Mental Health Weekly articles from September 2010

Mental Health Weekly archives from September 2010

Tennessee integrated care organization prepares psychologists for new world.(Report)
September 27, 2010... Knoxville, Tenn.-based Cherokee Health Systems has evolved over more than half a century from its origins as a mental health services organization to a fully integrated primary care/behavioral health system. So it comes as no surprise that the...

Georgia lawsuit reveals ongoing challenges for integrated care.(Report)
September 27, 2010... A recently filed federal lawsuit on behalf of individuals with mental health and developmental disabilities to live in integrated settings highlights the increasing need for more community placement in the state and parallels a still pending...

New report addresses shared decision-making effort in Mass.
September 27, 2010... While shared decision making (SDM), a process involving participation by providers and clients in shared treatment decisions, is not considered a new concept, it does point to a shift from a traditional, medical model of care to a...

Study finds MH stigma a problem, despite treatment advances.
September 27, 2010... While the majority of the public embraces neurobiological explanations for mental illness, stigma still exists, prompting calls for a new approach in addressing the issue, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry....

House introduces bill to extend parity to Medicare Inpatient services.(Brief article)
September 27, 2010... House lawmakers this month introduced legislation to eliminate discriminatory coverage policies in Medicare. The new bill ensures Medicare beneficiaries receive full parity that other consumers will have under the federal parity law. The...

Health care reform marks half-year anniversary.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
September 27, 2010... Six months ago President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which expands access to mental health and addiction treatment. September 23 also marks when many of the legislation's provisions begin to take effect. For...

Employers addressing health reform impact in enrollment materials.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Survey)(Brief article)
September 27, 2010... An annual survey of Fortune 1000 companies and their current and future Summary Plan Description (SPD) plans and processes reveal that 75 percent of employers plan to address the impact of health care reform in their open enrollment materials....

Personality predicts cheating more than academic struggles.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
September 27, 2010... Students who cheat in high school and college are highly likely to fit the profile for subclinical psychopathy--a personality disorder defined by erratic lifestyle, manipulation, callousness and antisocial tendencies, according to research...

Study: 1 in 3 adolescents engage in violent behaviors.(Report)(Brief article)
September 27, 2010... A new national study reveals that nearly 7.8 million adolescents ages 12 to 17, almost one third (30.9 percent), participated in any of three violent behaviors over the past year. The study, conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health...

Ohio providers, advocates promote mental health awareness.(STATE NEWS)(Brief article)
September 27, 2010... Ohio Wesleyan University, the Delaware-Morrow Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, area treatment providers, advocates, and other community partners plan to meet on the Ohio Wesleyan campus to promote mental health awareness and recovery...

'Haunted house' plans upset MH community in Pennsylvania.(STATE NEWS)(Brief article)
September 27, 2010... Pennhurst State Hospital, vacant for more than 20 years is being filled with fake skeletons, hanging torsos, coffins, exam tables and other frightful things as new investors begin redevelopment efforts by turning it into a haunted house set to...

Children's advocates push for earlier screening of Maine kids.(STATE NEWS)(Brief article)
September 27, 2010... The Maine Children's Alliance last week released its first report focusing specifically on the mental health issues of Maine's kids, reported the Maine Public Broadcasting System on September 21. The Children's Alliance President Dean Crocker...

Coming up ...(STATE NEWS)(Center for School Mental Health)(American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology)(Institute for Behavioral Health Informatics)(Calendar)
September 27, 2010... The Center for School Mental Health (CSMH), in collaboration with the IDEA Partnership, will sponsor the 15th Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health, with the theme "School Mental Health and Promoting Positive School Culture," to be...

New integrated program in Illinois to reform care delivery for disabled.(Report)
September 20, 2010... Illinois health officials last week unveiled plans to reform the delivery of care to seniors and consumers with disabilities, controlling costs and in the process implementing the state's first-ever integrated health care program for this...

Washington employer earns recognition for managing workplace MH disability.(Report)
September 20, 2010... When an employee who suffers an impairing physical injury returns to work, the employer generally receives quantitative information about the worker's limitations, such as how much weight the person can safely lift. Understanding the possible...

Magellan, Arizona offer smoking cessation program for SMI.(Report)
September 20, 2010... Arizona Department of Health officials and Magellan Health Services of Arizona this month announced a partnership to implement a tobacco cessation program for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI)--an initiative that parallels Magellan's...

NAMI pushes for key issues in legislative discussions as elections near.(National Alliance on Mental Illness)(Brief article)
September 20, 2010... As the November election draws near, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is calling on consumers to ask their candidates for public office about their intentions to address the country's mental health crisis. Housing needs,...

