A paper on barriers and incentives to finding employment as perceived by individuals with psychiatric disabilities has been published by the Center on Adherence and Self-Determination (CASD). The paper also investigates the relationship between incentives and commitment to obtaining employment, as well as the use of motivational interviewing to help people improve employment outcomes. The paper is available at the source below.
Source: http://www.adherenceandselfdetermination.org/images/stories/casdrpb112011.pdf
Reposted at http://www.darkestcloset.blogspot.com/,
Friday, December 23, 2011
CMS Finds Overpayment for Antipsychotic Medications
Physicians too often violate federal standards designed to prevent overmedication and inappropriate use of drugs, according to a report by the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Testifying before a U.S. Senate panel recently, high-ranking government officials said that in the six months between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2007, 51 percent of the Medicare reimbursement claims for atypical antipsychotic medications were erroneous and cost the program $116 million. The report also found that 83 percent of all reviewed Medicare atypical antipsychotic drug claims for older adults living in nursing homes were for off-label uses. The officials said that more care must be taken to keep physicians from prescribing such medications, although the panel’s chairman noted that the drugs can be beneficial “when properly prescribed,” according to an article published in Health Care Daily Report.
Source: http://www.bna.com/officials-antipsychotic-drug-n12884904634/
Reposted htttp://www.darkestcloset.com
Testifying before a U.S. Senate panel recently, high-ranking government officials said that in the six months between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2007, 51 percent of the Medicare reimbursement claims for atypical antipsychotic medications were erroneous and cost the program $116 million. The report also found that 83 percent of all reviewed Medicare atypical antipsychotic drug claims for older adults living in nursing homes were for off-label uses. The officials said that more care must be taken to keep physicians from prescribing such medications, although the panel’s chairman noted that the drugs can be beneficial “when properly prescribed,” according to an article published in Health Care Daily Report.
Source: http://www.bna.com/officials-antipsychotic-drug-n12884904634/
Reposted htttp://www.darkestcloset.com
Facebook Provides First-of-Its-Kind Service to Help Prevent Suicides
In partnership with the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, Facebook has announced a new service attempting to prevent suicides across North America. The service enables Facebook users to report a suicidal comment posted by a friend using either the Report Suicidal Content link https://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=suicidal_content or the links found throughout the site.
The poster of the comment will immediately receive an e-mail from Facebook encouraging them to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or to click on a link to begin a confidential chat with a crisis worker. The project is a collaboration among the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and Facebook.
In another story, a new survey by University of Washington researchers has found that, while about one of nine youths attempt suicide by the time they graduate from high school, nearly 40 percent of those who said they had tried suicide reported their first attempt was before they entered high school. The study was published in the November issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health http://jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(11)00127-3/abstract.
Sources: http://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/advisories/1112125820.aspx
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_119226.html
The poster of the comment will immediately receive an e-mail from Facebook encouraging them to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or to click on a link to begin a confidential chat with a crisis worker. The project is a collaboration among the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and Facebook.
In another story, a new survey by University of Washington researchers has found that, while about one of nine youths attempt suicide by the time they graduate from high school, nearly 40 percent of those who said they had tried suicide reported their first attempt was before they entered high school. The study was published in the November issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health http://jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(11)00127-3/abstract.
Sources: http://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/advisories/1112125820.aspx
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_119226.html
SAMHSA Releases New Working Definition of Recovery
Reposted at http:/www.darkestcloset.bloggerspot,
SAMHSA recently announced a new working definition of recovery from mental disorders and substance use disorders. The definition is the product of a year-long effort by SAMHSA and a wide range of partners in the behavioral health care community and other fields to develop a working definition of recovery that captures the essential, common experiences of those recovering from mental disorders and substance use disorders. Major guiding principles support the recovery definition. SAMHSA led this effort as part of its Recovery Support Strategic Initiative.
The new working definition of Recovery From Mental Disorders and Substance Use Disorders is as follows:A process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential.
