Link Minds, Like Mine TV ad (WMV format)
We are featuring the second of three TV Ads developed in New Zealand by the Link 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. It may take sometime to download this file especially if you are not using a DSL line.
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Editor's Note
Please note that today is the last day of postings until Monday, June 14, when I'll return from a much-needed vacation. If you'd like to check some sources directly in the meanwhile, Yahoo Mental Health and PsycPORT each provide an index of mainstream press coverage, and there's a web versionof CMHA/Ontario's outstanding Mental Health Notes posted Thursday or Friday. The best free source for stories on clinical studies (though it does require registration) is Medscape Psychiatry. Be sure to check the links in the navigation menu on the left hand side of this page as well.............Bill
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The State of Mental Health Services in Massachusetts: The Impact of Inadequate Funding
NAMI report, in Adobe Acrobat format, available at the Open Minds web site - " After several years of cutbacks and service reductions, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is proposing to cut even more from its mental health system. The recently released House budget restores vital research funding and provides crucial funding for under-paid mental health workers, yet there is still a dire shortage of mental health services. Earlier this year there was a proposal to cut more than $5 million in 2005, cutting adult in-patient care and emergency services. This came on the heels of years of budget cuts, including $7.8 million in fiscal year 2002, more than $13.8 million in 2003, and another $12.7 million last year."
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NAMI report, in Adobe Acrobat format, available at the Open Minds web site - " After several years of cutbacks and service reductions, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is proposing to cut even more from its mental health system. The recently released House budget restores vital research funding and provides crucial funding for under-paid mental health workers, yet there is still a dire shortage of mental health services. Earlier this year there was a proposal to cut more than $5 million in 2005, cutting adult in-patient care and emergency services. This came on the heels of years of budget cuts, including $7.8 million in fiscal year 2002, more than $13.8 million in 2003, and another $12.7 million last year."
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Older Adults in Substance Abuse Treatment: 2001
A report, in Adobe Acrobat format, from the Drug and Alcohol Services Information System, available through the Open Minds web site - "This report examines substance abuse treatment admissions aged 55 or older in 2001, and compares them with younger admissions. In 2001, there were 58,000 admissions aged 55 or older among the 1.7 million substance abuse treatment admissions in the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS). While the number of admissions aged 55 or older has increased over the years, the proportion of admissions aged 55 or older has remained stable at 3 percent of all admissions."
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A report, in Adobe Acrobat format, from the Drug and Alcohol Services Information System, available through the Open Minds web site - "This report examines substance abuse treatment admissions aged 55 or older in 2001, and compares them with younger admissions. In 2001, there were 58,000 admissions aged 55 or older among the 1.7 million substance abuse treatment admissions in the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS). While the number of admissions aged 55 or older has increased over the years, the proportion of admissions aged 55 or older has remained stable at 3 percent of all admissions."
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Financial Incentives: Innovative Payment for Health Information Technology
A report, in Adobe Acrobat format, for the Health Strategies Consultancy, available at the Open Minds web site - " An increasing number of studies measure the value and cost effectiveness of CPOE, EHR, bar coding, electronic prescribing and other types of HIT. These analyses tend to focus on patient safety improvements, financial benefits from quality and efficiency improvements, and the development of a business case for HIT. In particular, these types of studies can play an important role in supporting the adoption of financial incentives programs; they emphasize the misalignment of costs and benefits among individual stakeholders adopting technology (e.g., purchasers, providers) and provide actuarial analyses and evidence for development of a business case and ROI for HIT. These studies tend to be site specific; therefore applicability of the analyses may be limited because they will not address each community’s unique and individual issues."
