Wednesday, May 21, 2003

Treatment Compliance "Still a Problem in Schizophrenia"
Health Media story at PsycPORT - "Researchers from the University of Texas followed a group of 59 patients with schizophrenia for three months to see how well they were able to follow their prescribed treatment with an oral antipsychotic. Blood samples were taken at hospital discharge and then again three months later to assess treatment compliance. Pill counts and self-reports were also assessed. The findings, presented this week at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, showed that less than 12 per cent of patients had refused to take medication."  
  

Mental Illness Foundation Launches Pilot Project to Increase Awareness of Mental Illness in the Workplace (Canada)
CNW Telbec story - "More than 35% of work absences are the consequence of mental illness; nearly 500,000 Canadians are absent from work each week due to mental health problems. Companies are perplexed as to what to do about this growing problem and so the Mental Illness Foundation is launching a large-scale pilot project aimed at increasing awareness among employees at all organizational levels so they can get help as quickly as possible."  
  

Red Tape Squeezes Access to Mental Health Care
Brief Ascribe Newswire item on a report published in the May 2003 issue of General Hospital Psychiatry - "While competition among managed care organizations is thought to improve access to medical care, the "administrative burden" of juggling their policies and procedures may limit patient access to high-quality mental health services, according to a national survey of more than 7,000 primary care physicians." Full text of the report is only available through General Hospital Psychiatry for a fee.