Oversight granted (California) Article in the July APA Monitor - "Some of California's neediest mental health patients stand to benefit from a recent regulatory development in that state. Psychologists in California now can manage the care of patients with serious mental illnesses in acute-care hospitals, thanks to new state regulations that recognize psychologists' expertise in diagnosing and treating mental disorders. The new regulations, issued by the state's Department of Health Services (DHS) in April, allow psychologists to direct patient care as medical staff members at acute-care hospitals in the state. For example, they can now independently make such decisions as when to admit, transfer and discharge patients. Previously, the regulations allowed only psychiatrists to do this work and to serve as attending clinicians, despite a 1978 state law that granted psychologists full clinical privileges."  
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Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Highlights CQ HealthBeat Coverage of Latest Medicaid News Item in the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report on recent developments related to Medicaid, based on reporting in CQ HealthBeat. One item of particular note is that "The federal commission tasked with recommending ways to cut $10 billion over five years from Medicaid has 60 days until its report is due; however, neither the commission's members nor a meeting schedule have been announced..."  
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Cost-Effectiveness Data Prove MH Care Won't Break Bank  Psychiatric News story - "New analytical methodologies demonstrate that treatment for psychiatric disorders can be cost-effective. Members of APA's Council on Healthcare Systems and Financing took a new look at a long-standing problem at APA's 2005 annual meeting in Atlanta in the session 'Funding for Psychiatry: From the Irrational to the Rational.' That intractable problem is what former APA President Paul Appelbaum, M.D., called the 'systematic defunding of the mental health system.' Edward Maxwell, M.D., opened the session with an overview of the funding trends and issues that have resulted in a serious discrepancy between the costs to provide needed mental health and substance abuse (MH/SA) services and resources devoted to them. Maxwell is an APA/Bristol-Myers Squibb Fellow at Brown University..." See also Where Does the Money Come From? And Where Does It Go? at the same source.  
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Researchers Closer to Matching Best Treatments to Depressed Teens Psychiatric News story - "Some surprising data from TADS lead NIMH scientists to search for factors that specifically influence the development of a treatment plan for adolescents with depression. Researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) are seeing some intriguing patterns as they continue to analyze data from the NIMH-funded Treatment of Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS). Although the analyses are preliminary, NIMH scientists are hopeful that the data may give clinicians evidence-based indications of which types of treatments will most benefit specific patients. .."  
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Collaboration Overcomes Resistance To Use of Practice Guidelines  Psychiatric News story - "Local opinion leaders are the most important factor in ensuring that any new technology or practice—such as incorporation of practice guidelines—is widely adopted. Rory Houghtalen, M.D.: 'If you look at the science, you know that a patient with two or more episodes of major depression is a candidate for maintenance antidepressant treatment.' David Hathcox Despite resistance and skepticism, practice guidelines can be implemented into routine clinical care in large organized systems of care. Moreover, they can be used to inform and facilitate staff and resident education and training, raise standards of care, stimulate research in areas where guidelines are deficient, and reduce public and professional stigma surrounding mental illness."  
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Bipolar patients face stigma, globally Reuters story - "Despite numerous public education campaigns for mental health and bipolar disorder in the United States and Canada, the stigma experienced by bipolar patients in these countries appears about the same as in others, according to a global survey released at the World Congress of Biological Psychiatry. The World Federation for Mental Health, of Alexandria, Virginia released the results of the survey of 687 patients who were drawn from the United States, Canada, Greece, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, and Italy. Preston J. Garrison, secretary and chief executive officer of the federation, said the degree of discrimination reported in the United States and Canada was about the same as other countries in the survey. And that surprised him, he said, because of the numerous efforts to inform the general public about these illnesses in Canada and the United States. In the United States, Garrison said, 82 percent of people with bipolar disorder feel discriminated against in their social circles. In the United States, 65 percent reported that families and teachers didn't understand their illness. In Canada the figure was 61 percent."  
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National approach to mental health needed (Australia) Transcript of an ABC radio broadcast - "When the Senate Select Committee on Mental Health holds public hearings in Melbourne today, it will be addressed by sufferers of mental illness, their carers and support organisations. All of them have one message: Australia needs to do more to help those living with mental health problems. The big question is exactly what can be done. Advocates say mental health services and standards are inconsistent around Australia and a new national approach is needed. New figures from one of the country's free helplines shows that nearly half the calls to the line related to untreated mental health problems."  
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Mental health must be integrated into global initiatives for HIV/AIDS RxPG News item, based on research published in the British Journal of Psychiatry - "A more prominent role is needed for mental health interventions in global HIV/AIDS initiatives, such as the World Health Organisation 'Treat 3 Million by 2005' ('3 by 5') Initiative. This is the conclusion of an editorial in the July issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, which reviews the reasons why mental health matters to HIV/AIDS treatment programmes in developing countries. In July 2004 a group of 18 mental health professionals from developed and developing countries met under the auspices of the WHO to consider how mental health should be integrated into the '3 by 5'. This editorial presents the key themes arising from the meeting."  
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Improve Care For Older People With Mental Health Needs (UK) Medical News Today story - "Today sees the launch of a practical leaflet which aims to improve services for older people with mental health needs, especially those who are in receipt of care or who are inpatients in hospital. Aimed at mental health staff, service providers and commissioners, Moving on: Key learning from Rowan Ward is published by The Care Services Improvement Partnership* (CSIP) as a 'hands on' response to the review of inpatient services for older people with mental health needs (2003). This concise and easy to read report presents ten key recommendations for staff that, when implemented, would improve the quality of existing care for older and often extremely vulnerable people." See also the leaflet Moving On (PDF format).  
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