AFSCME Information Highway

Source: Treatment Advocacy Center

Since the 1960s there has been a mass exodus of patients from public psychiatric hospitals. Data are available on the number of patients in such hospitals in 1955 and in 2004-2005. The data show that:
• In 2005 there were 17 public psychiatric beds available per 100,000 population compared to 340 per 100,000 in 1955. Thus, 95 percent of the beds available in 1955 were no longer available in 2005.
• The states with the fewest beds were Nevada (5.1 per 100,000), Arizona (5.9), Arkansas (6.7), Iowa (8.1), Vermont (8.9), and Michigan (9.9). The states with the most beds were South Dakota (40.3) and Mississippi (49.7).
• A consensus of experts polled for this report suggests that 50 public psychiatric beds per 100,000 population is a minimum number. Thus, 42 of the 50 states had less than half the minimum number needed, and Mississippi was the only state to achieve this goal.
• The total estimated shortfall of public psychiatric beds needed to achieve a minimum level of psychiatric care is 95,820 beds.
• The consequences of the severe shortage of public psychiatric beds include increased homelessness; the incarceration of mentally ill individuals in jails and prisons; emergency rooms being overrun with patients waiting for a psychiatric bed; and an increase in violent behavior, including homicides, in communities across the nation.
• The consequences of the severe shortage in public psychiatric beds could be improved with the widespread utilization of PACT (Program of Assertive Community Treatment) programs and assisted outpatient treatment (AOT), both of which have been proven to decrease hospitalization. It could also be improved with greater flexibility in federal and state regulations allowing for the development of alternatives to hospitalization.

Full report (PDF; 59 KB)

Posted by Info Center at 8:26 AM in Health Care | Mental Health | Permalink

Source: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (CDC), February 29, 2008

From the press release:
About 10 percent of adults report not getting enough rest or sleep every day in the past month, according to a new four-state study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention′s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The data from the four states-Delaware, Hawaii, New York, and Rhode Island-may not reflect national trends. But an additional study conducted by CDC utilizing data from the National Health Interview Study indicated that across all age groups the percentage of adults who, on average, report sleeping six hours or less has increased from 1985 to 2006.

Nationwide, an estimated 50 to 70 million people suffer from chronic sleep loss and sleep disorders. Sleep loss is associated with health problems, including obesity, depression, and certain risk behaviors, including cigarette smoking, physical inactivity, and heavy drinking.

Posted by Info Center at 2:06 PM in Health & Safety | Hours of Work | Mental Health | Permalink

Source: Mental Health America

From press release:
Mental Health America today released its report, "Ranking America's Mental Health: An Analysis of Depression Across the States," a first-of-its-kind study examining state and national data for statistical associations between access-to-care factors and actual health outcomes, namely a state's mental health status and suicide rate. Included in the study is a ranking of the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on rates of depression and suicide. South Dakota is found to lead the nation with the best depression status while Utah ranked last.

Ranking America's Mental Health: An Analysis of Depression Across the States

Posted by Info Center at 10:39 AM in Mental Health | Permalink

Source: Tami L. Mark, Katharine R. Levit, Jeffrey A. Buck, Rosanna M. Coffey, and Rita Vandivort-Warren, Psychiatric Services, Vol. 58 no. 8, August 2007
(subscription required)

From press release:
Over the past two decades, spending for mental health treatment shifted sharply from inpatient care to prescription medications, and Medicaid picked up a growing share of the cost, according to a study published today in Psychiatric Services.

The study, which analyzed healthcare costs from 1986 to 2003, was conducted by researchers from Thomson Healthcare and the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

See Also: Abstract of Psychiatric Services Article: Mental Health Treatment Expenditure Trends, 1986–2003

Posted by Info Center at 5:06 PM in Mental Health | Permalink

Source: Julian Ford and Robert L. Trestman, and Fred Osher, Jack E. Scott, Henry J. Steadman, and Pamela Clark Robbins, National Institute of Justice, NCJ 216152, May 2007

This National Institute of Justice report provides information on two projects designed to create and validate mental health screening instruments that corrections staff can use during intake. Included in the report are questionnaires that accurately identify inmates who require mental health interventions.

Posted by Info Center at 5:25 PM in Corrections | Mental Health | Permalink

Source: Partnership for Workplace Mental Health, May 2007

Employee Benefit News, a leading publication for HR professionals, and the Partnership for Workplace Mental Health, are proud to release the results of a national survey in which employers from across the country selected mental illness as the health issue that has the most effect on indirect costs. The Innerworkings: A Look at Mental Health in Today’s Workplace survey points to an overwhelming need for better education of frontline managers and employees on this critical health issue.
+ Press Release

Posted by Info Center at 5:19 PM in Mental Health | Permalink

Source: Mental Health Weekly, Vol. 17 no. 17, April 30, 2007
(subscription required)

Legislation, which includes violence protection training, soon to become law.

House bill 1456, also known as the Marty Smith bill would provide backup for mental health professionals during home visits. The bill is names in honor of Smith, a County Designated Mental Health Professional (CDMHP) at Kitsap Mental Health, a private not-for-profit community mental health center in Bremerton, Wash., who was killed on Nov. 4, 2005 when he went to provide care for a client during a home visit.

Posted by Info Center at 1:30 PM in Health & Safety | Health Care Workers | Labor Laws/Legislation | Mental Health | Permalink

Source: Sarah Steverman and Tara Lubin, State Legislatures, Vol. 33 no. 4, April 2007
(subscription required)

Diverting people with mental illnesses out of prison takes commitment from the community along with adequate funding.

Community mental health care can be costly, but it is far cheaper for states than incarceration. It costs around $26 a day to treat someone in a community mental health program, but it can cost more than $65 a day to keep them in jail. And states can tap federal resources to help pay for community mental health services. The vast majority of prison costs, however, falls on the state.

Posted by Info Center at 12:28 PM in Corrections | Mental Health | Permalink

Source: Sarah Hammond, State Legislatures, Vol. 33 no. 4, April 2007
(subscription required)

Treating mental illness in young people can keep them from a future of crime and delinquency.

Without treatment, these young people continue in delinquency and often become adult criminals. The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that more than three-quarters of the mentally ill offenders in jail had prior offenses. Effective assessment and comprehensive responses to court-involved juveniles with mental health needs is necessary to help break this cycle and provide for healthier young people who are less likely to commit crimes, Cocozza says.

Posted by Info Center at 12:26 PM in Corrections | Mental Health | Permalink

Source: Donna Lyons, State Legislatures, Vol. 33 no. 4, April 2007
(subscription required)

Jailing offenders with mental illness serves no one, but new policies are bringing about needed changes.

The deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill in the 1960s was designed to care for those with acute mental health needs in the community instead of in state-run asylums. But the movement to be more compassionate and cost-effective in treating those with mental illness has had a down side. In the generation since many state mental hospitals closed and treatment approaches shifted to the community, many people with serious mental illnesses have failed to get the treatment they need. For some, that means homelessness and crime, and advocates now decry what they call the “criminalization of the mentally ill.”

Posted by Info Center at 12:23 PM in Corrections | Mental Health | Permalink