Through the Recovery Support Strategic Initiative, SAMHSA also has delineated four major dimensions that support a life in recovery:- Health: Overcoming or managing one's disease(s) as well as living in a physically and emotionally healthy way.
- Home: A stable and safe place to live.
- Purpose: Meaningful daily activities, such as a job, school, volunteerism, family caretaking, or creative endeavors, and the independence, income, and resources to participate in society.
- Community: Relationships and social networks that provide support, friendship, love, and hope.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Circle of Friends Key to Adopting Healthy Habits: Study
When people of similar age, sex, size buddied up online, they made gains, researchers say
By Maureen Salamon
THURSDAY, Dec. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Interested in adopting healthier habits? You have a better chance of success if you find a friend with similar traits to share the experience, a new study suggests.
Participants paired with others of similar body mass, age, fitness level and diet preferences were three times as likely to adopt healthy behaviors as those matched randomly in an Internet-based study conducted by a researcher from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
"I think the reality is, we as individuals may have less motivation to change on our own than if we're surrounded by our peer group, even if we met on a social network site," said Dr. Victor Fornari, director of child and adolescent psychiatry at North Shore-LIJ Health System in New Hyde Park, N.Y., who is familiar with the study. "We're very influenced by the group phenomenon."
The study is published in the Dec. 2 issue of the journal Science.
For the study, an online social network was created to promote health and fitness. Broken into small groups of "health buddies," 710 participants were introduced to the idea of an online diet diary through a "dummy" participant who invited others to take part. Each participant was provided with a personalized, online "health dashboard" that displayed real-time information, such as daily exercise minutes, healthy behaviors and personal characteristics of the health buddies.
At the end of seven weeks, those who were matched with health buddies using the principle of "homophily" -- the tendency of people to have similar friends -- were far more likely to use the diet diary and take part in other healthy behaviors than participants whose buddies were assigned randomly. Not one obese individual signed up for the diet diary in the random networks, compared to more than 12 percent of obese participants in the similarly matched networks.
The results also suggest that the most effective social environment for increasing the willingness of obese people to adopt a behavior is one where they interact with others with similar health characteristics, the study said.
"I think it was a pretty brilliant study," said Tricia M. Leahey, an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Miriam Hospital's Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center in Providence. "It's neat that they're actually starting to manipulate a social network in a way specific to homophily."
Group therapy is also partially based on the premise that people can empathize better with others they relate to, said Dr. Alan Manevitz, a clinical psychiatrist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
"The question of whether people can benefit from role models that show how to move out of similar thinking is also part and parcel of the development of social networks," Manevitz said. "We all need to be able to interact with people who can promote other senses of self, that you can take in and create within yourself."
However, the current findings refute prior research. Leahey wrote a study published in January 2011 that indicated that overweight people tend to have more social contacts who are also overweight or obese.
"We can say, 'Gee, if I'm in a network of relatively healthy individuals and become friends with someone who's overweight or obese, we might be influenced by this one individual,'" she said. "So I guess it cuts both ways."
But Leahey said she has observed results similar to the new study in "Shape Up RI," a statewide initiative in Rhode Island that draws friends, family members and coworkers into teams to increase exercise, family meals, fruit and vegetable consumption and reduce screen time. The program has shown that group support can become a powerful driver of healthy behaviors, she said.
Ideally, Fornari and Leahey said, the findings should spur other statewide or public programs promoting healthy lifestyles either in person or on Internet-based social networks.
"Certainly, that would be an exciting opportunity and I know that more and more educational opportunities will be web-based," Fornari said.
