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I'm a 32 year-old first-time mama chronicling the jump off the cliff into parenthood and the free-fall into divorce. Thank you for the service of reading along.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

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Women's Health Vital information on major women's health concerns. From Major Illnesses to Common Disorders. Details on their symptoms, causes and treatments.
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Friday, February 23, 2007

WEB CHAT ON MENTAL HEALTH PARITY WITH SAMHSA ADMINISTRATOR

> Media Advisory
>>
>> In an effort to improve access to quality, effective mental health care
>> and overcome the obstacles of stigma, the Bush Administration recently
>> announced the formation of the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. -
>> charged to study the problems and gaps in our current system of mental
>> health treatment and make concrete recommendations for immediate
>> improvements to be implemented at the federal, state and community level
>> as well as public and private health care providers.
>>
>> SAMHSA Administrator Charles G. Curie, M.A., A.C.S.W., will host an
>> online
>> discussion to discuss mental health parity and the President's New
>> Freedom Commission on Mental Health. Issues to be addressed include
>> identifying needs of patients, examining barriers to care and
>> investigating community-based care models that have success in
>> coordinating and providing mental health services. This webchat is being
>> held in recognition of May as National Mental Health Month.
>>
>> The stigma of mental illness often discourages patients from seeking care
>> despite the existence of new drugs and therapies that have vastly
>> improved
>> the chances for effective treatment and recovery. Without access to
>> necessary and effective quality care, far too many Americans will live
>> with untreated mental illness that too often can lead to homelessness,
>> drug and alcohol addiction or incarceration.
>>
>> Curie was appointed by President George W. Bush in November 2001 as
>> Administrator of SAMHSA, the lead federal agency for improving the
>> quality
>> and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment and
>> mental health services in the United States. He has over 20 years of
>> professional experience in the mental health and substance arena. His
>> core commitment to ensuring that people with addictive and mental
>> disorders have the opportunity to realize the dream of equal access to
>> full participation in American society has earned him national
>> recognition.
>>
>>
>> WHO: Charles G. Curie, M.A., A.C.S.W., Administrator SAMHSA
>>
>> WHEN: May 23, 2002; 3:00p.m. - 4:00p.m., EST
>>
>> WHERE: http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/newsroom/webchat/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>

Fw: National Women's Hall of Fame Inducts Rosalynn Carter


>> National Women's Hall of Fame Inducts Rosalynn Carter
>>
>> ATLANTA, Oct. 2 (AScribe Newswire) -- On Oct. 5, former First Lady
>> Rosalynn Carter, vice chair of The Carter Center, will be inducted into
>> the
>> National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, N.Y. Widely recognized for
>> her
>> advocacy work on mental health issues over the last 30 years, Mrs. Carter
>> has
>> galvanized key partnerships in the campaign to eliminate stigma against
>> those
>> with mental illness, to achieve mental health insurance coverage parity,
>> and
>> to screen our youth early for mental and behavioral disorders.
>>
>> "Her life-long work on behalf of women, children, and the mentally
>> ill
>> is a living testament to her vision and character. In this day and age,
>> Mrs.
>> Carter's ongoing dedication to making our country a better place for all
>> is,
>> indeed, a great and worthy achievement," said Marilyn Bero, president of
>> the
>> National Women's Hall of Fame.
>>
>> A full partner with President Carter in all of the Carter Center's
>> activities, the former First Lady also created and chairs the Carter
>> Center's
>> Mental Health Task Force, an advisory body of experts and advocates
>> promoting
>> positive change in the mental health field. She also has spearheaded the
>> annual Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy. In addition,
>> Mrs.
>> Carter has chaired the World Federation for Mental Health's International
>> Committee of Women Leaders for Mental Health since its establishment. As
>> First Lady of the United States, Mrs. Carter served as honorary chair of
>> the
>> President's Commission on Mental Health. Within one year, the Commission
>> assessed the current system and made recommendations for new legislation
>> by
>> undertaking a series of public hearings across the country. In September
>> 1980, Congress passed the Mental Health Systems Act.
>>
>> Mother of four, Mrs. Carter has maintained a life-long dedication
>> to
>> issues affecting women and children. In 1991, she launched with Mrs.
>> Betty
>> Bumpers, wife of former U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers of Arkansas, "Every Child
>> By
>> Two," a nationwide campaign to publicize the need for early childhood
>> immunizations. Mrs. Carter is president of the board of directors for the
>> Rosalynn Carter Institute of Georgia Southwestern State University (RCI),
>> which was established in her honor on the campus of her alma mater in
>> Americus, Ga., to help family and professional caregivers.
>>
>> Mrs. Carter has received many honors in the health and mental
>> health
>> fields and is the author of four books: First Lady from Plains,
>> Everything to
>> Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life, Helping Yourself Help
>> Others:
>> A Book for Caregivers, and Helping Someone With Mental Illness: A
>> Compassionate Guide for Family, Friends, and Caregivers.
>>
>> Mrs. Carter will be only the third First Lady ever inducted into the
>> Hall
>> of Fame joining Abigail Adams (inducted in 1976) and Eleanor Roosevelt
>> (inducted in 1973). Other Georgians already so honored have been:
>>
>> Jacqueline Cochran (1906-1980) - first woman aviator to break the
>> sound barrier and to pilot a bomber across the Atlantic (WW II). Jeanette
>> Rankin (1880-1973) - first woman elected to U.S. Congress. Ella Baker
>> (1903-1986) - civil rights leader and co-founder of the Southern
>> Christian
>> Leadership Conference, headed by Martin Luther King, Jr. Mary McLeod
>> Bethune
>> (1875-1955) - teacher who began a school to help educate young African
>> American women and worked to end discrimination through her leadership of
>> the
>> National Council of Negro Women. Juliette Gordon Low (1860-1927) founder
>> of
>> the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. Bessie Smith (1898-1937) one of the
>> country's
>> greatest blues singers.
>>
>> Originally named to the Hall of Fame in 2001, Mrs. Carter's
>> induction
>> was postponed a year, due to the Sept.11 attacks. The other 2001
>> inductees to
>> be honored include Dorothy Andersen, Lucille Ball, Lydia Maria Child,
>> Bessie
>> Coleman, Dorothy Day, Marian de Forest, Althea Gibson, Beatrice Hicks,
>> Barbara Holdridge, Harriet Strong, Emily Warner, and Victoria Woodhull.
>> Joining them are the 2002 inductees Paulina Davis, Ruth Bader Ginsburg,
>> Katharine Graham, Bertha Holt, Mary Engle Pennington, and Mercy Otis
>> Warren.
>> The October induction will bring the total number of inductees to 195.
>> Seneca
>> Falls, N.Y. is the birthplace of the women's rights movement and site of
>> the
>> first Women's Rights Convention in 1848.
>>
>> The not-for-profit, nongovernmental Carter Center was founded in
>> 1982
>> by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn. In
>> partnership
>> with Emory University, the Center works to wage peace, fight disease, and
>> build hope for millions of people around the world. Led by Mrs. Carter
>> since
>> its inception, the Center's Mental Health Program will host the annual
>> Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy, November 6-7. This
>> year's
>> topic is a Status Report: Meeting the Mental Health Needs of the Country
>> in
>> the Wake of September 11, 2001.
>>
>> To learn more about the Carter Center Mental Health Program, please
>> visit: www.cartercenter.org.
>>
>> -30-
>>
>>

Fw: Program to Support Recovery - Enhancing Dr./Pt. Communication is Key

New Program Will Support Recovery for People With Mental Illness; Enhancing Doctor/Patient Communication Is Key

The National Mental Health Association (NMHA) is launching an educational program, Dialogue for Recovery, to improve communication between healthcare professionals and people with serious mental illness.

"Communication between consumers of mental health services and their entire healthcare team is vital to finding a road to recovery that is effective and enhances quality of life," said Michael M. Faenza, NMHA president and CEO. "Millions of Americans have serious mental illnesses; recent medical advances and improved community support programs allow most to recover faster and lead fuller lives in their communities."

Dialogue for Recovery features a new tool called the Antipsychotic Side-Effects Checklist (ASC), designed to facilitate communication about treatment successes and medication side-effects. "Unfortunately, side-effects caused by antipsychotic medications can be a major impetus for patients to discontinue their treatment, which ultimately hinders their recovery," said Faenza.

In fact, 50 to 70 percent of patients with schizophrenia stop taking their medication at some point over the course of their illness, leading to recurrences of symptoms and relapses -- which can have an enormous impact on the course of an illness and on the healthcare system. In 2000, $40 billion was spent on direct and indirect costs relating to schizophrenia.

The Dialogue for Recovery program includes the ASC tool, a video, tips on how patient and physicians can improve their communication with each other, fact sheets and other educational pieces. The program will be distributed through NMHA's 340 Mental Health Association affiliates.

