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.
Monday, March 22, 2004
The Newer Antipsychotics: Underlying Mechanisms and the New Clinical Realities
Article in Current Opinion in Psychiatry at Medscape - "The present review focuses on recent preclinical and clinical developments among newer antipsychotics, with an eye to reviewing putative underlying mechanisms." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].
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Article in Current Opinion in Psychiatry at Medscape - "The present review focuses on recent preclinical and clinical developments among newer antipsychotics, with an eye to reviewing putative underlying mechanisms." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].
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Cell damage could explain why some schizophrenics fail to respond to treatment
NewsRx.com story reprinted at PsycPORT - "Damage to brain cells caused by an excess of free radicals, naturally occurring bodily chemicals that have been linked to a variety of health problems, could help explain why some schizophrenics either fail to improve or deteriorate as they age, according to a new study. Naoya Nishioka, MD, PhD, and Steven Arnold, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania conducted postmortem tests on the brains of both elderly "poor-outcome" schizophrenics and elderly subjects without psychiatric disorders. Their findings appeared in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry."
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NewsRx.com story reprinted at PsycPORT - "Damage to brain cells caused by an excess of free radicals, naturally occurring bodily chemicals that have been linked to a variety of health problems, could help explain why some schizophrenics either fail to improve or deteriorate as they age, according to a new study. Naoya Nishioka, MD, PhD, and Steven Arnold, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania conducted postmortem tests on the brains of both elderly "poor-outcome" schizophrenics and elderly subjects without psychiatric disorders. Their findings appeared in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry."
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Lack of parental support during childhood is associated with poorer adult mental & physical health
APA press release at EurekAlert - "People with abundant parental support during childhood are likely to have relatively good health throughout adulthood, whereas people with inadequate parental support while growing up are likely to have poorer health as adults, suggests a new study involving a nationally representative sample of nearly 3,000 adults. The findings are reported on in the March issue of Psychology and Aging, a journal published by the American Psychological Association (APA). Research has long showed that children who receive abundant support from their parents report fewer psychological and physical problems during childhood than children who receive less parental support. Studies have also found that adult psychological and physical health is influenced by the amount of social support adults receive. Now, Benjamin A. Shaw, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at the School of Public Health, University at Albany and colleagues from the University of Michigan investigated for the first time whether the health effects of parental support received during childhood persist throughout adulthood into old age..."
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APA press release at EurekAlert - "People with abundant parental support during childhood are likely to have relatively good health throughout adulthood, whereas people with inadequate parental support while growing up are likely to have poorer health as adults, suggests a new study involving a nationally representative sample of nearly 3,000 adults. The findings are reported on in the March issue of Psychology and Aging, a journal published by the American Psychological Association (APA). Research has long showed that children who receive abundant support from their parents report fewer psychological and physical problems during childhood than children who receive less parental support. Studies have also found that adult psychological and physical health is influenced by the amount of social support adults receive. Now, Benjamin A. Shaw, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at the School of Public Health, University at Albany and colleagues from the University of Michigan investigated for the first time whether the health effects of parental support received during childhood persist throughout adulthood into old age..."
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Assessing the stigma of mental illness (New Zealand)
Massey Univeristy press release - "The effort to raise the public awareness of mental health in New Zealand, including a series of prime-time television commercials, has caught the attention of researchers in the USA. New Zealand will participate in an international mental health study, with a focus on the stigma of mental health, funded by the Fogarty International Centre of the US National Institutes of Health and led by researchers at Indiana University. ... The project will examine public perceptions of the causes of mental illness and its effects on people, the degree of stigmatisation associated with mental illness, tolerance of people with mental illness, the government's responsibilities to these people and the degree of coercion appropriate to make them seek treatment."
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Massey Univeristy press release - "The effort to raise the public awareness of mental health in New Zealand, including a series of prime-time television commercials, has caught the attention of researchers in the USA. New Zealand will participate in an international mental health study, with a focus on the stigma of mental health, funded by the Fogarty International Centre of the US National Institutes of Health and led by researchers at Indiana University. ... The project will examine public perceptions of the causes of mental illness and its effects on people, the degree of stigmatisation associated with mental illness, tolerance of people with mental illness, the government's responsibilities to these people and the degree of coercion appropriate to make them seek treatment."