Survey: suicidal ideation more prevalent among young adults.(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)(Survey)
September 20, 2010... The rates of thinking seriously about committing suicide, making plans for suicide, and attempting suicide were higher among young adults ages 18 to 25 than the rates among other age groups, and higher among the unemployed than among those in...

HHS awards more than $14 million for patient outcomes research.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Department of Health and Human Services)(Brief article)
September 20, 2010... U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary for Health Howard K. Koh, M.D., M.P.H., announced the award of more than $14 million to develop, implement, and test strategies to increase the adoption and dissemination of...

Non-suicidal self-injury becoming more common in the young.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Report)(Brief article)
September 20, 2010... A recent study on the mental health of college students, presented in August at the American Psychological Association (APA) meeting, found evidence that more young people are injuring themselves, LiveScience.com reported last week. Several...

NJAMHAA expands to represent addiction providers.(STATE NEWS)(New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, Inc.,)(Brief article)
September 20, 2010... The New Jersey Association of Mental Health Agencies recently expanded to become the official trade association representing N.J. addiction treatment providers and added "Addiction" to its name, becoming the New Jersey Association of Mental...

New York awards $109 million for health information technology.(STATE NEWS)(Brief article)
September 20, 2010... Eleven health care organizations in New York state will receive a total of $109 million in state grants to improve the coordination of health care through the use of health information technology to coordinate health care for patients with...

Oregon suicide rates outpace the national average.(STATE NEWS)(Brief article)
September 20, 2010... According to a new report, "Suicides in Oregon: Trends and Risk Factors," from Oregon Public Health, Oregon's suicide rate is 35 percent higher than the national average. The rate is 15.2 suicides per 100,000 people compared to the national rate...

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine).(NAMES IN THE NEWS)(Brief article)
September 20, 2010... The American Psychiatric Association (APA) last week presented Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), with APA's highest award in advocacy, the Jacob K. Javits Award for Public Service, in recognition of her ongoing efforts for those living with mental...

Heyward Donigan.(NAMES IN THE NEWS)(Brief article)
September 20, 2010... ValueOptions Inc. announced last week that Heyward Donigan will succeed Barbara Hill as the company's next CEO. Since 2003, Donigan has served as executive vice president of Premera Blue Cross, the largest insurer in Washington and Alaska with...

AACAP and APA release updated medication guide for depression.(RESOURCES)(American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)(American Psychiatric Association)(Brief article)
September 20, 2010... The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) last week announced the release of a newly revised, updated, and expanded version of "The Use of Medication in Treating Childhood and...

Coming up ...(Center for School Mental Health)(The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology )(Brief article)(Calendar)
September 20, 2010... The Center for School Mental Health (CSMH), in collaboration with the IDEA Partnership, will sponsor the 15th Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health, with the theme "School Mental Health and Promoting Positive School Culture," to be...

In case you haven't heard ...
September 20, 2010... The Gulf oil spill has the potential to do mental health and addiction damage to individuals throughout the U.S., according to Mark Agresti,M.D., a psychiatrist in West Palm Beach, Florida. Studies of previous tragedies such as the Challenger...

Illinois advocacy community awaits judge's decision on landmark agreement.(Williams v. Quinn)
September 13, 2010... Advocates, consumers and mental health providers in Illinois have been fighting for thousands of people with mental illness living in nursing homes (known as Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMDs), to give them the opportunity to live in a...

N.M. agency finds that open access transforms operations, revenue flow.(Carlsbad Mental Health Center in New Mexico)
September 13, 2010... The clinical staff at Carlsbad Mental Health Center in New Mexico this year is seeing about 450 more clients a month than it did just two years ago, and with no increase in the number of workers. The action most responsible for this increase in...

CHADD CEO submits resignation.(children and adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder)
September 13, 2010... E. Clarke Ross, CEO of Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD) for the past 10 years, submitted his resignation effective September 2, 2010. Among his achievements, Ross established CHADD's National Resource...

Health reform holds opportunities, 'new agenda' for BH field.(Report)
September 13, 2010... About one-third of the newly insured population under health care reform will have a mental health or substance use condition, triggering opportunities for the behavioral health field to be at the table and develop strategies as new concepts and...

Magellan outcomes program offers 'real time' treatment plans.
September 13, 2010... A new health outcomes measurement program for individuals accessing outpatient care through Magellan Health Services has reported significant emotional improvement in consumers with mental illness. The tools also provide clinicians with a means...

National partnership to focus on co-occurring disorders.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
September 13, 2010... NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals, and Hazelden, the national nonprofit focused on addiction treatment, prevention and recovery, announced last week a new strategic partnership focused on improving the treatment of co-occurring...