The ASC tool was developed by a medical steering committee led by Peter Weiden, MD, SUNY Health Science Center, Brooklyn, NY and Alexander Miller, M.D., University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX.

Dialogue for Recovery and ASC are supported by unrestricted educational grants from AstraZeneca.

The National Mental Health Association is the country's oldest and largest nonprofit organization addressing all aspects of mental health and mental illness. With more than 340 affiliates nationwide, NMHA works to improve the mental health of all Americans through advocacy, education, research and service.

Source: PRNewswire



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Fw: New Freedom Commission on Mental Health Meeting

New Freedom Commission on Mental Health Meeting
>
>
>> fyi
>>
>> Carole Schauer
>> Consumer Affairs Specialist
>> Center for Mental Health Services
>> 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 15-99
>> Rockville, Maryland 20857
>> Telephone: (301) 443-8304
>> FAX: (301) 443-5163
>>
>> SUBSCRIBE To the CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News!!
>> For the latest news and information on CMHS and federal
>> consumer-related programs and
>> activities, grant announcements and funding opportunities, policy
>> statements, reports and
>> press releases, requests for public comment, and news on upcoming
>> meetings and
>> conferences, subscribe to the CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News by visiting
>> the
>> Consumer/Survivor page of the Center for Mental Health Services Web
>> site at:
>> http://www.mentalhealth.org/consumersurvivor/
>>
>>

Fw: Treat Yourself or Someone You Love

>> LAURA MANCUSO is a very good friend with a lot of energy, vitality, and
>> goodwill. She's also ingenious and has tapped into an important part of
>> the
>> healing and recovery process. It's all contained in a wonderful Web
>> site -
>> www.LunaGifts.com. Visit and Enjoy! Treat yourself or someone you love
>> who
>> is in need of support.
>>
>> Happy New Year!
>> Laura
>>
>> From Laura (Mancuso) "As you will see, we have a special gift basket for
>> people experiencing depression. As with all of the disease-specific
>> gifts, it
>> was designed on
>> the basis of interviews with people living with depression. We also have
>> a
>> Breast Cancer Recovery Gift Basket already for sale, and are just now
>> completing our HIV/AIDS interviews.
>>
>> The other two current products are a more generic, uplifting "Basket of
>> Laughs" and "Basket of Joy."
>>
>> We donate a portion of the proceeds from each sale to a related charity.
>> For the depression one, it's the local chapter of the National Mental
>> Health
>> Association, which provides lots of direct services to
>> consumers/survivors."
>>
>> *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
>>

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    Monday, February 19, 2007

    Fw: National Survey

    >> UPenn Collaborative
    >> National Survey on Education and Mental Illnesses
    >>
    >> Participate in an Online Survey Study
    >>
    >> A study on the postsecondary education experiences of people diagnosed
    >> with mental illnesses is looking for students interested in
    >> participating in a brief and anonymous online survey. If you have been
    >> diagnosed with a mental illness, are or have been a college student for
    >> at least one semester, and are 18 years old or older, then you are
    >> eligible to participate.
    >>
    >> Participants will be eligible to enter a raffle and win up to $150!
    >>
    >> If you are interested, please click:
    >> <http://www.upennrrtc.org/research/education.html>
    >>
    >>
    >>

    Fw: District of Columbia Hospital Association

    Fw: Do the Frost Bite for Housing

    Hope to see you there!


    The Frost Bite 5K, sponsored by Discovery Communications Inc., is a great race for the entire family to run, walk or stroll through downtown Silver Spring. Proceeds will go towards your local Habitat for Humanity affiliate and help to continue the struggle against substandard housing in Montgomery County. Registration is $15 and will increase to $20 after the 1st of December. On site registration will be $25 and will end at 8:30 am. This event will take place on Saturday the 7th of December.

    Start/Finish: Old Blair High School/Silver Spring International Middle School
    313 Wayne Avenue

    http://www.signmeupsports.com/index_run.htm
    Select Maryland to sign up online.

    http://www.habitat-mc.org/news/news_cal.htm
    Habitat for Humanity - Montgomery County

    Fw: Media Advisory - SAMHSA Hosts Grant-Writing and TechnicalAssistance..


    >
    >> SAMHSA Hosts Grant-Writing and Technical Assistance For Grassroots Faith
    >> and Community Groups
    >>
    >>
    >> Faith-based and community organizations have a long history of
    >> providing essential services to people in need in the United States. In
    >> recognition of the unique ability that these organizations have to meet
    >> the special needs of their communities, the Bush Administration has made
    >> it a priority to improve funding opportunities for faith-based and
    >> community organizations. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
    >> Administration (SAMHSA) will hold a series of workshops to help remove
    >> unnecessary barriers that may prevent these organizations from receiving
    >> federal funding.
    >>
    >>
    >

    Fw: Mental Health and Rehabilitation

    >>>>> "Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation" <psyrehab@bu.edu> 10/07/02
    >> 10:04AM >>>
    >> MENTAL HEALTH & REHABILITATION eCAST
    >> October, 2002
    >>
    >> The purpose of the Mental Health & Rehabilitation eCast is to
    >> inform mental health and rehabilitation networks worldwide about
    >> the activities and resources produced by the Center for
    >> Psychiatric Rehabilitation as well as to disseminate general
    >> mental health and rehabilitation news. This eCast is jointly
    >> supported by the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS),
    >> Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and
    >> the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation
    >> Research (NIDRR), Department of Education.
    >>
    >> **********************************
    >> DR. MICHAEL HOGAN TO LECTURE AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY
    >>
    >> On October 16, 2002, Dr. Michael Hogan, Chair of President Bush's
    >> New Freedom Commission on Mental Health and Commissioner of the
    >> Ohio Department of Mental Health will discuss "Perspectives on
    >> Mental Health: Science, Services or Recovery" at the fourth annual
    >> Dudley Allen Sargent Distinguished Lecture at Boston University's
    >> Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. For
    >> information on attending the lecture, visit:
    >> http://www.bu.edu/sargent/about/daslecture.html
    >>
    >> **********************************
    >> UIC SELF-DETERMINATION BROADCAST LIVE ON THE WEB
    >>
    >> The University of Illinois at Chicago National Research and
    >> Training Center on Psychiatric Disability (UIC NRTC) will hold a
    >> live webcast on October 22, 2002, 3:00-4:30 EST on "Using the
    >> Internet to Promote Self-Determination & Emotional Well-Being."
    >> Trends and web-based resources related to mental health, online
    >> communities, peer support, community activism and employment will
    >> be addressed. Personal stories of self-determination and a panel
    >> discussion will conclude the webcast. For more information and to
    >> register, visit: http://www.psych.uic.edu/uicnrtc/sdworkshop3.htm
    >>
    >> The UIC NRTC is supported by the National Institute on Disability
    >> and Rehabilitation Research, USDOE, and the Center for Mental
    >> Health Services, SAMHSA.
    >>
    >> **********************************
    >> BEHAVIOR HEALTHCARE TOMORROW FEATURES
    >> RECOVERY ARTICLE
    >>
    >> The October 2002 issue of Behavioral Healthcare Tomorrow cover
    >> article "A New Word in Serious Mental Illness: Recovery"
    >> highlights the history and vision of recovery with contributing
    >> perspectives from Courtenay Harding, William Anthony and Jeffery
    >> Lieberman in addition to consumer perspectives offered by Moe
    >> Armstrong, Daniel Fisher and Kathryn Cohan-Haerry. A full-text
    >> version of the article including quotes and resource information
    >> is available from the web address below:
    >> http://www.bu.edu/cpr/about/publicity/
    >>
    >> **********************************
    >> INTEGRATED TREATMENT FOR CO-OCCURRING
    >> SUBSTANCE ABUSE
    >>
    >> "A Comprehensive Guide for Integrated Treatment of People with
    >> Co-Occurring Disorders," edited by Diane Doyle Pita and LeRoy
    >> Spaniol, is a compilation of reprinted articles addressing
    >> critical issues related to substance abuse and serious mental
    >> illness. The book is intended as a text in an academic course or
    >> for in-service training with an instructor or trainer providing
    >> clinical guidance. For more information access the web address
    >> below:
    >> http://www.bu.edu/cpr/catalog/books/titles/integrated.html
    >>
    >> **********************************
    >> If you do not wish to receive future emails from the Center
    >> for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, please reply to this message
    >> <psyrehab@bu.edu> with "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the SUBJECT line.
    >>
    >> Carole Schauer
    >> Consumer Affairs Specialist
    >> Center for Mental Health Services
    >> 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 15-99
    >> Rockville, Maryland 20857
    >> Telephone: (301) 443-8304
    >> FAX: (301) 443-5163
    >>
    >> SUBSCRIBE To the CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News!!
    >> For the latest news and information on CMHS and federal
    >> consumer-related programs and
    >> activities, grant announcements and funding opportunities, policy
    >> statements, reports and
    >> press releases, requests for public comment, and news on upcoming
    >> meetings and
    >> conferences, subscribe to the CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News by visiting
    >> the
    >> Consumer/Survivor page of the Center for Mental Health Services Web
    >> site at:
    >> http://www.mentalhealth.org/consumersurvivor/
    >>

