Recently added articles from Behavioral Healthcare:
Celebrating collaboration.(Editorial)(Conference notes)
May 01, 2009; ... The theme of last month's National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare conference was "Together we will," and attendees were invited to imagine all they could accomplish through their collective efforts. I always am amazed by stories of organizations working together to achieve a ...
Providing an exit from case management: programs need to promote self-sufficiency.(TOOLS FOR TRANSFORMATION)
May 01, 2009; ... Have you ever noticed that most case management programs don't provide a way for people to leave or graduate because they have become so much better as a result of the services they received? Once a person is in case management there seems to be no planned way to exit. We think this is a ...
Increasing inpatient beds a team effort: multiple stakeholders work together to add beds in Northwest Arkansas.(INPATIENT SERVICES)
May 01, 2009; ... Many communities struggle with an inadequate number of inpatient psychiatric beds. This problem was particularly acute in Northwest Arkansas, a growing area of the state. To address this situation, multiple stakeholders came together to open a new 28-bed adult inpatient psychiatric unit at ...
Working to reunite families torn apart by mental illness: a program helps parents with psychiatric disabilities regain custody of their children.(CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES)
May 01, 2009; ... Parents with psychiatric disabilities face many challenges, especially if their children are placed in foster care--the cards are stacked against them regaining custody. To help reunite families, the Urban Justice Center's Mental Health Project (MHP) created a program to help parents with ...
Short-term solutions with long-term benefits: providing frequent users of emergency departments with multidisciplinary services has dramatic payoffs.(CRISIS SERVICES)
May 01, 2009; ... Every month Bob sought treatment at Highland Hospital's (Oakland, California) emergency department (ED) for cellulitis. Bob was homeless, so he was unable to shower or perform necessary hygiene. Years before, Bob experienced a difficult divorce and his life fell apart. He began abusing ...
Reorganizing to provide integrated care: three agencies aim for better coordinated care in Northeast Colorado.(CARE COORDINATION)
May 01, 2009; ... By nature of how they were created, mental health and substance use treatment organizations often serve specific populations in specific locations. But over time agencies have realized that these service separations are artificial barriers to effective care. This is a story of how three ...
If you build it, they will come: creating a new clubhouse was an inclusive process.(FACILITY DESIGN)
May 01, 2009; ... "If you build it, he will come." This line from Field of Dreams certainly has proven true for Independence Center, a distinguished clubhouse-model mental health program in St. Louis experiencing unprecedented program growth since occupying its new West End Place clubhouse about ...
On the threshold of hope: the design of alcohol and drug treatment facilities can support patients' recovery.(FACILITY DESIGN)
May 01, 2009; ... When a person makes the courageous decision to enter a drug and alcohol treatment facility, he/she is literally crossing a threshold from shame to hope. Architecture, landscaping, and interior design have the power to support a treatment program's goals through then-influence on patients' ...
Keep up to date on ARRA funding: some dollars are available to behavioral healthcare providers, but lobbying will be needed to secure more.(VIEWS ON TECHNOLOGY)
May 01, 2009; ... There has been a great deal of excitement in the healthcare and information technology communities since mid-February. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) contains provisions for spending more than $19 billion for healthcare information technology (HIT) infrastructure ...
Managed care: key to a transformed system: it has an important role in parity's implementation and upcoming reforms.(PERSPECTIVES)
May 01, 2009; ... Our industry has not yet absorbed the tremendous changes signed into law last year in the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and the phased-in reforms to Medicare reimbursement, both of which essentially increase behavioral health benefits to the ...
Time to stop being one-dimensional: we're focused on disease while neglecting health.(THE MANDERSCHEID REPORT)
May 01, 2009; ... For the past three score years, we in the mental health and substance use care fields have been "one-dimensional" people: We have focused only on disease and its remediation. Our efforts have produced exquisite classification systems for disease and its treatment, and our language has ...
Committed to helping others: Shannon Harvey has served as a teacher, project manager and, now, CEO.(MOVER)(chief executive officer)
May 01, 2009; ... The new CEO of River Edge Behavioral Health Center in Macon, Georgia, took a somewhat circuitous route through the behavioral healthcare field on her way to her new position. "I'm a teacher by training," says Shannon Harvey, LCSW, who succeeded retiring CEO Frank Fields in ...
Leaders' role in tough times.
Apr 01, 2009; ... These certainly are tough times for behavioral healthcare organizations. In Hawaii, for example, the state said last month that it won't be able to pay mental healthcare providers for some contracted services until its new fiscal year begins--in July. "It's a devastating blow. It's really ...
Inspired by Hopewell.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
Apr 01, 2009 ... When I received my February issue of Behavioral Healthcare I was immediately struck by the beauty of the cover depicting Hopewell, a therapeutic farming community in Northeast Ohio for adults with major mental illnesses. I read the article with much excitement and relief that finally a ...
Recovery was Father Martin's life's work: Father Joseph Martin leaves a strong legacy.(IN REMEMBRANCE)(Obituary)
Apr 01, 2009; ... Last month Father Joseph Martin, co-founder of Father Martin's Ashley treatment center in Havre de Grace, Maryland, died at age 84 after battling illnesses for several years. Leaders across the behavioral healthcare field are mourning the loss of one of the most recognized promoters of ...
Transform your expectations: leaders must maintain a hopeful outlook and keep expectations high.(TOOLS FOR TRANSFORMATION)
Apr 01, 2009; ... Last month we talked about how tough things are these days. We talked about this being a time for heroes to step forward and for focusing on thriving instead of just surviving. We encouraged you to put forth your best efforts, to use this "downtime" to dream new dreams, to come up with new ...
Taking a stand pays off: a treatment center finds benefits from entering the legislative process.(ADVOCACY)
Apr 01, 2009; ... Can corporate social responsibility improve patient care and overall program success? Or is it simply one more line in the expense column? Many healthcare organizations struggle to accomplish their primary missions to successfully treat patients and still operate healthy ...
Providing direction: Hazelden's new president and CEO plans on growing the organization even in a troubled economy.(LEADERSHIP)
Apr 01, 2009; ... Mark G. Mishek considers himself to be a listener. "I'm always listening, listening, listening, and trying to understand what the client needs, what an employee needs, and what a donor wants," explains Mishek who, in his role as the new president and CEO of Hazelden, has plenty of ...
From monastery to treatment center: a historic building becomes a place for people to seek recovery.(ADDICTION TREATMENT)
Apr 01, 2009; ... When we opened our doors at The Abbey last autumn, I felt an inexplicably divine sense that my work for the prior 17 years had been leading up to this moment. As I reflect on that transformational moment, I realize that my 17 years of unintentional preparation for opening an addiction ...
A place to bury addictions: Serenity Ranch has a cemetery where people leave their addictions behind.(ADDICTION TREATMENT)(Brief article)
Apr 01, 2009; ... People recovering from addictions often undergo spiritual transformations as they learn ways to live their lives free from substances and destructive behaviors. Jim Gray, founder of Serenity Ranch in Tees, Alberta, also wanted to give those who passed through his treatment center a ...