insurance. Very little is known about high-cost users of pharmaceuticals among a general Canadian population in the context of public prescription insurance. This study provides a description, within the Province of Manitoba, of highcost users of prescription medications compared with the rest of the population. The intent of this study is to provide a detailed characterization of this population so as to clarify whether its costs can be reduced or whether other interventions are needed."  
  

CAMH Bill of Client Rights From the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health - "The Bill of Client Rights has been developed to assert and promote the dignity and worth of all of the people who use the services of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). The Bill of Client Rights expresses the truth that clients are first and foremost human beings with the same rights as every Canadian. The clients, families and staff of CAMH who have worked together to develop the Bill of Client Rights want it to be a living document that will grow and change as it helps to create an organizational culture of mutual respect. The Bill of Client Rights is intended to emphasize the rights of clients rather than organizational convenience. Policies at CAMH should be consistent with the Bill of Client Rights..."  
  

Mental health fracas erupts (Canada) London Free Press story - "A surprise layoff of mental health-care workers in London will put more psychiatric patients on the street and is just the start of massive cuts, the workers' union warned yesterday. But officials with St. Joseph's Regional Mental Health Care countered that the union -- which announced St. Joseph's will issue layoff notices to 72 people next week -- has sounded a false alarm and no patients will be affected by any proposed changes. A flurry of charges and countercharges yesterday brought Ontario Public Services Employees Union (OPSEU) president Leah Casselman and Liberal MPP Steve Peters into the fray, with each taking shots at the other. All that was clear by day's end was that labour relations in the local mental health-care system are deteriorating."  
  

Shadows and Light - Montreal-Mural - SOS for Mental Health (Canada) Canada Newswire story - "As part of its new education programming for community organizations 'Sharing the Museum' that the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts welcomes "SHADOWS AND LIGHT - Montréal-Mural, an SOS for mental health", an exhibition consisting mainly of collective artworks created during the winter of 2004 by Yvon Lamy, art therapist, with the help of 56 participants from 39 organizations working in mental health located in various parts of the Island of Montreal. This exhibition, open to the public, will be held from May 4th to September 18th, 2005, in the Passage culturel (Level S1) of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1380 Sherbrooke Street West..."