Monday, May 19, 2003

HHS expands online health information for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders
May 13 HHS press release on "two new online health resources of special interest to Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. The new Web sites expand on the department's Steps to a HealthierUS initiative, which underscores the President's call to action for healthy lifestyles through public awareness of disease prevention efforts." See the Just For You page at the Healthfinder web site, which now includes a new section devoted to Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations, and Asian American Health, a companion Web site launched by the National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine.  
  

Lawmakers OK Bill to Stop Rx Coercion in Schools
Reuters Health story at Yahoo - "A House committee approved a bill Thursday directing states to bar public schools from requiring children with behavior problems to take medication before they can attend classes. Specifically, the bill directs states to come up with policies banning the practice as a precondition for receiving federal education dollars."  
  

Task force to investigate mental health funds (Maryland)
Baltimore Business Journal story on a bill that "will create a task force to investigate funding of state mental health programs, find out if mental health has been regarded as secondary in importance come budget time and, presumably, try to prevent underfunding from occurring in the future."  
  

Officials plan to close center for severely disabled in St. Louis
St. Louis Post-Dispatch story - "The Missouri Department of Mental Health plans to close a center for the severely disabled in St. Louis and move its residents to a facility in south St. Louis County - a decision that has rankled parents of residents at the South County center."  
  

North Carolina nears start of reforming mental health treatment system
AP feature at the Raleigh News-Observer - "Starting this summer, North Carolina will start tearing down and rebuilding its system of providing mental health care for people who need it. Eventually, the state will cut the number of beds at psychiatric hospitals in half. The goal is offering each patient a personalized care plan in the community where he or she lives. Treatment plans will be tailored to each person's needs, and the patient will be part of the planning process. Nearly everyone involved in mental health care agrees that the system needs change, but there are many doubters...."