Webhealth
Webhealth has been specifically developed to provide access for people to
connect with Health and Social Services. This web-based approach builds on
the strengths of people and families to determine their support needs. Within the Webhealth website is Linkage. Linkage is a
partnership between an NGO, Pathways; primary health care, Pinnacle; and a
secondary provider/hospital, Health Waikato. It offers early intervention
services with a “one stop shop” in central Hamilton and New Plymouth.
Wednesday, July 02, 2003
Disadvantaged Women Benefit From Antidepressants, Counseling
Reuters Health story at Medscape - "Despite concerns that a course of antidepressants and counseling might not benefit low-income minority women with depression, new research released Tuesday shows that these proven therapies are effective in such patients. Either 6 months of treatment with an antidepressant or at least 8 weeks of counseling helped reduce depressive symptoms in low-income mothers, according to the report published in the July 2nd issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association." See also the detailed abstract and ordering information at JAMA.
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Reuters Health story at Medscape - "Despite concerns that a course of antidepressants and counseling might not benefit low-income minority women with depression, new research released Tuesday shows that these proven therapies are effective in such patients. Either 6 months of treatment with an antidepressant or at least 8 weeks of counseling helped reduce depressive symptoms in low-income mothers, according to the report published in the July 2nd issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association." See also the detailed abstract and ordering information at JAMA.
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HHS launches new efforts to create paperless health care system
July 1 HHS press release - "HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced two new steps in building a national electronic health care system that will allow patients and their doctors to access their complete medical records anytime and anywhere they are needed, leading to reduced medical errors, improved patient care, and reduced health care costs. First, the Secretary announced that the Department has signed an agreement with the College of American Pathologists (CAP) to license the College's standardized medical vocabulary system and make it available without charge throughout the U.S. This action opens the door to establishing a common medical language as a key element in building a unified electronic medical records system in the U.S. Secondly, the Secretary announced that HHS has commissioned the Institute of Medicine to design a standardized model of an electronic health record. The health care standards development organization known as HL7 has been asked to evaluate the model once it has been designed. HHS will share the standardized model record at no cost with all components of the U.S. health care system. The Department expects to have a model record ready in 2004."
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July 1 HHS press release - "HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced two new steps in building a national electronic health care system that will allow patients and their doctors to access their complete medical records anytime and anywhere they are needed, leading to reduced medical errors, improved patient care, and reduced health care costs. First, the Secretary announced that the Department has signed an agreement with the College of American Pathologists (CAP) to license the College's standardized medical vocabulary system and make it available without charge throughout the U.S. This action opens the door to establishing a common medical language as a key element in building a unified electronic medical records system in the U.S. Secondly, the Secretary announced that HHS has commissioned the Institute of Medicine to design a standardized model of an electronic health record. The health care standards development organization known as HL7 has been asked to evaluate the model once it has been designed. HHS will share the standardized model record at no cost with all components of the U.S. health care system. The Department expects to have a model record ready in 2004."
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UCLA-Led Study Challenges Bipolar Depression Treatment Guidelines
AScribe Newswire item reprinted at PsycPORT - "A study led by a UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute researcher challenges standard treatment guidelines for bipolar depression that recommend discontinuing antidepressants within the first six months after symptoms ease. Study participants treated under the guidelines relapsed at nearly twice the rate of those who continued taking antidepressants in conjunction with their mood stabilizer medication during the first year after remission of acute bipolar depression. The researchers found no increased risk of manic relapse in those who continued the medication for one year. The findings appear in the July 2003 edition of the American Journal of Psychiatry." An abstract is available online and full text can be ordered from the same page. See also the journal's index of recent articles on bipolar disorder, again with free abstracts fee-based full text available.
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AScribe Newswire item reprinted at PsycPORT - "A study led by a UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute researcher challenges standard treatment guidelines for bipolar depression that recommend discontinuing antidepressants within the first six months after symptoms ease. Study participants treated under the guidelines relapsed at nearly twice the rate of those who continued taking antidepressants in conjunction with their mood stabilizer medication during the first year after remission of acute bipolar depression. The researchers found no increased risk of manic relapse in those who continued the medication for one year. The findings appear in the July 2003 edition of the American Journal of Psychiatry." An abstract is available online and full text can be ordered from the same page. See also the journal's index of recent articles on bipolar disorder, again with free abstracts fee-based full text available.
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NIMH grant program: Research on community integration for people with psychiatric disabilities
NIMH press release, which includes links to all required background documents and forms - "The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) invites research grant applications for multidisciplinary/translational research, especially mixed-methods research, that will explore (a) the individual, social, and service system conditions necessary for people with psychiatric disabilities to reintegrate into community life; (b) the organizational and service system conditions necessary to enable service providers to facilitate that reintegration; and (c) the effectiveness of rehabilitation strategies and programs in helping socioculturally diverse individuals who have widely varying goals, material and social resources, and clinical needs. This research has typically been called "disability" or "psychiatric rehabilitation" research. Historically, however, this research has focused fairly narrowly on the use of services; compliance; symptom reduction; easily assessed criteria of social and vocational success; and cost. The goal of this program announcement (PA) is to encourage researchers to think beyond usual assumptions underlying "psych rehab," program fidelity, and outcomes assessment and to encourage a focus on the individuals within and outside rehabilitation programs, who must function within personal, organizational, service system, cultural, and societal boundaries to achieve a return to community life."
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NIMH press release, which includes links to all required background documents and forms - "The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) invites research grant applications for multidisciplinary/translational research, especially mixed-methods research, that will explore (a) the individual, social, and service system conditions necessary for people with psychiatric disabilities to reintegrate into community life; (b) the organizational and service system conditions necessary to enable service providers to facilitate that reintegration; and (c) the effectiveness of rehabilitation strategies and programs in helping socioculturally diverse individuals who have widely varying goals, material and social resources, and clinical needs. This research has typically been called "disability" or "psychiatric rehabilitation" research. Historically, however, this research has focused fairly narrowly on the use of services; compliance; symptom reduction; easily assessed criteria of social and vocational success; and cost. The goal of this program announcement (PA) is to encourage researchers to think beyond usual assumptions underlying "psych rehab," program fidelity, and outcomes assessment and to encourage a focus on the individuals within and outside rehabilitation programs, who must function within personal, organizational, service system, cultural, and societal boundaries to achieve a return to community life."
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Women and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Moving Research to Policy (Canada)
This report (in Adobe Acrobat format) "...summarizes the findings of a research study funded by the Prairie Women's Health Centre of Excellence (PWHCE). The PWHCE supports policy-oriented research to improve the health status of Canadian women by making the health system more aware of and responsive to women's health needs." See also the executive summary of the report and pages indexing other commissioned reports and research projects at the PWHCE web site.
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This report (in Adobe Acrobat format) "...summarizes the findings of a research study funded by the Prairie Women's Health Centre of Excellence (PWHCE). The PWHCE supports policy-oriented research to improve the health status of Canadian women by making the health system more aware of and responsive to women's health needs." See also the executive summary of the report and pages indexing other commissioned reports and research projects at the PWHCE web site.
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Copyright 2003 © Bill Davis.
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