MHA Society for Behavioral Health

9th Annual Conference on Alzheimer's Disease Set for Aug. 20-22

In an effort to address the needs of people suffering from or caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease, the Mississippi Department of Mental Health (DMH) will host the 9th Annual Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease and Psychiatric Disorders in the Elderly.

The conference will be held at Pearl River Resort in Choctaw, MS on August 20-22. This year’s theme is “Caring, Connecting, Conquering.” The purpose of the conference is to inform, educate and train all who are involved in the care of persons with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and psychiatric disorders.

This year’s keynote speakers will present a wide range of topics. Keynote speakers include David Troxel, MPH, co-founder of the Best Friends Approach in Alzheimer’s day services; Megan Malone, MA, CCC-SLP, senior researcher from Myers Research Institute; Kim Teal, MD of UMC Geriatric Division; and Tom Begert Clark, BA, MDiv, LPC of Even As We Speak. A variety of concurrent sessions will be presented by experts in their field from across the state including Board of Mental Health member, Margaret Kea Cassada, MD. Topics include medication intervention, activity interventions, caregiver support issues, spirituality, ethics, legal issues, grief and loss, brain fitness, and resource updates. A Legislative Forum will also be held at the conference featuring a panel of Mississippi’s leading Senators and Representatives.

“It is both my professional and personal desire to ensure that individuals with Alzheimer’s disease receive the quality care they deserve,” said Kathy VanCleave, Director of DMH’s Division of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementia. “Providing quality educational opportunities, support services, and caregiver support are key in making this happen. Mississippi is fortunate to be one of the few states with a division in state government devoted specifically to Alzheimer’s disease. Although we are ahead in this area, there is so much that needs to be done.”

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, approximately 5.2 million Americans have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. By 2010, an estimated 52,000 Mississippians will have the disease. From 2000 – 2004, deaths from Alzheimer’s disease increased by 32.8 percent. In the same time period, deaths from heart disease, stroke, breast and prostate cancer all decreased. Every 71 seconds someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

The conference is sponsored by DMH’s Division of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementia. For more information, call DMH at (601) 359-1288 or go to www.dmh.ms.gov.

Harrison named chairperson of the Board of Mental Health

George Harrison of Coffeeville was recently named chairperson for the Board of Mental Health.

Harrison attended Northwest Community College and served as a Production Manager for 41 years at Lennox International in Grenada. He previously served on the Governor’s Council for Developmental Disabilities and the BMR Advisory Council.

“It is a great honor to be named as chairperson for the Board of Mental Health,” Harrison said. “I am proud to have the opportunity to serve. I hope we can do as great of a job this year as we did last year.”

Mr. Harrison has lived in Coffeeville his entire life and is married to Elsie R. Harrison. They have two children, Andy and La Tania. Mr. Harrison attends Pinegrove Baptist Church.

“We are excited to have Mr. Harrison serve as chairperson for the Board of Mental Health,” said Ed LeGrand, DMH Executive Director. “His expertise and experience is invaluable.”

Senate fails to invoke cloture on bill containing parity measure

The Senate on July 30 failed, by a vote of 51-43, to achieve the 60 votes needed to proceed to a vote on the Jobs, Energy, Families and Disaster Relief Act (S. 3335), which includes a mental health parity provision. That provision includes language agreed to last month by the House and Senate committees of jurisdiction that would require group health plans offering both medical and mental health/substance disorder coverage to provide similar financial and treatment limits for both types of coverage.

[ via AHA News Now ]

Veterans' Hotline Averted More Than 1,200 Suicides in First Year

More than 22,000 veterans have called a veterans suicide hotline since its launch in July 2007, and 1,221 suicides have been averted, according to government data to be released on July 28, the AP/Baltimore Sun reports. Richard McKeon, public health adviser for HHS' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said the hotline, which is part of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, receives about 1,575 calls weekly and the callers are divided evenly between veterans from Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam.

The hotline connects veterans or people concerned about veterans with specially trained counselors, about one-third of whom are veterans themselves. Counselors are able to review veterans' medical records and refer them to local Department of Veterans Affairs suicide prevention coordinators for follow-up, monitoring and care at local VA medical facilities.

The hotline was developed with SAMHSA after criticism that VA was not doing enough to help wounded service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Approximately 6,500 veterans commit suicide annually, according to VA. VA has spent $2.9 million on the hotline and recently received funding to double its suicide prevention staff, with plans to hire an additional 212 people.

Janet Kemp, national suicide prevention coordinator for VA, said the hotline was developed specifically for veterans who do not receive enough help and are seriously considering suicide. She said, "They have indicated to us that they are in extreme danger, either they have guns in their hand or they're standing on a bridge, or they've already swallowed pills." Kemp added, "We try to get them (callers) to talk about their situation and what they remember and see if they can identify exactly what their issues are. I think there's a comfort in knowing that they can get some help from people who do understand what combat stress is like."

[ via Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report ]

FDA panel votes against black box for epilepsy meds

For a long time now, it's looked like the FDA was gearing up toward putting a black-box warning on epilepsy drugs, since it was discovered that they can potentially increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in patients who take them. However, in a surprise move, an FDA-convened panel has ruled 14-4 against imposing a black-box warning on this class of drugs, which includes Pfizer's Lyrica and Johnson & Johnson's Topamax.

The committee concluded that though the risks were real, they weren't high enough to merit a black-box warning. And some panel members noted that imposing a black-box on epilepsy drugs might discourage some patients from taking them, even when the merits of the drug outweigh these risks.