Arkansas researchers receive $2.7 million grant for mental health care.(STATE NEWS)(Brief article)
September 13, 2010... University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) officials announced last week that area researchers will receive a five-year, $2.78 million grant to improve mental health care in community health centers throughout Arkansas. The National...

NAMI's peer classes offer interactive curriculum in English and Spanish.(RESOURCES)(National Alliance on Mental Illness)(Brief article)
September 13, 2010... The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) will offer peer-to-peer classes across the country this fall using a new, interactive curriculum available in both English and Spanish. NAMI's Peer-to-Peer Recovery Program is designed for people...

Coming up ...(National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health)(New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services)(Center for School Mental Health)(Brief article)(Calendar)
September 13, 2010... The National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health (TA Center) will sponsor the 2010 Rural Behavioral Health Symposium September 21-23 in Glendale, Ariz. Visit http://gucchdtacenter.georgetown.edu for more information. The...

Correction.(Correction notice)
September 13, 2010... In the September 6, 2010 Mental Health Weekly article, "Field releases policy report to address BH needs in health care reform," we incorrectly stated that Joseph Parks, M.D. was president of the National Association of State Mental Health...

In case you haven't heard ...(postpartum depression)(Brief article)
September 13, 2010... Do men suffer from postpartum depression? A British study funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) says one in five men suffer from depression after becoming fathers as they juggle lack of sleep, extra responsibilities and a changed...

Field releases policy report to address BH needs in health care reform.(Exclusive Report)(Report)
September 6, 2010... Faced with the prospect of a realignment of the nation's health care system courtesy of health care reform, more than 60 leaders of the mental health and substance abuse field worked together to sharpen their message to the federal government...

Savings from center's energy audit could preserve dollars for services.
September 6, 2010... Mental health organizations these days must explore any possible strategies that will allow them to maintain funding support for key services. A community mental health center in Illinois may have landed an opportunity to achieve significant...

Five policy priorities for SMI population.(Conference news)
September 6, 2010... A new report, "Recommendations to Foster System Reform for Adults with Mental Illness," was developed following a national meeting in November 2009 of mental health professionals, commissioners, advocates, providers and consumers, as an...

SAMHSA reorganization: maximize resources, promote innovation.(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration)(Report)
September 6, 2010... In an effort to strengthen agency collaboration and streamline such functions as financial management procedures, and coordinate the review of grant proposals, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) reorganized its...

Organizers push for parental alienation disorder in DSM-5.
September 6, 2010... The Canadian Symposium for Parental Alienation Syndrome (CSPAS) last week announced plans to host its annual conference in New York City next month, an event that organizers anticipate will bring more attention to and education about this...

New study finds religion benefits older adults with schizophrenia.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Report)(Brief article)
September 6, 2010... Religiousness may have a positive impact on the quality of life of older adults with schizophrenia, according to new research looking at a large multiracial group of older adults with schizophrenia living in the community. The research is...

NAMI concerned about budget impact on impoverished mothers.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(National Alliance on Mental Illness)(National Alliance on Mental Illness )(Report)(Brief article)
September 6, 2010... The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) raised added concern last week about a study released by The Urban Institute that shows more than one-half of babies in poverty are being raised by mothers living with depression, creating parenting...

Underfunded Kansas mental hospitals feel pinch.(STATE NEWS)(Brief article)
September 6, 2010... An increasing demand for mental health services is putting a strain on Kansas' mental hospitals whose funding has been clipped due to a state budget crisis. A legislative committee heard last week that the Department of Social and Rehabilitation...

N.Y. Gov. Paterson vetoes Veterans' Mental Health Act.(STATE NEWS)(Brief article)
September 6, 2010... Gov. David A. Paterson last week vetoed the Veterans' Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Act (A.11098/S.7961), legislation that would have fostered interagency cooperation and addressed the needs of veterans and their families with mental...

New webinar series.(RESOURCES)(American College Of Mental Health Administration)
September 6, 2010... ACMHA, The College for Behavioral Health Leadership, is hosting a new 12-month critical issue webinar series to be hosted by president-elect Ron Manderscheid. The series is focused on the new health reform legislation and what it means for...

Coming up ...(National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health)(National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health )(Center for School Mental Health)(Calendar)
September 6, 2010... The National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health (TA Center) will sponsor the 2010 Rural Behavioral Health Symposium September 21-23 in Glendale, Ariz. Visit http://gucchdtacenter.georgetown.edu for more information. The...

In case you haven't heard ...(Report)(Brief article)
September 6, 2010... Shortly after the announcement of Elin Nordegren's divorce from Tiger Woods, the word is that she might use part of her settlement of $100 million to set up a clinic to provide mental health counseling for underprivileged families. As...