APNA Members' Corner

Welcome to APNA Members' Corner, a bi-monthly feature of APNA News. Click on the links below to access the features and articles listed for July 2009.

Message from the President

Member Profile: Ann Kelly, MSN, RN

Continuing the Staffing Discussion

Shirley Smoyak Awarded Honorary Doctorate

Book Review

New Members

Legislative

APNA, through its membership in the Mental Health Liaison Group, has sent a letter in support of America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. APNA is also a member of the Campaign for Mental Health and has endorsed the bill through the Campaign. This link provides a summary of the act.

On July 8, 2009, the Mental Health Liaison Group, of which APNA is a member, sent a letter to Senator Jack Reed expressing support for the Reed Amendment to the Affordable Health Choices Act. The Reed amendment aims to provide grants for co-locating primary and specialty care in community-based mental health settings. Read the letter (PDF file)

Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI), joined by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), reintroduced the Positive Aging Act, HR 3191, which will improve the accessibility and quality of mental health services for the country's rapidly growing older population. The Positive Aging Act is designed to make mental health services for older adults an integral part of primary care services in community settings and to extend them to other settings where older adults reside and receive services. Full Story

Issues & Events

The National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (NAPHS) has organized a telephone training on "Recovery Audit Contractors: What Behavioral Health Needs to Know" for Wednesday, August 5, 2009, from 2pm-4pm Eastern. With faculty from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the American Hospital Association (AHA), this call will provide an opportunity to ask the experts questions focused specifically on the concerns of behavioral health providers and to hear how RAC reviews are affecting behavioral health peers. Click here for more information and to register

Addressing Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in Substance Abuse Treatment, a new manual which offers substance abuse counselors a four-step process for addressing suicidal thoughts and behaviors in substance abuse treatment, is now available through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Full Story

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is launching a large-scale research project to explore whether using early and aggressive treatment, individually targeted and integrating a variety of different therapeutic approaches, will reduce the symptoms and prevent the gradual deterioration of functioning that is characteristic of chronic schizophrenia. The Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) project is being funded by NIMH with additional support from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Full Story

The number of people worldwide age 65 and older is estimated at 506 million as of midyear 2008; by 2040, that number will hit 1.3 billion. Thus, in just over 30 years, the proportion of older people will double from 7% to 14% of the total world population, according to a new report, An Aging World: 2008. Full Story

Black Hawk County, IA plans to establish a mental health court, specialized proceedings that focus on solutions that attempt to help defendants treat their illnesses rather than simply handing down punishment for crimes, reported WCFCourier.com. Full Story Philadelphia is launching a similar mental health court, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. Full Story

Policy

Mental health and human services lag far behind general healthcare in access to health information technology (HIT), according to a national survey of nearly 500 organizations. Lack of financing is the primary barrier to the widespread adoption of HIT. Full Story.