MENTAL HEALTH LISTENING SESSIONS - US Fed News Service, Including US State News

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Feb. 13 -- The city of Chapel Hill issued the following press release:

The Mayor's Mental Health Task Force will hold two Public Listening Sessions on Feb. 24 and 25 in the Chapel Hill Town Council Chambers at Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The purpose of these sessions is to enable Task Force members to hear from consumers of mental health services, those who are on the front lines in the mental health field, those who work in allied fields and community members at large. The sessions are scheduled as follows:

Tuesday, Feb. 24, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 25, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

These sessions seek to open a community dialogue on the pressing issue of the state of mental health services in the area. We invite all who are interested in presenting their views to the Task Force to:

Join us on Feb. 24 or 25 to make a 3-minute statement (sign up that evening on a first-come, first-served basis;

Submit a written statement to the Task Force at a listening session or by email (mintern@townofchapelhill.org) or mail/delivery to Mayor's Office, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Chapel Hill, NC 27514.

Submit a post to the Task Force blog (see below);

Persons who are organizing a group presentation and wish to speak beyond the 3-minute limit are requested to make prior arrangements through the Mayor's Office (968-2714).

Together the community and the Task Force can identify important issues related to mental health service delivery in our area and identify potential strategies for change or improvement.

As part of our effort to create a community dialogue, we have also developed a blog at mentalhealthnc.wordpress.com, where we invite all members of the community to offer feedback and comments.

New mental health findings from University of North Carolina published. - Women's Health Weekly

'Although most social work professionals may expect that women who experience partner violence will sustain acute physical injuries, social workers may be less knowledgeable about the chronic health problems with which violence survivors often struggle. To inform social work practice, we reviewed and synthesized the recently Published research oil health outcomes associated with partner violence victimization,' scientists writing in the journal Social Work report (see also Mental Health).

'We focused our review efforts on chronic physical and mental health conditions that social workers are likely to see in their practices. Using rigorous selection criteria, we selected 28 articles for review from over 3,500 found in our search.The review showed that althOLI-h -,NIOIIICII who experience partner violence are likely to seek health services, they have poor overall physical and mental health, and their health needs are not addressed sufficiently by current health and human service systems,' wrote R.J. Macy and colleagues, University of North Carolina.

The researchers concluded: 'We offer social work practice, policy, and research recommendations to encourage comprehensive services that promote women's health and safety.'

Macy and colleagues published their study in Social Work (Partner Violence and Survivors' Chronic Health Problems: Informing Social Work Practice. Social Work, 2009;54(1):29-43).

Additional information can be obtained by contacting R.J. Macy, University of North Carolina, School Social Work, Tate Turner Kuralt Bldg, 301 Pittsboro St., Chapel Hill, NC 27510, USA.

The publisher of the journal Social Work can be contacted at: National Association Social Workers, 750 First St., NE, Ste. 700, Washington, DC 20002-4241, USA.

Keywords: United States, Chapel Hill, Mental Health, University of North Carolina.

Research from East Carolina University Broadens Understanding of Mental Health.(Report) - Mental Health Weekly Digest

'The mental health of aging men is an understudied social issue. Although it is widely accepted that meaningful family relationships are associated with fewer depressive symptoms and greater positive affect, scholars have largely overlooked relationships between grandfathers and grandchildren as being beneficial to men's mental health,' scientists writing in the American Journal of Mens Health report (see also Mental Health).

'This study investigates the differences in the depressive symptoms and positive affect of 351 grandfathers. Using a cluster analytic technique, participants were categorized as involved, passive, and disengaged based on their frequency of contact, level of commitment, and participation in activities with grandchildren. Comparative analyses indicate that involved grandfathers had fewer depressive symptoms than disengaged grandfathers. Involved grandfathers had significantly higher scores on positive affect than disengaged grandfathers, and passive grandfathers had significantly higher scores on positive affect than disengaged grandfathers. This study provides evidence that grandfather-grandchild relationships influence aging men's mental health,' wrote J.S. Bates and colleagues, East Carolina University.

The researchers concluded: 'Implications for practitioners working with aging men are discussed.'

Bates and colleagues published their study in American Journal of Mens Health (Grandfather Involvement and Aging Men's Mental Health. American Journal of Mens Health, 2012;6(3):229-239).

Additional information can be obtained by contacting J.S. Bates, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, United States.