More information
For more about healthy behaviors, see the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
SOURCES: Tricia M. Leahey, Ph.D., assistant professor, psychiatry and human behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Miriam Hospital's Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center, Providence; Victor Fornari, M.D., director, child and adolescent psychiatry, North Shore-LIJ Health System, New Hyde Park, N.Y.; Alan Manevitz, M.D., clinical psychiatrist, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; Dec. 2, 2011, Science
Last Updated: Dec. 01, 2011
Copyright © 2011 HealthDay. All rights reserved
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Ricky Wyatt, Lead Plaintiff in Important Class Action Lawsuit, Has Died
Ricky Wyatt, a 57-year-old Alabama man who was the lead plaintiff in a 1970 federal class-action lawsuit that helped improve conditions in state psychiatric institutions nationwide, died on November 1. Wyatt had been institutionalized at age 14 on the word of his legal guardian, an aunt, because he was a “hell-raiser” (as he later described himself). Despite having no mental health diagnosis, he was routinely dosed with Thorazine and other psychiatric medications, and lived in horrendous conditions in Bryce State Hospital in Tuscaloosa. The lawsuit, Wyatt v. Stickney, resulted in national guidelines called the Wyatt Standards; the standards called for a humane psychological and physical environment, qualified and sufficient staff, individualized treatment plans and minimum restriction of patient freedom.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/health/ricky-wyatt-57-dies-plaintiff-in-landmark-mental-care-suit.html
Reposted at http://www.darkestcloset.blogspot/
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/health/ricky-wyatt-57-dies-plaintiff-in-landmark-mental-care-suit.html
Reposted at http://www.darkestcloset.blogspot/
Monday, November 14, 2011
With the Help of a Video Game, Virtual Help for Families of Veterans
Friday, November 11, 2011 By Fred Mogul Click to play
Posted at http://www.darkestcloset.blogspot.com/,
- Christian Campos (Fred Mogul/WNYC)
Christian Campos is playing a different kind of video game.
Campos, 25, has been following the animated story of a U.S. Marine who has returned home to live with his parents after serving on the front lines.
The game, “Family of Heroes,” is an online interactive role-playing program aimed at helping loved ones communicate with veterans dealing with post-deployment problems, and ultimately, get them treatment.
He nodded his head and smiled knowingly at the screen. He said the similarities between the fictional Marine and his brother, Junior, 22, were uncanny.
Junior spent 10 months in Afghanistan and earlier this year returned to Camp Lejeune, N.C., where he is now. He’s come home to his family in Paterson, N.J., a few times since being back.
“Seeing my brother very anxious, seeing my brother with all those feelings of going back to war, because be feels more safe, he feels more normal, he feels he belongs there — is totally sad, is totally devastating to me as well as my parents," Christian said.
There are an estimated 34,000 veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars in the metropolitan area, and with the final withdrawal of troops from Iraq by the end of the year, that number is expected to increase. As many as two-thirds of combat veterans locally have mental health problems, including anxiety, depression, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Veterans Administration.
(Photo: Courtesy of Kognito Interactive)
The military services, the V.A. and independent support groups offer a range of services for families, so they can get help for their loved ones, but many people don’t know where to start.
Ann Feder, a supervisor for mental health services for the regional V.A., hopes the new online program that Christian Campos is playing, called Family of Heroes, will find its way to other people like the Campos family.
“We already do face-to-face outreaches,” she said, “but this is the first time we’re doing a program for any family member, loved one, somebody who cares about the veteran online.”
"Family of Heroes" was produced by a New York City firm called Kognito, which has a $200,000 contract with the local V.A. It's too new to have much of a track record, but more rigorous study is in the works.
V.A. officials said they don’t expect an interactive online program to take the place of traditional resources for families, such as help lines and support groups.
Psychologist Barbara Van Dahlen, who runs a volunteer program for veterans called Give an Hour, said the easy-to-access simulation is one more tool among several.
“Obviously, it’s not going to be the right method for every family,” Van Dahlen said. “But the goal is to create a variety of options, of opportunities to get information to families.”
"Family of Heroes" takes about an hour, and features three families with different challenges. Viewers watch a conversation between spouses or parents and returning veterans, and then replay it, taking the role of the loved one, and trying out different replies, until gently persuading the veteran to seek counseling help.
Christian Campos, taking the role of the virtual Marine’s mother, doesn’t quite get him all the way into therapy, but playing around just a little with the simulation, he gets him to accept the idea of possibly seeing someone. It’s a start.