    Fw: ACT brings services to mentally ill


    > Michigan City News-Dispatch
    > Sep 23 2002
    >
    > ACT brings services to mentally ill
    > By Deborah Sederberg
    >
    > Back in the 1970s, when the country began to shutter psychiatric
    > hospitals,
    > the experts said people with mental illness are best served when they are
    > treated in their community.
    >
    > For nearly 30 years, mental health care providers have been grappling with
    > serious questions.
    >
    > Who will treat the seriously mentally ill? How will clinicians see that
    > clients who are not hospitalized take their medications? Where should
    > treatment be offered?
    >
    > The Swanson Center, LaPorte County’s community mental health facility, is
    > one
    > of a handful in the state to launch a pilot program designed to bring
    > services to clients. In traditional programs, therapists expect clients to
    > come to them for services.
    >
    > Lia Hicks, a trainer and consultant with Indiana’s Assertive Community
    > Treatment (ACT) initiative, spoke about the program Friday during a
    > seminar
    > organized by the Swanson Center.
    >
    > An ACT team, typically six to 10 members, might include a registered
    > nurse, a
    > vocational specialist, a psychiatrist, other mental health professionals,
    > a
    > substance abuse specialist and a case manager. The idea, Hicks said, is to
    > build a cocoon of care around clients. Therapists visit clients in their
    > homes.
    >
    > ACT is a long-term program. “Clients are not expected to graduate. The ACT
    > team says, ‘We’re here forever,’” said Hicks.
    >
    > Bert Clemons, executive director of the Swanson Center, said ACT services
    > are
    > offered to clients with the most severe forms of mental illness.
    >
    > The Swanson Center was selected as an ACT pilot site by the Indiana
    > Division
    > of Mental Health and Addictions, which also picks up the tab.
    >
    > Currently, the Swanson Center has about 35 clients enrolled in ACT, under
    > the
    > care of a seven-member team. Typically, a client would have face-to-face
    > contact with a team member two or three times a week, more in times of
    > crisis. In addition, clients receive telephone calls.
    >
    > “A team member might call to remind them to take their medication,” said
    > Norma Durr, supervisor of case managers for the Swanson Center’s Michigan
    > City outpatients.
    >
    > The team nurse visits some clients. Other clients get advice and
    > assistance
    > from team members who know how to secure safe, affordable housing. Other
    > clients might enlist the aid of a team member to help with family
    > difficulties.
    >
    > A client in the audience Friday said her grown children wonder why she
    > needs
    > so much medication. That question, Hicks said, is precisely the kind a
    > team
    > member might be able to answer.
    >
    > ACT team leader Jeff Pollack is excited about the program. He believes it
    > has
    > the potential to keep some clients out of jail and get them a job and keep
    > them employed. Clients enrolled in ACT are hospitalized less frequently
    > than
    > are similar clients in traditional therapy.
    >
    > Pollack moved from Chicago to work in this program. “To have this program
    > and
    > to be able to wrap ourselves and our services around clients to get them
    > what
    > they need is ideal.”
    >
    > A client in the audience agreed. “This is the best thing to happen to M
    > ichigan City in a long time,” she said.
    >
    >
    > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    >
    > --
    >
    > Program’s primary goals
    >
    > Assertive Community Treatment (ACT), a relatively new program for treating
    > people with mental illness, lists five primary goals:
    > • To lessen or eliminate the debilitating symptoms of mental illness and
    > minimize or prevent recurrent acute episodes of the illness.
    > • To satisfy the client’s basic needs and to enhance the quality of life.
    > • To improve functioning in adult social and employment roles and
    > activities.
    >
    > • To increase individual control and support recovery.
    > • To lessen the family’s worry, concern and total responsibility for
    > providing care and promote the restoration of normal family relationships.

    Fw: Advocacy Group Tells Lawmakers 'Don't Blow It'


    >> Advocacy Group Presses for Congressional Action for Children With Mental
    >> Disabilities: Bazelon Center Tells Lawmakers 'Don't Blow It'
    >>
    >> WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- The Bazelon Center for
    >> Mental Health Law, the nation's leading legal-advocacy organization
    >> representing people with mental disabilities, today urged lawmakers to
    >> act on
    >> legislation to expand coverage of health care services for children with
    >> severe emotional disturbances.
    >>
    >> "Congress can make a difference for families struggling to get
    >> mental
    >> health services for their children" said Laurel Stine, Director of
    >> Federal
    >> Relations at the Bazelon Center. "Lawmakers must not miss this critical
    >> opportunity to act."
    >>
    >> The Family Opportunity Act would help families of children with
    >> severe
    >> disabilities - including children with serious mental and emotional
    >> disorders
    >> - get needed health and mental health care for their child. Stine and
    >> other
    >> mental health advocates spent the day lobbying Members of Congress to
    >> pass
    >> the legislation this year by handing out whistles to remind lawmakers not
    >> to
    >> "blow it" for families who have long waited for enactment of the bill.
    >>
    >> "For three years, this bill has had remarkable bipartisan support
    >> in
    >> both the House and the Senate," continued Stine. "If I were a member of
    >> one
    >> of these families, I'd be wondering why more wasn't getting done."
    >>
    >> The bill was first introduced in early 2000, but has died each
    >> year.
    >> Supporters in the Senate tried last week to pass the bill - a move
    >> advocates
    >> believe would have increased pressure on the House of Representatives to
    >> take
    >> up the measure. But efforts to move the legislation were blocked when an
    >> unidentified Senator objected.
    >>
    >> "Families across the country are being torn apart," said Mary
    >> Giliberti, a senior staff attorney at the Bazelon Center and co-author of
    >> the
    >> 1998 book, Relinquishing Custody: The Tragic Result of Failure to Meet
    >> Children's Mental Health Needs. "The Family Opportunity Act could help
    >> change
    >> that."
    >>
    >> Currently, many families who lack adequate insurance to cover
    >> much-needed mental health services for their child must face difficult
    >> decisions. For some, Medicaid can offer comprehensive services, but
    >> becoming
    >> eligible often requires parents to choose between living in poverty or
    >> giving
    >> up custody of their child to the state. One in five families with
    >> children
    >> with mental illnesses are told by the state to give up custody of their
    >> child, according to a study by the National Alliance for the Mentally
    >> Ill. To
    >> avoid giving up custody, many parents turn down hard-earned promotions
    >> and
    >> pay increases, effectively spending down to remain eligible for Medicaid
    >> coverage.
    >>
    >> "I can think of few policies that are more regressive than the way
    >> we
    >> cover kids with mental illnesses," concluded Giliberti. "Something is
    >> definitely broken here and it's past time we started fixing it."
    >>
    >> The Senate may again take up the Family Opportunity Act this week.
    >>
    >> The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law is the nation's leading
    >> legal
    >> advocate for people with mental disabilities. Since its founding in 1972,
    >> the
    >> nonprofit organization's precedent-setting litigation and public-policy
    >> advocacy has successfully challenged many barriers and expanded access to
    >> public schools, workplaces, housing and many other opportunities for
    >> community life. For more information, please visit the Bazelon Center
    >> online
    >> at www.bazelon.org.
    >>
    >> -30-
    >>

