Monday, July 07, 2003

Recent Research on Vocational Rehabilitation for Persons With Severe Mental Illness
A Current Opinion in Psychiatry article at Medscape which examines the 2002 literature on vocational services for people with psychiatric disabilities. [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

NIMH Awards $22.6 Million for Center for Collaborative Research on Mental Disorders
NIMH press release - "The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has funded a five-year, $22.6 million Center for Collaborative Genetic Studies on Mental Disorders at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Under a cooperative agreement, the Center will accelerate progress toward understanding genetic origins of mental disorders including autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. The Center will encourage the sharing of biological as well as clinical and genetic data from individuals or families with these disorders and perform and disseminate its own analyses of these data."  
  

Housing opportunities are vital in coping with mental illness
Guest column in the Herald Tribune (Florida) by Christine Cauffield, CEO of Coastal Behavioral Healthcare Inc., "a nonprofit, community-based mental-health and substance-abuse provider" - "With the closure of G. Pierce Wood Memorial Hospital, a former state psychiatric hospital in DeSoto County, many new community services are being offered for individuals with mental illness, and existing services have been enhanced. The closure of G. Pierce Wood also increased housing needs for those with mental illness. Coastal Behavioral Healthcare recognized the need for adequate housing more than 10 years ago and has been offering housing opportunities for people with all levels of mental illness. But like many other providers, we know that the need remains great and we continue to work to secure affordable housing for those with mental illness."