The publisher of the American Journal of Mens Health can be contacted at: Sage Publications Inc, 2455 Teller Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320, USA.

Keywords: City:Greenville, State:North Carolina, Country:United States, Region:North and Central America

EXPANDING MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN NORTH CAROLINA COMMUNITIES. - States News Service

RALEIGH, NC -- The following information was released by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS):

Stabilizing and expanding mental health services will be the focus of the new Assistant Secretary of Mental Health Services Development for the Department of Health and Human Services.

'Building our capacity to serve individuals with mental illness, developmental disabilities or who suffer from substance abuse in communities across our state has been the directive to this Administration,' said DHHS Secretary Lanier Cansler in naming Michael F. Watson to the position. Watson will provide the leadership and oversee the Department's efforts in building a strong mental health system. Watson is currently chief executive officer for Sandhills Center for Mental Health, Development Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services.

'The Governor has charged this agency to build a strong foundation for improved access to mental health services. I am confident Mike is the person to help us chart our course toward increasing our community capacity for MH/DD/SAS services to those parts of the state where we already have options, and to expand it into the parts of the state where the capacity is lacking,' Sec. Cansler said. 'We also will draw on his knowledge as we work toward finishing stabilizing our state facility operations as well as undertaking the strategic planning necessary to guide our future needs for state-provided treatment care.'

Watson has more than 20 years of experience and leadership in developing and operating MH/DD/SAS services on a local and regional level. Since 1983, Watson has led the Sandhills Center, which is an eight-county local management entity (LME) serving Anson, Harnett, Hoke, Lee, Moore, Montgomery, Randolph and Richmond counties. He also served as assistant director of the Division of Youth Services in the N.C. Department of Human Resources from 1978-83. He has been named Professional of the Year by both The Arc of North Carolina and the N.C. Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

'I am deeply appreciative of the opportunity that Sec. Cansler has offered me,' Watson said. 'The last few years have been extremely difficult ones for the community mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse system in North Carolina. Our consumers and their families deserve and should expect access to effective community services. Despite the stark fiscal realities that confront our state, we must work to create a stable, competent and efficient provider network that meets the needs of our citizens. It is my hope that my years of experience in the management of community services will provide a strong foundation to help achieve these goals.'

New Mental Health Data Have Been Reported by Researchers at Duke University. - Mental Health Weekly Digest

According to recent research from Durham, United States, 'In 2001, the United States. Office of Personnel Management required all health plans participating in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program to offer mental health and substance abuse benefits on par with general medical benefits.'

'The initial evaluation found that, on average, parity did not result in either large spending increases or increased service use over the four-year observational period. However, some groups of enrollees may have benefited from parity more than others. To address this question, we propose a Bayesian two-part latent class model to characterize the effect of parity on mental health use and expenditures. Within each class, we fit a two-part random effects model to separately model the probability of mental health or substance abuse use and mean spending trajectories among those having used services. The regression coefficients and random effect covariances vary across classes, thus permitting class-varying correlation structures between the two components of the model. Our analysis identified three classes of subjects: a group of low spenders that tended to be male, had relatively rare use of services, and decreased their spending pattern over time; a group of moderate spenders, primarily female, that had an increase in both use and mean spending after the introduction of parity; and a group of high spenders that tended to have chronic service use and constant spending patterns,' wrote B. Neelon and colleagues, Duke University (see also Mental Health).

The researchers concluded: 'By examining the joint 95% highest probability density regions of expected changes in use and spending for each class, we confirmed that parity had an impact only on the moderate spender class.'

Neelon and colleagues published their study in Biometrics (A Bayesian Two-Part Latent Class Model for Longitudinal Medical Expenditure Data: Assessing the Impact of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Parity. Biometrics, 2011;67(1):280-289).

For additional information, contact B. Neelon, Duke University, Nicholas School Environmental, Durham, NC 27708, United States..

Publisher contact information for the journal Biometrics is: Wiley-Blackwell, Commerce Place, 350 Main St., Malden 02148, MA, USA.

Keywords: City:Durham, State:North Carolina, Country:United States, Mental Health

New Mental Health Research from Harvard University Discussed. - Mental Health Weekly Digest

According to the authors of recent research from Boston, Massachusetts, 'Evidence about the mental health consequences of unaffordable housing is limited. The authors investigated whether people whose housing costs were more than 30% of their household income experienced a deterioration in their mental health (using the Short Form 36 Mental Component Summary), over and above other forms of financial stress.'