    Fw: Washington state is rethinking its mental hospitals


    >
    >> Washington state is rethinking its mental hospitals
    >>
    >> 08/27/02
    >>
    >> JIM LYNCH
    >> Oregon Live
    >>
    >> TACOMA -- Ringed by a rock wall and studded with century-old brick
    >> buildings,
    >> Western State Hospital stands out amid the south Tacoma sprawl like a
    >> historic university or a strangely preserved city from the early 1900s.
    >>
    >> It has its own stores, pharmacy, steam plant, library, bowling alley and
    >> graveyard. It has 2,000 workers and 1,000 patients scattered among 56
    >> buildings on 264 acres. It even has its own patients' rock band, called
    >> N.G.R.I -- not guilty by reason of insanity.
    >>
    >> The largest mental hospital west of the Mississippi has been one of
    >> Washington's fixtures and priciest ventures since before statehood, when
    >> Fort
    >> Steilacoom's barracks were transformed into "The Insane Asylum of
    >> Washington
    >> Territory" in 1871.
    >>
    >> But the landmark hospital, which costs $400 a day per patient to operate
    >> and
    >> has a budget of $121.5 million this year, is increasingly seen as an
    >> outdated
    >> behemoth Washington can't afford. The state has begun closing wards,
    >> which
    >> will, by next spring, move 150 patients into neighborhoods and
    >> community-based psychiatric care.
    >>
    >> An additional 200 patients may eventually be released from the
    >> institution if
    >> the state heeds the advice of a consultant who suggests almost a third of
    >> Western State's patients should be let out.
    >>
    >> The looming ward closures alarm some mental health experts who see them
    >> as
    >> foolish and inhumane.
    >>
    >> "The fact is we don't have the beds at the community level to keep these
    >> people," said Dean Brooks, Western State's recently retired board
    >> chairman
    >> and the former longtime superintendent of Oregon State Hospital in Salem.
    >> "We've ultimately only got two places for them to go -- in jail or under
    >> the
    >> bridge."
    >>
    >> Brooks also said Western State is an easy target for people who cast
    >> large
    >> mental institutions as villainous boondoggles. "Just because it's big
    >> doesn't
    >> mean it's bad."
    >>
    >> But the Washington Legislature, faced with a $1.5 billion budget hole
    >> this
    >> year, lunged at the prospect of downsizing the institution and saving
    >> about
    >> $100,000 a year per mental patient by putting them into community care
    >> instead.
    >>
    >> Other states' hospitals are closed The decision to cut beds fits into a
    >> national movement that seemingly bypassed Washington until now. State
    >> mental
    >> hospital populations peaked in 1960 and have steadily declined since then
    >> with 44 hospitals closing in the 1990s alone, three times as many as the
    >> combined closures in the 1970s and 1980s.
    >>
    >> Oregon, for example, shut its 390-bed Dammasch State Hospital in 1995,
    >> with
    >> two-thirds of its patients going into community-based care and the other
    >> third folding into Oregon State Hospital facilities in Salem and
    >> Portland.
    >>
    >> A draft copy of a consultant's recent report on Washington's mental
    >> health
    >> program concludes that the state has a 90 percent higher reliance on
    >> state
    >> hospital beds than similar-sized "peer states."
    >>
    >> Washington also spends far less than its peer states on creating
    >> community-based psychiatric support and supervised housing to help
    >> patients
    >> live safely outside hospitals. For comparison, Oregon spends $10.56 per
    >> capita on residential mental health care, while Washington spends $3.93
    >> per
    >> capita, the study said.
    >>
    >> The study also concluded that about 30 percent of the admissions to
    >> Western
    >> State every year are unnecessary, resulting from a shortage of
    >> appropriate
    >> residential and nursing home options.
    >>
    >> Kari Burrell, a policy adviser to Washington Gov. Gary Locke, said budget
    >> pressures helped spur the state to do what it's needed to do for years:
    >> make
    >> sure everyone in the state's two mental hospitals needs to be there.
    >>
    >> "It's just not appropriate care for someone to be institutionalized if
    >> they
    >> can live in the community with support," Burrell said. "We began to ask,
    >> 'Are
    >> we institutionalizing people just because it's easier for us?' "
    >>
    >> Outpatient care is also costly Jess Jamieson, director of Compass Health,
    >> a
    >> nonprofit community mental health center that offers 400 community-based
    >> beds
    >> north of Seattle, praises the goal of moving Western State patients back
    >> into
    >> society. But Jamieson says the state underestimates the startup costs
    >> involved with expanding and creating quality housing and psychiatric
    >> services.
    >>
    >> "It's not a cost-saving measure, not if you do it correctly," he said.
    >>
    >> Stan Mazur-Hart, superintendent of Oregon State Hospital's 687-bed
    >> institution in Salem, says closing the Dammasch hospital produced mixed
    >> results: Many patients thrived in the community setting -- with the help
    >> of
    >> modern anti-psychotic drugs -- but the loss of hospital beds made it
    >> harder
    >> to find beds for people experiencing psychiatric emergencies.
    >>
    >> The waiting list to get into Oregon State Hospital now often swells to 20
    >> or
    >> more people who have been evaluated as needing the level of psychiatric
    >> care
    >> available only at a state institution, he said, noting that some patients
    >> wait months for admission.
    >>
    >> Western State Hospital CEO Jan Gregg recalls hearing grumbles that the
    >> institution was too big years before she became its leader. She now
    >> argues
    >> that size isn't its problem. She says it's actually three separate, large
    >> and
    >> well-run hospitals -- one for adults, one for geriatrics and one for the
    >> criminally insane -- sharing the same real estate.
    >>
    >> But Gregg concedes that for too many years, hospital staff viewed it as a
    >> place where the mentally ill lived indefinitely. "This should not be the
    >> place where they live," Gregg said. "They should come here when they need
    >> care."
    >>
    >> "Psychiatric hospitals have changed," she added. "They're no longer
    >> warehouses. And the perceptions of our staff about patients' ability to
    >> live
    >> in the community has changed."
    >>
    >> A stroll around Western State Hospital can feel like a time warp. From
    >> many
    >> vantages, the institution looks remarkably unchanged from the early
    >> 1900s, or
    >> at least from its peak year -- 1955 -- when it housed 3,067 patients and
    >> electric-shock therapy was routine.
    >>
    >> Criminal wards get money That's why the new $50 million building for the
    >> criminally insane stands out.
    >>
    >> Built with sledgehammer-proof windows, bedecked with colorful hall
    >> stripes
    >> and wall art, and outfitted with red "duress" buttons throughout, the
    >> Center
    >> for Forensic Services holds as many as 230 patients sent by the courts.
    >>
    >> The big investment in criminal wards when the state is also trying to cut
    >> its
    >> mental health tab is testament to the growing overlap between criminal
    >> justice and mental health services in Washington and nationwide. The
    >> hospital's staff conducts about 1,600 psychiatric evaluations of
    >> criminals a
    >> year -- five times as many as it did in 1990.
    >>
    >> Not surprisingly, the forensics wards are the only ones seemingly immune
    >> to
    >> closures. The closure of one adult psychiatrics ward is almost complete.
    >> A
    >> geriatric ward is scheduled to be closed in December, an "adapted living
    >> skills" ward in January and yet another geriatrics ward next April.
    >>
    >> Hospital CEO Gregg hopes to minimize layoffs, but she isn't on a crusade
    >> to
    >> stop ward closures. Her primary goal, she says, is to de-stigmatize
    >> mental
    >> illnesses.
    >>
    >> Walk across Steilacoom Boulevard from Western State into the hospital's
    >> old
    >> cemetery and it becomes clear how far public acceptance and understanding
    >> of
    >> the mentally ill has come in 50 years.
    >>
    >> The brown grass covers the graves of 2,763 patients who died between 1876
    >> and
    >> 1952. Many of the graves are unmarked. Most of them are simply defined by
    >> small stones with four-digit numbers etched into them.
    >>
    >> During the 76 years that patients were buried there, mental illnesses
    >> were
    >> considered so embarrassing that families didn't want their names on the
    >> stones. In recent years, however, several numbered stones have been
    >> replaced
    >> with name-engraved granite.
    >>
    >> Some of the numbered stones are getting attention too, such as "2288,"
    >> which
    >> recently had a plastic sunflower planted next to it.

    Fw: 3rd National Self-Determination Workshop Series Session


    >> FREE LIVE WEBCAST
    >>
    >> The University of Illinois at Chicago National Research and Training
    >> Center
    >> on Psychiatric Disability
    >> Announces the 3rd National Self-Determination Workshop Series Session:
    >>
    >> Using the Internet to Promote Self-Determination & Emotional
    >> Well-Being
    >> Tuesday, October 22, 2002, 3:00-4:30 ET
    >>
    >> The Internet can be a useful tool for the promotion of
    >> self-determination
    >> and emotional well-being. By providing access to diverse information,
    >> the
    >> Net provides new and enhanced opportunities for increasing
    >> self-determination for people with psychiatric disabilities. It links
    >> individuals with online communities, like-minded peers, thorough
    >> mental
    >> health and health information, and tools for taking charge of their
    >> own
    >> lives. This webcast will address current trends and web-based resources
    >> in
    >> these areas, with sessions focusing particularly on community activism
    >> and
    >> employment. A moderated panel will conclude the webcast with personal
    >> stories of self-determination and a brief discussion about how one
    >> might
    >> assess the reliability of information found on the Internet.
    >>
    >> Session I
    >> NetActivism: Leveling the Playing Field
    >> Presented by Edward Schwartz (3:00-3:30pm ET)
    >>
    >> Session II
    >> The Electronic Career Stairway: Steps to Finding the Right Work via
    >> the
    >> Internet
    >> Presented by Howard Dansky (3:30-4:00pm ET)
    >>
    >> Session III
    >> Moderated Panel Discussion
    >> Panelists: Sylvia Caras, Howard Dansky, Frances Preister, Edward
    >> Schwartz
    >> Moderator: Judith A. Cook (4:00-4:30pm ET)
    >>
    >> For more information and to register, go to:
    >> <http://www.psych.uic.edu/uicnrtc/sdworkshop3.htm>
    >>
    >> You won't want to miss this free workshop!
    >>
    >> Carole Schauer
    >> Consumer Affairs Specialist
    >> Center for Mental Health Services
    >> 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 15-99
    >> Rockville, Maryland 20857
    >> Telephone: (301) 443-8304
    >> FAX: (301) 443-5163
    >>
    >> SUBSCRIBE To the CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News!!
    >> For the latest news and information on CMHS and federal
    >> consumer-related programs and
    >> activities, grant announcements and funding opportunities, policy
    >> statements, reports and
    >> press releases, requests for public comment, and news on upcoming
    >> meetings and
    >> conferences, subscribe to the CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News by visiting
    >> the
    >> Consumer/Survivor page of the Center for Mental Health Services Web
    >> site at:
    >> http://www.mentalhealth.org/consumersurvivor/
    >>

