Thursday, June 17, 2004

NAMI Taskforce Report on Children and Psychotropic Medications
A new report from NAMI (in Adobe Acrobat format) - "In 2003, NAMI’s Policy Research Institute (NPRI) convened a task force of experts and stakeholders to consider issues related to the use of psychotropic medications for children and adolescents. Since then, the issue has exploded in the nation’s headlines, but not necessarily with the kind of precision that medical issues require. Our nation is currently experiencing a public health crisis in the number of youth with mental illnesses that fail to receive any treatment or services. The U. S. Surgeon General has warned that approximately 80% of youth with mental illnesses fail to receive any treatment or services. We have made major scientific advances in understanding how to properly diagnose and treat mental illnesses in children, but more needs to be done..."  
  

NAMI Establishes New Multicultural Action Center
June 2 NAMI press release - "NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) today announced creation of a Multicultural Action Center (MAC) in conjunction with a national forum offering multicultural perspectives on President Bush’s New Freedom Commission Report. The new center replaces the NAMI Multicultural & International Outreach (MIO) Center established in 2002."  
  

Recovery Month Will Highlight Success of Drug Treatment: Report Shows Many Need Treatment for Substance Abuse
SAMHSA press release - "The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today unveiled a new kit and other materials to be used as part of the 15th annual Recovery Month celebrations in September, as well as a new state report showing that overall 2.7 percent of persons 12 and older nationwide needed, but did not receive treatment for an illicit drug problem; and 7.3 percent needed but did not receive treatment for an alcohol problem. Recovery Month spotlights the need for alcohol and drug abuse treatment and recovery, and honors both those in recovery and treatment providers..." See also the Recovery Month web site and the report, State Estimates of Persons Needing But Not Receiving Substance Abuse Treatment (available in both HTML and Adobe Acrobat formats) and related materials at the Office of Applied Studies web site.  
  

Critical Ingredients of Consumer Run Services: Results of a National Survey
Adobe Acrobat version of a report published in the February 2004 Community Mental Health Journal - "Fidelity criteria are increasingly used in program monitoring and evaluation, but are difficult to derive for emerging models (i.e., those not based on theory or a research demonstration project). We describe steps used to develop and operationalize fidelity criteria for consumer-run (CR) mental health services: articulating and operationalizing criteria based on published literature, then revising and validating the criteria through expert judgments using a modified Delphi method. Respondents rated highest those structural and process components emphasizing the value of consumerism: consumer control, consumer choices and opportunities for decision-making, voluntary participation (and the absence of coercion), and respect for members by staff."