Mental Health Advocacy, Awareness and News |
 
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February, 2016 |
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Register for CPI Annual Conference Call for Abstracts 10 New Annual Conference Podcasts Available Now Call for Research Grant Proposals
Also new this year, applicants can apply for varied amounts of funding, depending on their needs. Apply for anywhere from $1,000 to up to $10,000 to help fund your research! Abstracts Submission Deadline: March 22, 2016. Click here to learn more. Issues & Events The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) has released the 2015 National Behavioral Health Barometer report (Barometer) which highlights many important trends in Americans’ behavioral health throughout the nation. The 2015 Barometer findings cover key behavioral healthcare issues affecting American communities including the prevalence rates of youth and adult substance use, serious mental illness, suicidal thoughts, and people seeking treatment for these disorders. Full Story To download a copy of the report click here. Scientists reported that they had taken a significant step toward understanding the cause of schizophrenia, in a landmark study that provides the first rigorously tested insight into the biology behind any common psychiatric disorder, reported the New York Times. The finding, published in the journal Nature, will not lead to new treatments soon, experts said, nor to widely available testing for individual risk. But the results provide researchers with their first biological handle on an ancient disorder whose cause has confounded modern science for generations. Full Story The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is accepting applications for fiscal year 2016 Cooperative Agreements for the Expansion and Sustainability of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children with Serious Emotional Disturbances. The purpose of this program is to improve the mental, emotional, and behavioral well-being of children and youth (birth to 21 years of age) with serious emotional disturbances (SED) and their families. SAMHSA expects to award 17 to 53 four-year grants. Full Story The first study to look at dementia risk in a population representing the diversity of the U.S. finds dementia incidence to be highest in African-Americans and lowest in Asian-Americans. Full Story Mental Health America (MHA) has been awarded a $30,000 grant from CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst) to expand its online screening program. MHA’s Mental Health Screening Program, an innovative online program freely available on MHA’s website, includes anonymous evidence-based screening tools for a variety of mental health conditions, educational resources about mental health conditions, and referral tools to both national and local resources available to individuals. Full Story Legislative Click here for the February State Legislative Activity Report, made available as a part of APNA's legislative tracking system. President Obama's FY 2017 Budget takes a two-pronged approach to address the prescription opioid abuse and heroin use epidemic. First, it includes $1 billion in new mandatory funding over two years to expand access to treatment for prescription drug abuse and heroin use. Second, the President’s Budget includes approximately $500 million to continue and build on current efforts across the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Health and Human Services (HHS) to expand state-level prescription drug overdose prevention strategies, increase the availability of medication-assisted treatment programs, improve access to the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, and support targeted enforcement activities. Full Story U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced proposed revisions to the Confidentiality of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records regulations, 42 CFR Part 2. The goal of the proposed changes is to facilitate information exchange within new health care models while addressing the legitimate privacy concerns of patients seeking treatment for a substance use disorder. Full Story The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) warned the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that criminalization of people living with mental illness has reached "crisis proportions" and called for support of federal, state and local reforms to overcome failings in both the mental health care and criminal justice systems. In written testimony submitted to a committee hearing on "Breaking the Cycle: Mental Health and the Justice System," NAMI Senior Policy Advisor Ronald S. Honberg presented NAMI's support of S.2002, the Mental Health and Safe Communities Act, introduced by Senator John Cornyn of Texas. Full Story Policy In response to the opioid abuse epidemic, Dr. Robert Califf, the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco, along with other FDA leaders, called for a far-reaching action plan to reassess the agency’s approach to opioid medications. The plan will focus on policies aimed at reversing the epidemic, while still providing patients in pain access to effective relief. Full Story Women should be screened for depression during pregnancy and after giving birth, according to a recommendation, issued by the United States Preventive Services Task Force. The recommendation, expected to galvanize many more health providers to provide screening, comes in the wake of new evidence that maternal mental illness is more common than previously thought; that many cases of what has been called postpartum depression actually start during pregnancy; and that left untreated, these mood disorders can be detrimental to the well-being of children, reported The New York Times. Full Story The American Psychiatric Nurses Association is Accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the |
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