    Fw: Learn from the Research: Mental Health and Teens

    >
    >> Mental and Emotional Health Problems Among Teens: What Parents,
    >> Practitioners
    >> and the Public Can Learn About Prevention and Treatment From Research
    >>
    >> WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- Anxiety disorders.
    >> Depression.
    >> Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Eating disorders. Drug
    >> and
    >> alcohol addiction. While many adults hold a stereotype of American teens
    >> as
    >> moody and dramatic, these are examples of some of the serious mental and
    >> emotional health problems confronting a significant minority of
    >> adolescents.
    >> How can we prevent these problems from occurring? What are the most
    >> effective
    >> treatments once teens are diagnosed?
    >>
    >> To help answer these critical questions, Child Trends reviewed more
    >> than 300 research studies to determine the factors that contribute to the
    >> development of mental and emotional health problems among teens and to
    >> determine what research has shown to be the best treatments for teens.
    >> The
    >> review reveals which programs and approaches work, which don't work, and
    >> which look promising and therefore warrant closer investigation. The
    >> findings
    >> are based on an extensive review of research studies done in partnership
    >> with
    >> the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
    >>
    >> The results of this comprehensive review are presented in two
    >> companion
    >> products: a research brief, Promoting Positive Mental and Emotional
    >> Health in
    >> Teens: Some Lessons from Research, and a web-based What Works table that
    >> summarizes key research and evaluation findings. The What Works table is
    >> a
    >> point-and-click resource for the web. It presents information on specific
    >> problems (such as depression, ADHD, drug and alcohol abuse) and gives
    >> users
    >> the option to access short, readable summaries or to delve deeply into
    >> the
    >> research studies.
    >>
    >> View and download this brief at
    >>
    >> www.childtrends.org/PDF/K5Brief.pdf.
    >>
    >> The interactive What Works table and the rest of the American Teens
    >> series can be found at
    >>
    >> www.childtrends.org/youthdevelopment_intro.asp.
    >>
    >> Findings from the review include:
    >>
    >> -- Effective treatments for depression and anxiety include
    >> psychotherapy (such as cognitive therapy), drug therapy (specifically,
    >> serotonin-specific re-uptake inhibitors), making a youth's environment
    >> more
    >> supportive and changing a young person's environment from high-risk to
    >> low-risk (for example, providing housing vouchers to move into a
    >> neighborhood
    >> with more resources).
    >>
    >> -- For ADHD, a combination of medication and psychotherapy appears
    >> to
    >> be more effective than the use of a single intervention.
    >>
    >> -- The impact of drug therapy on children and youth is
    >> controversial
    >> and new research for these age groups is needed.
    >>
    >> -- Homes and schools that are emotionally supportive and warm and
    >> that
    >> provide support for adolescents' autonomy may boost teens' psychological
    >> and
    >> emotional well-being.
    >>
    >> -- Prevention should begin as early as possible - many mental and
    >> emotional health problems may be prevented with early intervention at the
    >> individual, family and community level during childhood and early
    >> adolescence.
    >>
    >> "From our review, the research shows that there may not be a
    >> "single
    >> bullet" for addressing all of the mental and emotional health issues that
    >> teens face," said Kristin A. Moore, Ph.D., president and senior scholar
    >> at
    >> Child Trends. "Just as many of these problems may stem from a number of
    >> influences, like a teen's family and environment, a number of prevention
    >> and
    >> treatment strategies may be needed."
    >>
    >> Child Trends' American Teens series summarizes and "translates" key
    >> research and evaluation studies on preventing teen pregnancy, encouraging
    >> better eating and exercise habits, promoting mental and emotional health,
    >> motivating teens in school, promoting positive social skills and
    >> encouraging
    >> responsible citizenship.
    >>
    >> Knight Foundation's Community Partners Program works in 26 U.S.
    >> communities to identify promising approaches to locally identified needs.
    >> With Knight funding, several Knight communities are concentrating on
    >> better
    >> lives for children and families. The Child Trends American Teens work
    >> helps
    >> the communities better identify strategies that might work locally for
    >> at-risk youth.
    >>
    >> Child Trends, founded in 1979, is an independent, nonpartisan
    >> research
    >> center dedicated to improving the lives of children and their families by
    >> conducting research and providing science-based information to the public
    >> and
    >> decision-makers.
    >>
    >> The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes excellence in
    >> journalism worldwide and invests in the vitality of 26 U.S. communities.
    >>
    >> -30-
    >>
    >>

    Fw: EU News: Mental Health Network


    >
    >
    >> Thanks to Karen from Brussels for sending this along!
    >>
    >> http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph/programmes/health/proj00_14_en.html
    >>
    >> MENTAL HEALTH EUROPE : THE NETWORK TO PROMOTE MENTAL HEALTH
    >>
    >> MHE-SME - as a broadly representative NGO, both geographically in Europe
    >> and
    >> thematically in its partnership representation - is committed to the
    >> development of an active Europe-wide Network on Mental Health Promotion.
    >>
    >> The more specific aims of this project will be :
    >>
    >> - to raise awareness for Mental Health Promotion, prevention and a
    >> delivery
    >> of better services
    >>
    >> - to initiate and support activities in mental health promotion
    >> addressing
    >> issues of specific concern in children, adolescents and young people up
    >> to
    >> age 25 years
    >>
    >> - to implement and consolidate the recommendations of the mental health
    >> promotion project in supporting the development, implementation and
    >> maintenance of initiatives to promote mental health and well being in
    >> different settings and to support research, training and knowledge
    >> transfer
    >>
    >> - to develop policy instruments and innovative interventions bringing
    >> European value to enhance the protection and promotion of positive mental
    >> health features in different age groups
    >>
    >> - to provide a platform supporting initiatives in Mental Health Promotion
    >> to
    >> the candidate incoming countries.
    >>
    >> Acknowledging the Resolution on the promotion of mental health by the
    >> Council
    >> of Ministers on 18 November 1999, the project will analyse the impact of
    >> community activities on mental health, more in particular in the field of
    >> young people and adolescents, and draw up proposals for the Council on
    >> the
    >> promotion of Mental Health
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >>

    Fw: Mental Health Parity Opponents Make Their Case in US Congress


    >> Mental Health Parity Opponents Make Their Case in US Congress
    >>
    >> By Julie Rovner
    >>
    >> WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) Sept 17 - Even as key members of the US
    >> Congress
    >> continue negotiations with the Bush administration over how to guarantee
    >> parity between insurance benefits for mental illness and those for other
    >> ailments, opponents of the leading bill in Congress argued on Tuesday
    >> that
    >> its enactment would be a mistake.
    >>
    >> With health costs already rising at double-digit rates, "to add mandates
    >> to
    >> the current third-party payment system is just going to cause it to
    >> collapse," said Rep. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., at a forum sponsored by the
    >> National
    >> Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA). "So anyone who's arguing for mandates
    >> at
    >> this point is really arguing for single-payer," he said, assuming the
    >> governm
    >> ent would take over the health insurance system if it truly fell apart.
    >>
    >> DeMint agreed that it is unfair that patients with mental illness are
    >> frequently offered lower benefits than those with other ailments, but he
    >> said
    >> a better way to address the problem is to move to a "consumer-driven"
    >> system,
    >> in which patients are given money to spend on healthcare and decide
    >> themselves how to allocate it. "That would be better coverage" for mental
    >> health, he said.
    >>
    >> In agreement was NCPA President John Goodman, one of the earliest
    >> proponents
    >> of Medical Savings Accounts and other ways to make individuals more
    >> responsible for their own healthcare. "Patients are the best monitors of
    >> their care, they should control the money," he said.
    >>
    >> Paul Dennett of the American Benefits Council said that in addition to
    >> the
    >> cost problems, the bill sponsored by Sens. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and
    >> Paul
    >> Wellstone, D-Minn., is too ambiguous.
    >>
    >> While it purports to bar plans that offer different visit limits or
    >> copayments for mental health services than for other services, he said,
    >> most
    >> plans have visit limits for other types of care, such as physical or
    >> occupational therapy. And virtually every plan has different levels of
    >> cost-sharing, such as for doctor visits, emergency room care, and
    >> prescription drugs, he said, making it unclear which levels mental health
    >> benefits should match.
    >>
    >> Dr. Sally Satel, a psychiatrist representing the American Enterprise
    >> Institute, questioned the bill's requirement for coverage of all mental
    >> disorders, rather than just the most serious ones. "It makes some sense
    >> to
    >> hold some diagnoses to a different standard," she said, adding that the
    >> potential cost "of people with mental health problems rather than mental
    >> illness seeking unrestricted care is not trivial."
    >>
    >> But Dr. Henry Harbin, Chairman of Magellan Health Services, the nation's
    >> largest managed mental health firm, said the vast majority of claims his
    >> firm
    >> handles--85%--are already for the more serious mental disorders.
    >>
    >> Dr. Harbin said that the cost of a parity requirement is hardly
    >> prohibitive.
    >> While several states have passed similar laws over the past several
    >> years, he
    >> said, "at Magellan we have yet to see a cost increase of greater than 1%
    >> as a
    >> result of a state parity law."
    >>
    >>