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A report, in Adobe Acrobat format, for the Health Strategies Consultancy, available at the Open Minds web site - " An increasing number of studies measure the value and cost effectiveness of CPOE, EHR, bar coding, electronic prescribing and other types of HIT. These analyses tend to focus on patient safety improvements, financial benefits from quality and efficiency improvements, and the development of a business case for HIT. In particular, these types of studies can play an important role in supporting the adoption of financial incentives programs; they emphasize the misalignment of costs and benefits among individual stakeholders adopting technology (e.g., purchasers, providers) and provide actuarial analyses and evidence for development of a business case and ROI for HIT. These studies tend to be site specific; therefore applicability of the analyses may be limited because they will not address each community’s unique and individual issues."
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Neurological Abnormalities in Schizophrenia and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Current Opinion in Psychiatry article at Medscape - "Due to the frequent observation of the coexistence of obsessive-compulsive and schizophrenic symptoms in the same patient, there is growing interest in the pathophysiological overlap between the two disorders. In order to identify the similarities and disparities between schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder, this review summarizes the recent findings from structural/functional neuroimaging, neuropsychological and electrophysiological literature on first-episode schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].
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Current Opinion in Psychiatry article at Medscape - "Due to the frequent observation of the coexistence of obsessive-compulsive and schizophrenic symptoms in the same patient, there is growing interest in the pathophysiological overlap between the two disorders. In order to identify the similarities and disparities between schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder, this review summarizes the recent findings from structural/functional neuroimaging, neuropsychological and electrophysiological literature on first-episode schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].
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Coalition Promoting Drug Discount Cards
New York Times story - "Lobbyists for the elderly, blacks and Hispanic Americans said on Sunday that they had begun a nationwide campaign to ensure that 5.5 million low-income Medicare beneficiaries receive drug discount cards, with a bonus of $1,200 in free medicine over the next 19 months. The initiative, by a coalition of 68 organizations, comes amid criticism from Democrats who say the drug card program is confusing and offers no significant savings. But the coalition said the cards would be worthwhile for low-income Medicare recipients because they could get subsidies of $600 this year and $600 in 2005." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].
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New York Times story - "Lobbyists for the elderly, blacks and Hispanic Americans said on Sunday that they had begun a nationwide campaign to ensure that 5.5 million low-income Medicare beneficiaries receive drug discount cards, with a bonus of $1,200 in free medicine over the next 19 months. The initiative, by a coalition of 68 organizations, comes amid criticism from Democrats who say the drug card program is confusing and offers no significant savings. But the coalition said the cards would be worthwhile for low-income Medicare recipients because they could get subsidies of $600 this year and $600 in 2005." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].
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How To Succeed In Health Information Technology
Health Affairs article - "The United States is poised to move the debate over electronic information systems for health care beyond the question of whether to computerize to how to computerize. Developers should heed the experiences of those who have already attempted similar efforts in vertically integrated environments. A key lesson is that the expertise and design perspectives of IT professionals should be supplemented with practical input from the caregivers and administrators who will actually use these systems. The paper by Douglas Bell and colleagues offers a ray of hope, as these authors have begun their process by asking the user community exactly what it needs."
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Health Affairs article - "The United States is poised to move the debate over electronic information systems for health care beyond the question of whether to computerize to how to computerize. Developers should heed the experiences of those who have already attempted similar efforts in vertically integrated environments. A key lesson is that the expertise and design perspectives of IT professionals should be supplemented with practical input from the caregivers and administrators who will actually use these systems. The paper by Douglas Bell and colleagues offers a ray of hope, as these authors have begun their process by asking the user community exactly what it needs."
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Translating Ideals For Health Information Technology Into Practice
Article in Health Affairs - "Standards for communication, content, function, and clinical knowledge are essential for electronic health records and e-prescribing, as well as other health information technologies. The current process for standard setting is competitive and voluntary, and it does not ensure that accepted standards will be incorporated into health information products. A three-tier architecture of development (research and validation), authorization (approval and dissemination), and certification (product evaluation) will make standards a core feature of future health information technology. Patient safety, health information technology uptake, and portability of data would all be enhanced by an orderly standard-diffusion process...."