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Report recommends one-stop social care shops (UK)
Brief story in Health and Care - "The Institute for Public Policy Research has called on local authorities and health service providers, in particular Primary Care Trusts, to set up ‘connected care centres’. In its report, Meeting Complex Needs: The Future of Social Care, it said that funding the one-stop social care shops (offering mental health, drug misuse and unemployment/housing services) could be found by pooling existing money used to provide social care services." See also the related IPPR press release. The full report is available for a fee at their web site.
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Brief story in Health and Care - "The Institute for Public Policy Research has called on local authorities and health service providers, in particular Primary Care Trusts, to set up ‘connected care centres’. In its report, Meeting Complex Needs: The Future of Social Care, it said that funding the one-stop social care shops (offering mental health, drug misuse and unemployment/housing services) could be found by pooling existing money used to provide social care services." See also the related IPPR press release. The full report is available for a fee at their web site.
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More children diagnosed with clinical depression (Pennsylvania)
Lancaster Eagle-Gazette story - "Today's teens are experiencing more pressures and are placed in adult situations more often than their parents and grandparents. As a result, more youth are sidelined from normal activities due to feelings of sadness and depression. There are also many youths who have considered or attempted suicide. According to the National Mental Health Association, more than 1 million American children take prescription drugs for major depression, anxiety or attention-deficit disorders. The Food and Drug Administration estimates that in 2002, doctors wrote about 11 million antidepressant prescriptions for children. Close to 2.7 million of those prescriptions were for children age 11 and younger. Clinicians in Fairfield County said, while youth depression and suicide is an issue, they place a higher focus on prevention." See also, at the same source, Antidepressant use growing, even among young children.
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Lancaster Eagle-Gazette story - "Today's teens are experiencing more pressures and are placed in adult situations more often than their parents and grandparents. As a result, more youth are sidelined from normal activities due to feelings of sadness and depression. There are also many youths who have considered or attempted suicide. According to the National Mental Health Association, more than 1 million American children take prescription drugs for major depression, anxiety or attention-deficit disorders. The Food and Drug Administration estimates that in 2002, doctors wrote about 11 million antidepressant prescriptions for children. Close to 2.7 million of those prescriptions were for children age 11 and younger. Clinicians in Fairfield County said, while youth depression and suicide is an issue, they place a higher focus on prevention." See also, at the same source, Antidepressant use growing, even among young children.
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Troubled Minds, Chaotic Care (Ohio)
An extensive special report in the Cincinnati Enquirer on problems with the Ohio mental health system. See articles included in the report such as Parents give up kids as last resort, Mentally ill children suffer in state-paid treatment centers, Officials: System has room for waste and Activist finds change overdue.
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An extensive special report in the Cincinnati Enquirer on problems with the Ohio mental health system. See articles included in the report such as Parents give up kids as last resort, Mentally ill children suffer in state-paid treatment centers, Officials: System has room for waste and Activist finds change overdue.
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Mental health reform brings worries (North Carolina)
Citizen Times story - "After years of wrangling, North Carolina this month stopped being the primary provider of public health services for people with mental health, developmental disability and substance abuse issues. People can no longer go to places such as Blue Ridge Mental Health Center or Trend to get treatment. Those places either spun off into nonprofit health providers or morphed into one local agency, the Western Highlands Local Management Entity. The new agency manages a network of private mental health care providers, much like an HMO. This move reflects a national shift away from putting people in state institutions and toward serving them in their own communities. It also addresses concerns about a disparity of services, which differed from county to county..."
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Citizen Times story - "After years of wrangling, North Carolina this month stopped being the primary provider of public health services for people with mental health, developmental disability and substance abuse issues. People can no longer go to places such as Blue Ridge Mental Health Center or Trend to get treatment. Those places either spun off into nonprofit health providers or morphed into one local agency, the Western Highlands Local Management Entity. The new agency manages a network of private mental health care providers, much like an HMO. This move reflects a national shift away from putting people in state institutions and toward serving them in their own communities. It also addresses concerns about a disparity of services, which differed from county to county..."
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Copyright 2003 © Bill Davis.
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