    Fw: Justice for Mentally Ill


    > The report discussed in this article can be found at
    > http://www.consensusproject.org/. -lvt
    >
    >
    > Justice for Mentally Ill
    > Group Wants to End Vicious Circle That Keeps Returning Mentally Ill to
    > Jail
    >
    > By Bryan Robinson
    > ABCNews.com
    >
    > June 11
    > — Years before becoming an advocate for the mentally ill, a suicidal Tom
    > Lane
    > was surrounded by armed police, contemplating whether he should force the
    > officers to kill him — and none of the law enforcement officials seemed to
    > know it.
    >
    > In July 1997, Lane, a cabinetmaker who was a recovering alcoholic and
    > substance abuser, was suffering from severe depression. A head injury from
    > a
    > construction accident left him suffering from seizures and unable to work.
    >
    > Despondent, he called a suicide hotline from his trailer home in Northern
    > California. When he could not guarantee the hotline operator that he would
    > not harm himself, police were dispatched to his residence and he found
    > himself surrounded.
    >
    > "I had hidden my .357 [Magnum] inside my travel trailer. They asked me to
    > come out and show my hands. I could see the laser from one of the officers
    > tracing me from 15 feet away," Lane said. "I really contemplated doing
    > something to make these officers do something to me, a suicide-by-cop kind
    > of
    > thing."
    >
    > Police did not kill Lane, but he did not receive immediate counseling for
    > his
    > depression, either. Lane, who is considered legally blind, recalled being
    > thrown and dragged on the gravel outside his home to a police car. His
    > glasses were broken and he was thrown in jail, where police refused to let
    > him take his anti-seizure medication. Lane was hospitalized after he began
    > suffering two seizures a day.
    >
    > Upon release from the hospital, he still suffered from depression and did
    > not
    > receive the any recommendation for treatment for mental illness. He soon
    > began sleeping in the bushes outside the hospital. Lane was able to call
    > his
    > mother collect from a pay phone and his family found him and brought him
    > to
    > New Mexico.
    >
    > Once he was receiving treatment and was back on his feet, Lane became an
    > advocate for the mentally ill.
    >
    > Now living in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Lane, 42, has been instrumental in
    > forming peer counseling groups for people suffering from mental illness.
    > He
    > has focused on their problems in dealing with law enforcement. And he
    > helped
    > contribute ideas to the Criminal Justice-Mental Health Consensus Project,
    > a
    > two-year bipartisan collaboration by the Council of State Governments with
    > law enforcement officials, criminal justice officials and mental health
    > advocates and consumers that will present a report at hearing before the
    > Senate Judiciary Committee today.
    >
    > The Mentally Ill’s Revolving Crime Door
    >
    > The report is designed to help state and local government officials who
    > are
    > dealing with the significant number of people with mental illness in
    > prison
    > or jail. The Justice Department estimates that 16 percent of the people
    > incarcerated in America suffer from mental illness.
    >
    > "When on any given day there are more people with mental illness in the
    > Los
    > Angeles County Jail than in any state hospital or private facility in the
    > United States, it's time to agree we have a major problem," said Ron
    > Honberg,
    > director of legal affairs for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.
    >
    > The report makes 46 recommendations, from training officers better to
    > handle
    > initial encounters with the mentally ill, to ensuring that the mentally
    > ill
    > receive the treatment and counseling they need upon release to prevent
    > their
    > return to jail.
    >
    > "Every day, police officers encounter individuals and situations in which
    > untreated mental illness has resulted in behaviors that generate a citizen
    > complaint or disorderly behavior," said Robert K. Olson, president of
    > Police
    > Executive Research Forum and chief of the Minneapolis Police Department.
    >
    > "My officers know we can better serve individuals with mental illnesses
    > without risking public safety." he said. "This report shows police how to
    > work with all stakeholders using models and principles they can tailor to
    > their own community — approaches that will minimize the costs in human
    > lives,
    > dignity and police resources."
    >
    > Avoiding Deadly Decisions
    >
    > Olson said he became involved in the Consensus Project because in the
    > course
    > of his 37-year career, he found that hundreds of people with mental
    > illnesses
    > were killed by police who he said were not trained to handle special
    > situations properly. To save lives, Olson said, his department developed
    > methods to better prepare his officers for encounters with disturbed
    > people.
    >
    > In Minneapolis, Olson said, some police are specially trained to assess
    > situations involving people suspected of suffering from mental illness.
    > Olson
    > said his officers are also being trained to use less-than-lethal methods
    > when
    > dealing with the mentally ill, such as stun guns. Olson and the Consensus
    > Project also recommend the use of mobile crisis intervention teams to
    > assess
    > and defuse explosive situations, and police protocols for handling people
    > with mental illness.
    >
    > "Before [the reforms], we were not trained normally to deal with people
    > with
    > mental illness," Olson said. "We're not psychiatrists; we're cops. … There
    > were a lot of people — hundreds — with some kind of mental illness we
    > later
    > learned about who were getting killed or wounded needlessly. And I thought
    > that there must be a better way for us to serve the community and not make
    > deadly decisions with the mentally ill. My hope is that other state and
    > local
    > governments could perhaps adapt our model, what we're doing here and
    > conform
    > it to fit the particular needs of their community."
    >
    > Olson also favors — and the Consensus Project recommends — a database that
    > documents incidents between the mentally ill and police to keep law
    > enforcement officials accountable, track repeat offenders and to help
    > prevent
    > mentally ill people from returning to prison.
    >
    > Hopeful for New Legislation and Collaboration
    >
    > Lane realizes he was lucky that police did not grant his suicide wish.
    > Many
    > people who suffer from mental illness are undiagnosed, refuse treatment or
    > don't have relatives to look after them or are unable to help them. And
    > often, as in Lane's case, they are refused medical treatment or mishandled
    > by
    > officials. That makes them more likely to have repeated encounters with
    > police.
    >
    > "Mentally ill people are more likely to have encounters with law
    > enforcement," Lane said. "They attract attention when they act out and
    > they're more likely to return to prison because they and police don't know
    > they have an illness or they refuse treatment. When they're released,
    > they're
    > still undiagnosed and poor and more likely to return to prison. We've got
    > to
    > have more innovative solutions and better collaborations between law
    > enforcement and mental health experts after the mentally ill are
    > discharged.
    > I just hope the report is a tool, an instrument of change."
    >
    > Based on the findings of the report, the Consensus Project hopes
    > congressional leaders will introduce legislation that will enable
    > communities
    > to adapt some of the recommendations of the report and perpetuate better
    > understanding of the mentally ill in the criminal justice system, a
    > problem
    > some believe has been long overlooked.
    >
    > "This is a complex problem that Congress should examine," said Sen.
    > Patrick
    > Leahy, D-Vt. "If we are going to help our law enforcement officers reduce
    > crime, we need to stop the revolving door of arrest, release, and
    > re-arrest
    > that is so common for mentally ill offenders."
    >
    > Drawing Inspiration
    >
    > A better understanding of the mentally ill is a good beginning, law
    > enforcement officials say. But recognizing a need for collaboration
    > between
    > police and mental health professionals is the key.
    >
    > "Awareness is always a good thing," Olson said. "There have been literally
    > hundreds of deaths when a system that was supposed to protect them [the
    > mentally ill] failed them. There has to be coordination and collaboration
    > that involves law enforcement, mental health professionals, and the
    > courts."
    >
    > Meanwhile, Lane is dealing with his mental illness and seems to be
    > winning.
    > As late as 1999, he said almost killed himself during a bout with severe
    > depression when he overdosed on prescribed medication. Today, as a
    > survivor
    > of a suicide attempt and an encounter with police who did not fully
    > understand his condition, Lane hopes that some of his peers will learn and
    > be
    > empowered by his story. In July, he said he will begin a new job as
    > director
    > of consumer affairs for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.
    >
    > "I'm managing to manage the illness instead of having the illness
    > mismanage
    > me," Lane said. "I just want to get the word out and if people draw some
    > kind
    > of inspiration from my story, then I'm happy."
    >
    >