Instead of recommending the black-box warning, the panel is suggesting that the FDA send a medication guide to doctors outlining the drugs' risks. To learn more about the FDA panel's decision, read this Wall Street Journal blog item.

[ via Fierce Healthcare ]

Medicare Mental Health Parity Approved

Just a few days after reconvening from the July recess, the Senate joined the House in passing the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (H.R. 6331) by a veto-proof 69-30. Less-publicized than the provision that would halt a payment cut for physicians providing treatment to Medicare patients is new equity between mental health and medical coverage.

When enacted, the bill will end a longstanding requirement that affects Medicare beneficiaries who need outpatient mental health services. Currently, they face a discriminatory 50% co-insurance for outpatient psychotherapy and services furnished by non-physician mental health professionals (20% for prescription and monitoring of medications to treat mental illness). In contrast, other outpatient health services require only a 20% co-payment.

The present outdated and unfair higher co-payment for mental health services has served as an incentive to use inpatient or institutional care instead of outpatient services. It has also led seniors and people with disabilities who rely on Medicare to forgo needed mental health treatment.

The bill would establish mental health parity within the Medicare program, phasing in a reduction of the higher co-payment over six years, to 20% in 2014.

The passage of H.R. 6331 is a significant accomplishment and makes great strides in modernizing Medicare. A thank-you call, email or letter to your Senators would be welcomed. See how they voted on H.R. 6331.

The House passed H.R. 6331 by a vote of 355-59 on June 24th. The overwhelming majority in both chambers makes a veto override likely, should the Administration carry out its earlier threat.

For more information, see the summary of H.R. 6331 provided by the House Ways and Means Committee.

[ via Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law ]

Study examines parity in state health coverage initiatives

While more than one in four uninsured U.S. adults has a mental illness or substance-use disorder, many state initiatives to cover the uninsured neglect those conditions, according to a new study by the National Alliance on Mental Illness and National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare. Eleven of the 18 states examined included parity in mental health coverage in at least one program or proposal for the uninsured, while only five included parity for substance-use disorders, the study found.

Among other concerns, few states included mental illness and substance-use disorders in their wellness and chronic disease management programs, the groups said.

[ via AHA News Now ]

Panel to advise HHS on mental health preparedness

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has convened an expert panel to recommend ways to help protect and restore individual and community mental health during and after public health emergencies. The Disaster Mental Health Subcommittee plans to submit recommendations within six months to HHS’ National Biodefense Science Board, which in turn will make recommendations to the HHS secretary.

“We all can experience psychological consequences during and after a disaster, and there are things that can be done to mitigate these effects and improve our overall response and recovery,” said NBSB Chair Patricia Quinlisk. The recommendations will address communication, education and other interventions.

The NBSB advises the secretary regarding chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological health emergencies.

[ via AHA News Now ]

People With Mental Illnesses Wait Longer in Emergency Departments as Hospitals Close Psychiatric Units

Nearly 80% of hospitals say mentally ill patients who need to be hospitalized sometimes must wait four hours or longer to be admitted because of a shortage of psychiatric beds and mental health staff, according to a survey by the American College of Emergency Physicians, USA Today reports. By comparison, 30% of hospitals said patients not seeking mental health services had to wait four hours or more before being admitted.

For the study, ACEP officials surveyed 328 emergency medical directors. The survey also found:

• About 10% of the directors said psychiatric patients wait more than one day on average;
• 84% of directors said ED wait times would decrease for all patients if their hospitals offered better psychiatric services;
• Half of the hospitals surveyed had psychiatric units, while the rest transferred patients to other facilities; and
• 61% of hospitals surveyed do not have psychiatric staff caring for ED patients while they wait, but those patients do receive care for other medical problems.

The number of psychiatric beds in U.S. community hospitals has declined 12% since 2000, compared to a 4% decline in overall hospital beds, according to ACEP. According to James Bentley of the American Hospital Association, hospitals have begun closing their psychiatric units because of low payments from government programs and health insurers, uncompensated care for uninsured patients and a shortage of psychiatrists willing to work in hospitals.

[ via Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report ]

Suicide risk may be higher for MDs

While many inside the profession don't like to discuss the issue, it's getting publicity nonetheless: Doctors are killing themselves at comparatively high rates. While exact statistics are hard to come by, researchers think that the suicide rate among physicians is higher than that of the general population, averaging 300 to 400 U.S. doctors per year. A 28-state study from the 80s found that female doctors were more than twice as likely as women in the general population to suicide, while male doctors were 70 percent more likely to kill themselves.

Why are these rates so high? For one thing, many don't get the help they need - fearing that any admission of mental illness could ruin their careers, given the profession's stoic culture. What's more, physicians have easy access to lethal drugs, as well as detailed knowledge of how to overdose effectively. On top of everything else, doctors often have extremely high workloads and make high-stakes decisions under intense pressure.

Hoping to stem this ugly trend, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has launched an educational campaign that hopes to make troubled doctors feel more comfortable seeking help. Also, fellow professionals are making changes to help de-stigmatize mental illness. For example, in Arkansas, one psychiatrist managed to get the state's medical license application process changed; previously, a doctor who admitted mental illness had to get a pass from a psychiatrist before they could practice, but now they only need to disclose treatment.

To learn more about this issue, read this USA Today piece.

[ via FierceHealthcare ]