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Article in Health Affairs - "Standards for communication, content, function, and clinical knowledge are essential for electronic health records and e-prescribing, as well as other health information technologies. The current process for standard setting is competitive and voluntary, and it does not ensure that accepted standards will be incorporated into health information products. A three-tier architecture of development (research and validation), authorization (approval and dissemination), and certification (product evaluation) will make standards a core feature of future health information technology. Patient safety, health information technology uptake, and portability of data would all be enhanced by an orderly standard-diffusion process...."
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How to Stop Depression Medications: Very Slowly
New York Times "Health/The Consumer" story - "Now that the Food and Drug Administration has warned Americans taking antidepressants to be on the lookout for potentially harmful side effects, including severe restlessness and suicidal thinking, some people may end up stopping the drugs. But going off antidepressants can bring its own problems. Stopping cold turkey can cause an array of troublesome symptoms, the most common being dizziness, which can last for days on end..." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].
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New York Times "Health/The Consumer" story - "Now that the Food and Drug Administration has warned Americans taking antidepressants to be on the lookout for potentially harmful side effects, including severe restlessness and suicidal thinking, some people may end up stopping the drugs. But going off antidepressants can bring its own problems. Stopping cold turkey can cause an array of troublesome symptoms, the most common being dizziness, which can last for days on end..." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].
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Talk therapy for teen depression spreads
UPI story at PsycPORT - "Counselors and psychologists of teens in the United States have begun adapting a talk therapy normally reserved for adults to treat youth depression. Cognitive behavioral therapy, once used mainly in adults to treat anxiety disorders, increasingly is being used to treat depression in kids, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. Several studies show this short-term approach can be as effective as other forms of therapy, even the increasingly popular anti-depressant drugs..."
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UPI story at PsycPORT - "Counselors and psychologists of teens in the United States have begun adapting a talk therapy normally reserved for adults to treat youth depression. Cognitive behavioral therapy, once used mainly in adults to treat anxiety disorders, increasingly is being used to treat depression in kids, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. Several studies show this short-term approach can be as effective as other forms of therapy, even the increasingly popular anti-depressant drugs..."
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SAMHSA Releases Data on Costs of Treatment for Alcohol and Drug Abuse
SAMHSA press release - "The average cost for treatment of alcohol or drug abuse in outpatient facilities was an estimated $1,433 per course of treatment in 2002, according to a new report announced today by The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The report, Alcohol and Drug Services Study Cost Study, finds that residential treatment for alcohol or drug abuse cost $3,840 per admission and outpatient methadone treatment cost $7,415 per admission in 2002." The full report is available in both HTML and Adobe Acrobat formats.
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SAMHSA press release - "The average cost for treatment of alcohol or drug abuse in outpatient facilities was an estimated $1,433 per course of treatment in 2002, according to a new report announced today by The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The report, Alcohol and Drug Services Study Cost Study, finds that residential treatment for alcohol or drug abuse cost $3,840 per admission and outpatient methadone treatment cost $7,415 per admission in 2002." The full report is available in both HTML and Adobe Acrobat formats.
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SAMHSA Launches Multimedia Mental Health Education Effort
SAMHSA press release - "The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today launched a multimedia public education effort aimed at increasing awareness of the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness. The campaign, “Mental Health: It’s Part of All Our Lives,” includes broadcast and print public service advertisements that seek to educate the public that mental illnesses are common, affecting almost every family in America, and that recovery can be expected. The campaign is a three-year initiative in eight states: California, Florida, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin..."
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SAMHSA press release - "The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today launched a multimedia public education effort aimed at increasing awareness of the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness. The campaign, “Mental Health: It’s Part of All Our Lives,” includes broadcast and print public service advertisements that seek to educate the public that mental illnesses are common, affecting almost every family in America, and that recovery can be expected. The campaign is a three-year initiative in eight states: California, Florida, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin..."
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Copyright 2003 © Bill Davis.
IIMHL Update is a project done in collaboration with MHCA and the Centre for Community Change International. IIMHL Update is powered by Radio Userland.