    Tobacco Settlement Ruling Affects Medicaid Beneficiaries Nationwide

    [This has a huge impact on people with mental illness. lvt]


    Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report

    Friday, May 24, 2002

    Federal Court Rules Medicaid Beneficiaries Cannot Receive Share of National Tobacco Settlement

          The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that individual Medicaid beneficiaries are ineligible to receive a share of the national tobacco settlement to pay for smoking-related medical costs, the AP/Hampton Roads Daily Press reports. The ruling upheld decisions by courts in North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia in lawsuits filed by smokers and Medicaid beneficiaries seeking a portion of the billions of dollars the three states are scheduled to receive over the next 25 years as part of the 1998 national tobacco settlement. In those cases, the plaintiffs argued that because the settlement was designed to repay states for smoking-related Medicaid costs, individual Medicaid beneficiaries should be entitled to a share of the settlement funds. But in its decision, the appellate court wrote that federal law "bars any recovery by individual Medicaid recipients to a share of the money the states receive under the Master Settlement Agreement." The court also ruled that federal law "permits the states to do whatever they like with all 'amounts recovered'" from the settlement (AP/Hampton Roads Daily Press, 5/22).




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    Fw: Enrolling in a clinical trial?

    >> Enrolling in a study? Most don't ask key questions
    >>
    >> May 22, 2002
    >>
    >> NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A majority of people who enter clinical
    >> trials do
    >> so without knowing what questions to ask, and many don't understand the
    >> risks
    >> of study participation, a new survey confirms.
    >>
    >> Ten percent of volunteers even said that they did not look at the
    >> informed
    >> consent form before signing it, according to survey results reported
    >> Wednesday by CenterWatch, a Boston-based publisher of clinical trials
    >> information.
    >>
    >> The findings reinforce the belief that many patients, desperate for a
    >> cure,
    >> are entering clinical trials without having all the information they need
    >> to
    >> make a fully informed decision, CenterWatch noted.
    >>
    >> It underscores "that volunteers need to become their own advocates and
    >> obtain
    >> more information before participating in a clinical trial," said Kenneth
    >> Getz, CEO of CenterWatch.
    >>
    >> The survey, conducted in January and February of this year, involved
    >> 1,600
    >> volunteers who had completed phase I, II or III clinical trials within
    >> the
    >> previous 6 months. In phase I trials, researchers are typically trying to
    >> determine if a treatment is safe, while later trials are designed to
    >> determine if the treatment actually works.
    >>
    >> The findings suggest that volunteers may be giving their consent to
    >> participate in a trial without really understanding what they are getting
    >> into. Seventy percent didn't know what to ask at the outset of a trial,
    >> and
    >> 30% didn't understand that the study could carry additional risks.
    >>
    >> Surprisingly, only 28% felt their overall experience would have been
    >> better
    >> if they had more discussions with study staff as part of the informed
    >> consent
    >> process.
    >>
    >> "That 28% is a disappointingly low number given the 70% that said they
    >> knew
    >> very little or nothing coming into the informed consent process," Getz
    >> told
    >> Reuters Health.
    >>
    >> Getz believes that patients are often "reluctant or anxious about asking
    >> too
    >> many questions." That's particularly true of senior citizens who are more
    >> trusting of research professionals and don't want to appear to be
    >> confrontational. Often, individuals are so scared and confused that they
    >> fear
    >> asking questions might delay their enrollment in a study, he added.
    >>
    >> Patients' lack of true informed consent is troubling because it can raise
    >> their personal risk and the overall outcome of the trial, CenterWatch
    >> suggested. The company estimates that one out of 30 volunteers will
    >> experience a serious side effect and one in 10,000 will die.
    >>
    >> On a positive note, the survey found that patients do have a clearer
    >> understanding of some aspects of the trial. Most understood the duration
    >> of
    >> the trial (85%), the number of visits required (84%), and the fact that
    >> they
    >> could terminate participation at any time (89%).
    >>
    >> CenterWatch recently published a 300-page consumer guide describing the
    >> risks
    >> and benefits of volunteering for clinical trials. Copies of "Informed
    >> Consent: The Consumer's Guide to the Risks and Benefits of Volunteering
    >> for
    >> Clinical Trials" are available for purchase through www.centerwatch.com.
    >>
    >> Separately, the American Association of Health Plans commissioned ECRI,
    >> an
    >> independent nonprofit research organization, to produce a patient
    >> reference
    >> guide and companion summary intended to demystify the clinical trials
    >> process. "Should I Enter a Clinical Trial? A Patient Reference Guide for
    >> Adults with a Serious or Life-Threatening Illness," may be downloaded for
    >> free at www.ecri.org and www.aahp.org.
    >>
    >>

    Fw: Everyone needs a glossary

     

    "Glossary of Terms Commonly Used in Healthcare"

    Available from: http://www.ahsrhp.org/publications/glossary.htm

    The glossary is divided into three sections: (a) health care delivery and financing terms; (b) epidemiological and statistical terms; and (c) accounting and economic terms. It also includes an appendix that lists commonly used acronyms.

    The Academy for Health Services Research and Health Policy




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    Patients' experiences: fundamental source of the definition of "quality"

    A User's Manual For The IOM's 'Quality Chasm' Report

    Patients' experiences should be the fundamental source of the definition of "quality."

    by Donald M. Berwick

    PROLOGUE: The Institute of Medicine (IOM), one of the three bodies that make up the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, has a distinguished history of publishing weighty reports on important subjects that gather more dust on shelves then they often deserve. One such recent IOM report, Crossing the Quality Chasm, is gathering little dust, but penetrating it is a challenge. It calls for nothing less than a redesign of the US health care system.

    One of the architects of the report, Donald Berwick, decided that it would be worthwhile to condense the message into a “user’s manual” for interested readers in the United States and abroad. In this paper he synthesizes the report’s structural themes and presents them, executive summary–style, as a framework that did not appear in the final report but was the basis for the months of discussion that led up to the report’s writing and dissemination. This framework comprises four levels of interest: the experience of patients (Level A), the functioning of small units of care delivery (or “microsystems”) (Level B); the functioning of the organizations that house or otherwise support Microsystems (Level C); and the environment of policy, payment, regulation, accreditation, and other such factors (Level D) that shape the behavior, interests, and opportunities of the organizations at Level C. “True north,” Berwick writes, lies at Level A: patients and their experiences.

    From the Introduction:

    "In this paper I present a “user’s manual” for this long, often dense report, with the goal of making its challenges less daunting."

    The user's manual is available in pdf format at:
    http://www.healthaffairs.org/freecontent/v21n3/s11.htm


    POLICY INFORMATION YOU CAN USE
    From the HealthNewsList





    Fw: Montgomery County Mental Health Consumer Speak-Out **2/10/01 **


    > Thanks for the info. The Speak Out sounds like it has the potential for
    > being a terrific forum and could provide the Advisory Committee and other
    > agencies with very valuable input. I will try to clear my schedule.
    > I would like to clarify a point about consumer membership on the Advisory
    > Committee. It is absolutely correct that consumer representation on the
    > committee is necessary and legally mandated. However, there were consumers
    > on the committee in 1999 and these individuals resigned. The difficulty
    > has been that the reappointment process has been very long. But this has
    > been true for all empty seats-consumer and nonconsumer alike. It is my
    > opinion that the process for appointment for all members needs to be
    > reevaluated. It is critical to have full positions In order for the
    > committee to function effectively and as a team of people who are all
    > interested in improving services in the County.