'They hypothesized that associations would be limited to lower income households as high housing costs would reduce their capacity to purchase other essential nonhousing needs (e.g., food). Using fixed-effects longitudinal regression, the authors analyzed 38,610 responses of 10,047 individuals aged 25-64 years who participated in the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey (2001-2007). Respondents included those who remained in affordable housing over 2 consecutive waves (reference group) or had moved from affordable to unaffordable housing over 2 waves (comparison group). For individuals living in low-to-moderate income households, entering unaffordable housing was associated with a small decrease in their mental health score independent of changes in equivalized household income or having moved house (mean change = -1.19, 95% confidence interval: -1.97, -0.41). The authors did not find evidence to support an association for higher income households,' wrote R. Bentley and colleagues, Harvard University (see also Mental Health).

The researchers concluded: 'They found that entering unaffordable housing is detrimental to the mental health of individuals residing in low-to-moderate income households.'

Bentley and colleagues published their study in American Journal of Epidemiology (Association Between Housing Affordability and Mental Health: A Longitudinal Analysis of a Nationally Representative Household Survey in Australia REPLY. American Journal of Epidemiology, 2011;174(7):753-760).

For additional information, contact R. Bentley, Harvard University, School Population Health, Dept. of Society Human Development & Health, Boston, MA 02115, United States.

Publisher contact information for the American Journal of Epidemiology is: Oxford University Press Inc., Journals Dept., 2001 Evans Rd., Cary, NC 27513, USA.

Keywords: City:Boston, State:Massachusetts, Country:United States, Region:North and Central America, Investing and Investments

Studies from East Carolina University in the Area of Mental Health Described.(Report) - Mental Health Weekly Digest

According to the authors of recent research from Greenville, North Carolina, 'The association between physical activity and quality of life in stroke survivors has not been analyzed within a framework related to the human development index. This study aimed to identify differences in physical activity level and in the quality of life of stroke survivors in two cities differing in economic aspects of the human development index.'

'Two groups of subjects who had suffered a stroke at least a year prior to testing and showed hemiplegia or hemiparesis were studied: a group from Belo Horizonte (BH) with 48 people (51.5 +/- 8.7 years) and one from Montes Claros (MC) with 29 subjects (55.4 +/- 8.1 years). Subsequently, regardless of location, the groups were divided into Active and Insufficiently Active so their difference in terms of quality of life could be analyzed. There were no significant differences between BH and MCG when it came to four dimensions of physical health that were evaluated (physical functioning, physical aspect, pain and health status) or in the following four dimensions of mental health status (vitality, social aspect, emotional aspect and mental health). However, significantly higher mean values were found in Active when compared with Insufficiently Active individuals in various measures of physical health (physical functioning 56.2 +/- 4.4 vs. 47.4 +/- 6.9; physical aspect 66.5 +/- 6.5 vs. 59.1 +/- 6.7; pain 55.9 +/- 6.2 vs. 47.7 +/- 6.0; health status 67.2 +/- 4.2 vs. 56.6 +/- 7.8) (arbitrary units), and mental health (vitality 60.9 +/- 6.8 vs. 54.1 +/- 7.2; social aspect 60.4 +/- 7.1 vs. 54.2 +/- 7.4; emotional aspect 64.0 +/- 5.5 vs. 58.1 +/- 6.9; mental health status 66.2 +/- 5.5 vs. 58.4 +/- 7.5) (arbitrary units). Despite the difference between the cities concerning HDI values, no significant differences in quality of life were found between BH and MCG,' wrote F.J. Aidar and colleagues, East Carolina University (see also Mental Health).

The researchers concluded: 'However, the Active group showed significantly better results, confirming the importance of active lifestyle to enhance quality of life in stroke survivors.'

Aidar and colleagues published their study in Health and Quality of Life Outcomes (The influence of the level of physical activity and human development in the quality of life in survivors of stroke. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 2011;9():1-6).

For additional information, contact F.J. Aidar, East Carolina University, Dept. of Physiol, Greenville, NC, United States.

Publisher contact information for the journal Health and Quality of Life Outcomes is: Biomedical Central Ltd, 236 Grays Inn Rd., Floor 6, London WC1X 8HL, England.

Keywords: City:Greenville, State:North Carolina, Country:United States, Region:North and Central America