"Comparative mental health policy: Are there lessons to be learned?"
By Steve Lurie of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Toronto Branch, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This article was published in the International Review of Psychiatry, published by Routledge, part of the Taylor and Francis Group, in their volume 17, number 2 / April 2005 and through whose courtesy IIMHL members will be able to review the article free of charge for the month of July.
The article can be accessed by clicking either here or here. IIMHL wishes to thank the Taylor and Francis Group and gratefully acknowledge their making this review available. IIMHL members wishing to further review the Taylor and Francis website and / or review other articles should click here.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
House Level-Funds Most Community Mental Health Programs Story at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law - "The House of Representatives on June 24 passed an appropriations bill (H.R. 3010) for fiscal year 2006 funding Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) programs and services. Members essentially ignored the need for more dollars to meet the increased treatment needs of children and adults with serious mental illnesses. The President’s budget had proposed no new funding for SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) and deep cuts to its discretionary budget, referred to as the Programs of Regional and National Significance (PRNS). The House went along with the President on level funding, but restored the cuts to the PRNS..."
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SAMHSA Awards 30 Grants Totaling $59.5 Million to Provide Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services for Homeless People SAMHSA press release - "The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today announced 30 grants totaling $59.5 million over five years to provide substance abuse and mental health services to homeless individuals. These grants will enable communities to expand and strengthen their treatment services for homeless individuals with substance abuse disorders, mental illness, or co-occurring substance abuse disorders and mental illness."
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Survey Shows Strong Support for Medicaid Newsday story - "The public's attitude toward Medicaid remains positive despite the big impact the program is having on state budgets and lawmakers' frequent calls for reform, an opinion survey released Wednesday shows. Nearly three-quarters of adults say the nation's health insurance program for the poor is a "very important" government program, ranking it close to Social Security (88 percent) and Medicare (83 percent), equal to aid to public schools, and ahead of defense (57 percent) and foreign aid (20 percent)." See also National Survey of the Public's Views About Medicaid at the Kaiser Family Foundation web site.
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Senate Votes for $1.5 Billion In Extra Veterans Affairs Funds Washington Post story - "The Senate, after a series of angry partisan exchanges, unanimously approved yesterday $1.5 billion in emergency funds for the Department of Veterans Affairs' health care programs. The action is the first step in what now appears to become a total increase of at least $2.5 billion in fiscal 2005 and 2006. Hours before the Senate's 96 to 0 vote, the last opponents in the House and Bush administration to boosted VA spending told reporters that they have abandoned their resistance. ... Virtually all veterans groups -- including the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans and the Veterans of Foreign Wars -- have complained bitterly that the administration and the Republican leadership have abandoned a commitment to treat VA health care as an integral 'cost of war.' " [Viewing Washington Post stories requires registration, which is free.]
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As more get help, stigma of mental illness fades Story in The Tennessean - "It looks like some progress is being made in erasing the stigma of mental illness. Not enough yet but some, which is good news. 'Stigma is only ignorance,' I remember hearing Kathy Cronkite, the daughter of the famed television newsman Walter Cronkite, say back in February 1997 during a symposium at the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University. 'The problem with stigma isn't that it hurts people's feelings. Stigma keeps people from getting help.' ...'"
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Cruise and lawmakers battle in a war of the words on mental health Story at The Hill - "Tom Cruise’s erratic behavior on his recent worldwide publicity tour has been fodder for gossip columnists and late-night talk-show hosts for weeks, but now the movie star’s comments on mental-health issues last week are attracting serious criticism from members of Congress. Appearing on NBC’s Today show to promote his upcoming movie "War of the Worlds," Cruise called psychiatry "a pseudoscience' and dismissed the effectiveness of antidepressants. The Congressional Mental Health Caucus this week criticized his remarks, saying that the celebrity has reinforced negative perceptions." See also Psychiatrists condemn Cruise mental health remarks (Reuters) - "The American Psychiatric Association on Monday sharply criticised actor Tom Cruise for televised remarks ..."
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Mental health care 'not holistic' (UK) BBC story - "People with severe mental illness are still receiving worryingly sub-standard levels of physical care, a report says. Experts believe poor physical care contributes towards a three times higher rate of premature death among those with severe mental problems. This group is at greater risk of physical illness, often due to their mental illness and lifestyle factors. Among those contributing to the report are mental health charities Rethink and Sane, and the Royal College of Nursing."
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Strong Support for New Mental Health Strategy (New Zealand) Story at Scoop - "Richmond Fellowship, the national provider of support services, says the Government’s new 10-year plan for mental health is an excellent blueprint that will encourage services to be more accessible and innovative. Te Tâhuhu: Improving Mental Health is New Zealand’s second mental health and addiction plan, outlining Government policy and priorities for mental health to 2015 and providing direction for investment in services. It describes ten leading challenges, including promotion of mental health and prevention of illness; building mental health services, including more services for children and young people; broadening the choice of services; improving responsiveness; workforce development; strengthening the primary health sector, and improving availability to addiction services."
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Mental-health drug wrangling raising anxiety (Florida) Story at the Daytona Beach News-Journal - "Faced with soaring drug costs, Florida officials have toyed for years with restricting mental-health drugs for Medicaid patients. But now, as the state starts to move forward with the controversial idea, a dispute with one of the nation's largest pharmaceutical companies is helping stoke fears that the restrictions could disrupt the treatment of low-income people with severe mental illnesses..." See also Critics decry plan to limit prescription drugs on Medicaid (Sun-Sentinel), State criticizes drug maker for avoiding discount deal (Miami Herald), Medicaid Changes May Be Costly, Some Claim (The Ledger) and State raps Eli Lilly for attacks on drug plan (Palm Beach Post).
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Copyright 2003 © Bill Davis.
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