    Fw: Washington Post article: employment and mental health


    >
    >
    > You have been sent this message from Mary C.A.N. as a courtesy of
    > washingtonpost.com
    >
    > Personal Message:
    > Good article on pros and cons of disclosing mental illness in the work
    > place.
    >
    > Should You Tell?
    >
    > By Amy Joyce
    >
    > If you have depression or some other mental illness, what do you do
    > about work? Hope no one notices? Disclose your illness early on and
    > trust that your boss will understand?
    >
    > To view the entire article, go to
    > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/17/AR200702
    > 1700137.html?referrer=emailarticle
    >
    >
    > Would you like to send this article to a friend? Go to
    > http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/emailafriend?contentId=AR200702
    > 1700137&sent=no&referrer=emailarticle
    >
    >
    > Want the latest news in your inbox? Check out washingtonpost.com's
    > e-mail newsletters:
    >
    > http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?node=admin/email&referrer=email
    > article
    >
    > Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive
    > c/o E-mail Customer Care
    > 1515 N. Courthouse Road
    > Arlington, VA 22201
    >
    > (c) 2002 - 2006 The Washington Post Company
    >
    > Life at Work
    > Should You Tell?
    > For People With a Mental Illness, There's No Easy Answer
    >
    > By Amy Joyce
    > Washington Post Staff Writer
    > Sunday, February 18, 2007; Page F01
    >
    > If you have depression or some other mental illness, what do you do
    > about work? Hope no one notices? Disclose your illness early on and
    > trust that your boss will understand?
    >
    > Should You Tell is a complicated question. There is no right answer, and
    > there are some risks to consider.
    >
    > I discovered this years ago after watching a movie at home with two
    > friends. One of them looked up, scared. She hesitated. And then she let
    > it out: "Do you hear them? The helicopters. They're coming for me,
    > guys."
    >
    > This sweet, gentle friend was scrunched up in the corner of the couch,
    > shaking. Her Ivy League graduate degree and over-the-top intelligence
    > couldn't get her out of this situation. We had to get her to the
    > hospital.
    >
    > The next day, after she'd spent a night in the emergency room, I called
    > her boss to say she had the flu. Another friend and I took turns calling
    > in the flu excuse while she huddled in her room. It wasn't convincing.
    >
    > This friend had a prized internship that should have turned into a good
    > job. It did not. From the boss's point of view, something peculiar was
    > going on. My friend appeared unreliable. Her boss never knew why her
    > performance so suddenly dropped. Not only was my friend soon out of a
    > job, but she also knew she couldn't even ask for a reference.
    >
    > One in four people has depression or mental illness, and many of those
    > who are affected face the same dilemma: Tell your boss, and you may be
    > ostracized, penalized or not hired. Don't tell, and your boss might lose
    > confidence in you. Despite the long way we've come -- public figures
    > such as former Montgomery County executive Douglas Duncan, Pittsburgh
    > Steelers superstar Terry Bradshaw, and writer and political adviser
    > Robert Boorstin have announced that they, too, have depression or other
    > related illnesses -- a strong stigma is still attached to these
    > diseases.
    >
    > After the experience I had with my friend, I was inclined to think that
    > the best thing to do is tell. But then I spoke with Sarah.
    >
    > She works for a Washington area aid organization and often goes on
    > month-long trips to war zones, where she works seven days a week. She
    > has depression, treated with therapy and medication. Until recently, it
    > didn't interfere with work, so she kept silent.
    >
    > But stress had been accumulating during three years in the job. When a
    > trip to a war-torn nation in Africa came up recently, she worried she
    > wouldn't survive it. The stress had "put me in a place where I just
    > couldn't function," she told me. "I thought I might truly kill myself if
    > I had to go out to the field again."
    >
    > The only way to stay home and get treatment was to tell her boss.
    >
    > But she soon felt as if she was being punished for being ill. "I was
    > forced to do work I had never been asked to do before. I was not seen as
    > the go-to person to be relied on anymore," said Sarah, who is soon
    > moving on to a new humanitarian job.
    >
    > "If I had diabetes or cancer, they wouldn't expect me to suck it up and
    > keep going," she said.
    >
    > She will never tell an employer again. "I just saw the repercussions."
    >
    > There is more to consider than pure emotion when considering disclosure,
    > however. A drug test or security clearance -- or the law -- might raise
    > the issue. It is important to know what is required and what isn't.
    >
    > While working in public relations for a Baltimore mayor, the Visiting
    > Nurse Association and other groups, Sheryl Williams hid her bipolar
    > disease and anorexia. "I just feared not being credible. I knew how
    > 'mental patients' were treated," she said. The effort it took for her to
    > hide her illness every day at work left her exhausted, but she managed.
    >
    > But when she took another job and encountered the inevitable drug test,
    > she knew it would come back positive because of her medications. So she
    > decided to tell. It helped that she had gained the boss's trust after
    > years of doing work on contract for him, she said.
    >
    > "My boss said, 'Okay, so what?' " Williams said. The human resources
    > director concurred. "I could have just hugged both of them. Now I don't
    > feel as if I am limited at all."
    >
    > Another reason for disclosure: It allows legal coverage. If a person has
    > a mental illness and does not disclose it to a boss or other official
    > entity at work, the employee can't benefit from the Americans With
    > Disabilities Act.
    >
    > About 14 percent of all charges filed under the ADA involve mental
    > illness. But an employee who does not disclose a condition loses that
    > legal protection, said Chris Kuczynski, director of the ADA policy
    > division at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
    >
    > Employers cannot ask in interviews whether someone has a mental illness.
    > They are permitted, however, to ask once a conditional job offer is
    > made, according to Peggy Mastroianni, associate legal counsel with the
    > EEOC. If the offer is withdrawn after an admission is made and the
    > illness does not directly relate to the job, the company can be held
    > liable for violating the ADA. (This is the only law the EEOC enforces
    > that prohibits something being asked in an interview.)
    >
    > Companies have rights, too. In fact, if an employee creates a problem by
    > doing poor work, the company can take action against that worker if it
    > has not been informed of a mental illness as a potential problem,
    > Mastroianni said. But if an employee's conduct or performance is
    > hindered because he was denied accommodation allowed by the ADA -- a
    > flexible schedule or time off to see a doctor, for instance -- the
    > company might not have the same leeway.
    >
    > Sometimes, the health-care system reinforces the stigma, allowing
    > endless treatments for a broken leg but a limited number of visits to a
    > therapist.
    >
    > Legislation was introduced in the Senate last week by Edward M. Kennedy
    > (D-Mass.), Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) that would
    > allow anyone with health insurance to have equitable coverage for both
    > mental and physical illness. A bill is expected to be introduced in the
    > House soon. So far, 40 states have passed similar laws, including
    > Maryland and Virginia. The District does not have one, according to
    > Andrew Sperling, director of legislative advocacy with the National
    > Alliance on Mental Illness. The organization is lobbying for the Senate
    > bill, he said. "Placing arbitrary limits on treatment for mental illness
    > is just wrong," he said.
    >
    > Putting mental-health problems on the same footing as physical illnesses
    > may help more people make the disclosure because it might encourage
    > treatment. It also might help blunt the stigma that surrounds the
    > diseases.
    >
    > That stigma might have kept Kay Redfield Jamison, a professor of
    > psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University, from disclosing her bipolar
    > disorder years ago, but she had no choice. As a medical student seeking
    > hospital privileges, she had to inform her employer.
    >
    > The chairman at the University of California at Los Angeles, where she
    > was working when her illness became apparent, "never suggested I not
    > compete or leave academic medicine," she said.
    >
    > "He said learn from it, teach from it, write from it," Jamison said.
    > "But I do not offer these up as typical examples. They are exemplary."
    >
    > One study conducted by the Boston University Center for Psychiatric
    > Rehabilitation showed the difficulty of deciding what to disclose. Some
    > study participants said it was empowering to go to work, feel like
    > everyone else, and not tell anybody they had a mental illness, said
    > Zlatka Russinova, one of the study's authors. But other people who were
    > initially afraid to disclose but later told a supervisor "felt really
    > empowered to be open," she said. "It's a personal choice."
    >
    > Some like that they educate or help others when they disclose. Those are
    > powerful incentives, up to a point.
    >
    > "The vast majority are saying to themselves, 'Why would I ever disclose?
    > Everybody's afraid of people with mental illness,' " said Stephen
    > Hinshaw, chairman of the psychology department at the University of
    > California at Berkeley and author of "The Mark of Shame: Stigma of
    > Mental Illness and an Agenda for Change." "But that only perpetuates
    > shame, ignorance and an inability to proactively take steps to ease the
    > situation."
    >
    > Employers have a different incentive to encourage disclosure. They can
    > save money when they help employees get treatment because though they
    > may pay more for insurance, they may get a more productive and loyal
    > worker in return.
    >
    > The National Institute of Mental Health recently released a study
    > showing that slightly increasing the care for a worker's depression
    > would actually save employers money.
    >
    > Most of the savings come from increased productivity when employees are
    > able to get treatment, said author Philip Wang, director of the division
    > of services and intervention research at NIMH, who conducted the study
    > while researching at Harvard University. Companies often "think of
    > health benefits as dumping resources into an endless black hole, and
    > they get nothing back," he said. "But here's an area that's currently
    > untapped."
    >
    > In the study, a hypothetical group of 40-year-old workers with
    > depression were referred to treatment. Savings from reduced absenteeism
    > and employee turnover due to the intervention began to exceed costs of
    > the program by the second year.
    >
    > Mastroianni, the EEOC attorney, suggests that employers put policies in
    > place that explain the ADA rules and outline what the company offers
    > someone who might have a mental illness. This should help create a
    > comfortable atmosphere in which workers can be honest.
    >
    > But the consensus remains: There is no one right answer on disclosure.
    >
    > "It is completely personal," said Williams, the public relations
    > employee. "People have to feel it's the right time and right place. I
    > could never say in a thousand years that you should or shouldn't. This
    > was not easy for me. I came to this decision gradually and only did it
    > at work because I was made to feel extremely comfortable."