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Like Minds, Like Mine Ad (WMV movie file)
During the next three months, we will feature a series of TV Ads developed in New Zealand by the Like Minds, Like Mine programme. This highly successful anti discrimination programme has been very effective in presenting to the people of New Zealand how mental health problems affect many of our neighbors and friends. You can see the first of the three ads about Lana on our IIMHL website via the link above. It may take some time to download this file especially if you are not using a DSL line. These ads are the most recognizable component of the five year campaign. I encourage you to visit their web site where you can download a copy of their 2003-2005 national plans.
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
Benefiting from Consumer/Survivor Participation (Canada)Article in the newsletter of the Community Mental Health Evaluation Initiative, called to our attention in the CMHA-Ontario newsletter
Mental Health Notes - "For the team of researchers conducting a five-year study of consumer/survivor initiatives (CSIs) in Ontario, the research method is inseparable from the aims of their study. Designed to evaluate the impact of CSIs on their members and their communities, A Longitudinal Study of the Consumer/Survivor Initiatives in Ontario involved psychiatric consumer/survivors both as research assistants and as members of the project steering committee. .."
How do you test on the Web? ResponsiblyArticle in the latest
APA Monitor - "Internet-based tests work well when held to the same psychometric standards of reliability and validity as any other type of examination, says a recent report from APA's Task Force for Psychological Testing on the Internet. However, that's a difficult task given some of the challenges posed by the freedom of the Web, the report notes. APA's Board of Scientific Affairs and Board of Professional Affairs established the task force in 2001 to inform psychologists about the state of Internet testing. Its report underscores that the common standard for ethical use of all psychological tests applies in the online world..."
Lawsuits could change managed-care landscapeArticle in the latest
APA Monitor - "Since the inception of managed health-care plans in the 1980s, controversy over issues such as accountability and patient access to care have been brewing--occasionally bubbling over into legal or regulatory battles. ... In fact, the APA Practice Directorate is fighting some of these battles and closely monitoring others that address everything from fraud to patients' rights..."
Where personality goes awryArticle in the latest
APA Monitor - "Over the years, few large-scale prospective studies have targeted the causes of personality disorders (PDs). But recently, a new body of research has begun to explore the potential influences of several factors, from genetics and parenting to peer influences, and even the randomness of life events. Indeed, says Patricia Hoffman Judd, PhD, clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, research into the origins of PDs is just beginning to take off..." See also the
page indexing a number of stories on personality disorders in this issue.
NIDA Study Finds Alcohol Treatment Medication, Behavioral Therapy Effective for Treating Cocaine AddictionPR Newswire press release at
PsycPORT - "Results of a study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health, suggest that disulfiram, a medication used to treat alcohol addiction, is effective in combating cocaine abuse. The researchers also conclude in the same study that combining disulfiram with behavioral therapy provides more positive results in treating cocaine dependence than disulfiram in combination with another form of therapy. The research is published in the March 2004 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry."
Action at last/Hope for mental health care (Minnesota)Editorial in the
Minneapolis Star-Tribune - "...the Citizens League of Minnesota and the state Department of Human Services have joined together in a most unusual venture: They've convened the Minnesota Mental Health Action Group -- a small throng of experts resolved to leap beyond lamentation toward a vision of what the state's mental-health system should become. Cochaired by Gary Cunningham, the league's former board chairman, and Human Services Commissioner Kevin Goodno, the group released its first report last week. Its details are compelling, but what's most heartening about the report is that it's just the first of many. Minnesota's mental-health network has been in a snarl for many a decade; tugging it toward rationality will take considerable time and ingenuity..." See also the
progress report released last week (
MS Word format), the February 12 MHAG
press release (
Adobe Acrobat format) and the report released the same day,
Action Steps (also in
Adobe Acrobat format).
Mental health staff ratios needed (New Zealand)New Zealand News story - "The National Union of Public Employees supports nurses' call for limits on the number of patients they can care for at a time but says mental health workers need the limits too. The Nurses Organisation has released a Blueprint for Patient Safety, which said one nurse should be responsible for four to six patients only, depending on hospital size, in a general ward, plus one nurse in charge. This would protect the public from fatigued, overworked staff, it said."
Copyright 2003 © Bill Davis.
IIMHL Update is a project done in collaboration with MHCA and
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