MIWatch

Berwick to leave

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:25:01 -0500

. . .and his work just started

Implmenting the Affordable Care Act -- FAQs

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:20:40 -0500

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services updated the Frequently Asked Questions.

Urgent global mental health needs

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:21:52 -0500

Insufficient resources for global mental health impedes economic development and shortens life expectancy. The link between mental health and other non-communicable diseases has led stakeholders to speak out about rededicating energy to making this a central priority in global health.

Work force shortage for mental health staff in low and middle income countries is 362,000.

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:42:15 -0500

Click here for The Lancet's Global Mental Health podcast about the global crisis in providing evidence-based services respectful of human rights, especially in low and middle income countries. Disparities The interview corresponds to the opening of the World Federation of Mental Health conference in Cape Town, South Africa, Oct. 17-21....

Time between drug use and treatment entry averages 15.6 years.

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 10:27:36 -0500

Read more about a new report from SAMHSA. The study, based on 669,000 adults, found gender differences as well as those for alcohol use (longest), prescription pain medications (shortest)....

Thank you, Steve Jobs

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 07:44:50 -0500

. . .for enlarging my brother's world

Measuring Recovery -- new tools and new directions

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 10:16:54 -0500

MHA Village, an integrated service program in Long Beach, Cal., created a tool to guide treatment services along a path of the recovery of clients. David Pilon and Mark Ragins explain how they use Measures of Recovery (MORS) to help clients attain self-defined goals on the way to recovery.

Reaction to New York Post's ugly headline

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 12:43:13 -0500

This letter, written by Harvey Rosenthal, responded to an ugly headline in the New York Post. The article discussed New York's attempts to enhance community programs, improve hospital discharge planning, and make the lives of all New Yorkers better. The headline, "Cost Of Kooks & Junkies," brought this response from Harvey Rosenthal, NYAPRS. To the Editor, The quality of the Post's coverage has sunk to an outrageously low level in a headline editor's choice of 'Cost of Kooks and Junkies'...

Fraud deprives people with disabilities

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 08:59:41 -0500

. . . while pockets of others bulge

Coordinating linkage of Insurance Exchanges and Medicaid

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:32:12 -0500

Of the 32 million adults who stand to benefit from the new coverage they will receive from the Affordable Care Act, about one-third have a mental illness or substance use disorder. Ron Manderscheid, noted expert in this area, explains how the ACA will implement Health Exchanges to coordinate with Medicaid by working with states for enrollment.

Pharma spends twice as much on advertising as it does on R and D.

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 08:36:54 -0500

Doctors Matthew Erlich and Lloyd Sederer write about the relationship between risk and marketing of psychiatric drugs in an article in the Huffington Post, With Mental Health Drugs, Greater Risk Means More Marketing...

Certified Peer Specialists celebrated in Georgia

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 15:59:09 -0500

Activist consumers celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Georgia Mental Health Consumers Network (GMHCN) with announcements of an expansion in training programs for peer services, housing initiatives, and plans for ending segregation in transportation services.

GOP Govs Point To Medicaid Flexibility As Means To Reduce Spending

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 10:28:32 -0500

Cuts to Medicaid are among the GOP's strategies for bringing their state budgets under control, according to a report issued by the Republican Governor's Association. But at what cost for the nation, as cuts fall on the backs of people with disabilities and chronic illnesses, and for whom the federal program has become a lifeline to treatment, rehab and recovery? Kaiser Health News has summarized coverage of this story.

Maurice Rapport, 1919-2011, discovered serotonin

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 07:27:28 -0500

At the time Serotonin was discovered in 1948, Freudian theories guided explanations for behavior. Maurice Rapport's discovery of serotonin revolutionized the understanding of chemical neurotransmitters with vast consequences for all of medicine, most importantly for psychiatry. Rapport died in North Carolina last week, one month shy of 92.

SSI Program For ADHD, Other Disabled Kids Under Scrutiny

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 07:14:28 -0500

Children with mental health problems, who are receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI), are at risk for the loss of these benefits. Kaiser Health News explains how access to these services which often provide turn-around opportunities, are threatened by backlash owing to reports of abuse in the system.