Preventable physical illness in people with mental illness
University of Western Australia School of Population Health - "This unique study has examined the health experience of 240,000 Western Australians who have used mental health services during 1980-98 (representing about 8% of the population at any one time). Using de-identified data, their hospital admission rates, cancer incidence rates and death rates have been examined. People with mental illness are among the most marginalized people in our community. The consequences of mental illness often extend beyond the direct symptoms of the illness to affect people’s social and economic well being and all aspects of their lives. The aim of this study was to examine the physical health of people with mental illness. The purpose was to provide data that can be used to improve health services and design health promotion activities that can be specifically targeted at people with mental illness." There are three documents that can be downloaded and may be slow depending on the speed of your connection. We suggest that you read the two summaries first. If you have any comments, you can contact one of the authors at D'Arcy Holman [darcy@dph.uwa.edu.au]
Monday, October 25, 2004
Medscape Medical News story - "Cognitive enhancement therapy is more beneficial than state-of-the-art enriched supportive therapy in reducing disability from schizophrenia, according to the results of a two-year randomized trial published in the September issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry." "med"
comment []
PowerPoint presentation made at the "Making Gains" conference earlier this month by Jason Newberry based on two studies he conducted. A related item in CMHA/Ontario's Mental Health Notes remarks that "The goals of the studies were to better understand what resources or forms of power help consumers to participate meaningfully on boards and what impact different models of board governance have upon consumer participation. To do this, he developed a model that described different elements of meaningful participation. He interviewed people from the governing boards of five Ontario CMHA branches, including consumers, professionals and executive directors, in order to test the usefulness of the model in defining whether participation was meaningful or not." To advance through the PowerPoint presentation, click on the scroll bar.
comment []
Article in the October Psychiatric Times - "The Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2003 (S1194/HR2387) now before the U.S. Congress authorizes $100 million in each of the next two years to foster collaboration between criminal justice and mental health programs at state and local levels. Passed with bipartisan sponsorship and support in the Senate in October 2003, the House version of the bill is currently in committee in the House of Representatives. It would parcel out funds as seed grants, with matching state funds increasing over time, to joint applicants from criminal justice and mental health organizations. Initiatives eligible for funding include mental health courts that incorporate treatment components into sentencing; training programs for mental health and criminal justice personnel to improve recognition and responsiveness to mental illness in offenders; and programs that facilitate transition from incarceration to community and increase access to community-based mental health care."
comment []
Article in the October Psychiatric Times - "Over the past quarter-century, new treatments for depression have emerged that are as effective as original pharmacotherapies but have fewer side effects. Yet, full remission and access to care remain out of reach for so many people. In this introduction to our Depressive Disorders Special Report, Dr. Golden encourages readers to see the glass as half-full..." See also, in the same issue, Depression and Obesity: A Complex Relationship (a new CME unit), Psychotherapy and Combined Therapy for Depressive Disorders in Later Life, and Novel Antipsychotics for Treatment-Resistant Depression.
comment []
Article in the current Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published by the Center for Disease Control - "Poor mental health is a major source of distress, disability, and social burden; in any given year, as many as one in five adults in the United States has a mental disorder. To identify differences among populations and factors contributing to poor mental health, CDC examined the prevalence of frequent mental distress (FMD) among U.S. adults by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), and sex, by using aggregate data from Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) surveys for 1993--2001. This report describes the results of that analysis, which indicated that the prevalence of FMD varied among racial/ethnic populations and increased substantially among whites and blacks. In addition, FMD was reported more frequently by women and by persons with low SES within each racial/ethnic population. Targeting adverse socioeconomic risk factors and improving access to mental health services might decrease FMD among adults and reduce racial/ethnic disparities in mental health..." See also the related news story at WebMD.
comment []
Center for the Advancement of Health press release at EurekAlert - "New Yorkers' use of mental health services rose only slightly during the year after the September 11, 2001, World Trade Center attacks compared with the year before the attacks, a recent study suggests. But the number of mental health visits among people already receiving treatment increased after the attacks. The study is one of the few to look at long-term use of community mental health services within a population after a major catastrophic event, say Joseph A. Boscarino, Ph.D., M.P.H., and colleagues at the New York Academy of Medicine and Florida State University. Their findings appear in the journal General Hospital Psychiatry."
comment []
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.