Monday, June 16, 2003

Parents' drug abuse harms children
A June 5 BBC story on a study carried out by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs - "The report, entitled Hidden Harm, calls for children to be taken into account when drug abuse strategies are being formulated." At drugs.gov.uk, the cross-government website to support the National Drug Strategy, there's a page with information on ordering hardcopy and direct links to Adobe Acrobat versions of the full report, cover sheet, executive summary and appendices.  
  

Health officials ready for major overhaul (North Carolina)
High Point Enterprise story - "By 2006, the Guilford Center could be a lean mental health management agency with just 150 employees supervising a network of contract providers. With the mandated overhaul of the state's mental health system, the first since 1974, county agencies will shrink as they release programs to private vendors. ... The N.C. General Assembly mandated the overhaul of the mental health system in 2001. The goal of privatization is to give mental health consumers more care choices."  
  

Mental health help sparse in rural areas (Nebraska)
Grand Island Independent story - "Distance sometimes makes the difference during mental health emergencies in parts of Nebraska where it takes hours and hundred of miles to get the nearest professional help. ... Federal officials have designated much of Nebraska outside Omaha as a mental health shortage area."  
  

Mental health reform movement loses steam
Jewish World Review feature article - "On a spring day last year, President Bush blew into Albuquerque on the winds of change. His mission: to help propel the movement to reform mental health care. The president was clear and emphatic. ... That day, the president announced his New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, charged with evaluating the nation's system of psychiatric care. And he pledged support for equalizing insurance coverage between traditionally physical illnesses and severe mental ones. ... More than a year later, as patients and advocates await the commission's final report, much has happened to take the wind out of the movement's sails. ...