Christian said he feels newly confident about broaching sensitive subjects with his brother, Junior, who’s returning soon for Thanksgiving: “Knowing how to handle a situation...that could save his life,” Christian said.
Christian Campos said his brother, Junior, was in several vehicles that were hit by roadside bombs, and he was shot in the head, but saved by his helmet.
Speaking from North Carolina, Junior said coming back from Afghanistan took some adjustment initially. He had some problems with anger, but not any more.
“I have no issues. I have no problems now,” he said. “I can control my temper now. I’m calm all the time.”
Junior’s looking forward to coming home for Thanksgiving. Christian, is also upbeat about the upcoming visit – but he also plans to spend some time with the “Family of Heroes” program, and go over it with his parents, just in case.
The game, “Family of Heroes,” is an online interactive role-playing program aimed at helping loved ones communicate with veterans dealing with post-deployment problems, and ultimately, get them treatment.
He nodded his head and smiled knowingly at the screen. He said the similarities between the fictional Marine and his brother, Junior, 22, were uncanny.
Junior spent 10 months in Afghanistan and earlier this year returned to Camp Lejeune, N.C., where he is now. He’s come home to his family in Paterson, N.J., a few times since being back.
“Seeing my brother very anxious, seeing my brother with all those feelings of going back to war, because be feels more safe, he feels more normal, he feels he belongs there — is totally sad, is totally devastating to me as well as my parents," Christian said.
There are an estimated 34,000 veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars in the metropolitan area, and with the final withdrawal of troops from Iraq by the end of the year, that number is expected to increase. As many as two-thirds of combat veterans locally have mental health problems, including anxiety, depression, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Veterans Administration.
(Photo: Courtesy of Kognito Interactive)
The military services, the V.A. and independent support groups offer a range of services for families, so they can get help for their loved ones, but many people don’t know where to start.
Ann Feder, a supervisor for mental health services for the regional V.A., hopes the new online program that Christian Campos is playing, called Family of Heroes, will find its way to other people like the Campos family.
“We already do face-to-face outreaches,” she said, “but this is the first time we’re doing a program for any family member, loved one, somebody who cares about the veteran online.”
"Family of Heroes" was produced by a New York City firm called Kognito, which has a $200,000 contract with the local V.A. It's too new to have much of a track record, but more rigorous study is in the works.
V.A. officials said they don’t expect an interactive online program to take the place of traditional resources for families, such as help lines and support groups.
Psychologist Barbara Van Dahlen, who runs a volunteer program for veterans called Give an Hour, said the easy-to-access simulation is one more tool among several.
“Obviously, it’s not going to be the right method for every family,” Van Dahlen said. “But the goal is to create a variety of options, of opportunities to get information to families.”
"Family of Heroes" takes about an hour, and features three families with different challenges. Viewers watch a conversation between spouses or parents and returning veterans, and then replay it, taking the role of the loved one, and trying out different replies, until gently persuading the veteran to seek counseling help.
Christian Campos, taking the role of the virtual Marine’s mother, doesn’t quite get him all the way into therapy, but playing around just a little with the simulation, he gets him to accept the idea of possibly seeing someone. It’s a start.
Christian said he feels newly confident about broaching sensitive subjects with his brother, Junior, who’s returning soon for Thanksgiving: “Knowing how to handle a situation...that could save his life,” Christian said.
Christian Campos said his brother, Junior, was in several vehicles that were hit by roadside bombs, and he was shot in the head, but saved by his helmet.
Speaking from North Carolina, Junior said coming back from Afghanistan took some adjustment initially. He had some problems with anger, but not any more.
“I have no issues. I have no problems now,” he said. “I can control my temper now. I’m calm all the time.”
Junior’s looking forward to coming home for Thanksgiving. Christian, is also upbeat about the upcoming visit – but he also plans to spend some time with the “Family of Heroes” program, and go over it with his parents, just in case.
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