An intense international debate, often fueled by highly-publicized acts of violence in the community, is occurring on the legitimacy and effectiveness of policies requiring people with mental illness to accept outpatient treatment. Many assume that court-ordered treatment as an outpatient is simply an extension of long-existing policies authorizing involuntary commitment to a hospital. In fact, however, outpatient commitment is only one of several forms of “leverage”—including access to welfare benefits and subsidized housing, and treatment as a condition of probation or in a mental health court—commonly used to obtain adherence to outpatient services. Ongoing research supported by the MacArthur Foundation and directed by Professor Monahan is evaluating the outcomes produced by mandated community treatment—for the individual, for the mental health system, and for society.
John Monahan, Ph.D., Professor, University of Virginia, Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy (ILPPP), Charlottesville, Virginia
Mental Health Online – Improving Outcomes with Self Help Programs
Love them or hate them, computers are part of our personal and professional lives. The last ten years have seen the emergence of the innovative and cost-effective use of technology in mental health services, with web-based CBT, email counseling, text messaging for youth and online self-help. The desire for accessing services in these ways have been borne out by the uptake of such services, and there is emerging evidence of the impact such services has on service user outcomes. This presentation profiles two innovative high profile examples where online technology can be seen to be improving mental health outcomes. Mr. Thapliyal will discuss New Zealand’s National Depression Initiative – “The Journal” and Dr. Cartreine will present and demonstrate computer-based psychosocial support for long-duration U.S. spaceflights.
Anil Thapliyal M.Ed, J.P., N.Z.A.C., General Manager, Lifeline, Aotearoa, Auckland, New Zealand
James A. Cartreine, Ph.D., Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Research and Clinical Psychologist, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Division of Clinical Informatics
NIMH Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenic Episode (RAISE) Initiative: Potential Health and Economic Benefits of Early Intervention
Schizophrenia is a life-long, disabling mental disorder. Beginning in adolescence or early adulthood, symptoms and functional difficulties associated with schizophrenia continue for decades. Treatment costs, which include treatments for medical comorbidities such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, were $22.7 billion in 2002; costs related to homelessness and law enforcement added an additional $9 billion to the economic burden of schizophrenia in 2002 (Wu et al, 2005). New research suggests that coordinated and sustained intervention soon after the first psychotic episode may improve clinical outcomes and reduce long term disability. The NIMH-sponsored Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) initiative will test whether two early intervention packages built for the "real world" can improve clinical outcomes and achieve cost savings by improving functioning in individuals with schizophrenia.
Michael Hogan, Ph.D., Commissioner, New York State Office of Mental Health, State of New York (Moderator)
Robert K. Heinssen, Ph.D., National Institute for Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland
Mary Brunette, M.D. Medical Director, Bureau of Behavioral Health, New Hampshire, Department of Health and Human Services;
Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School,
Concord, New Hampshire
Dialogue with Richard Frank, Ph.D. and Ruth Katz from the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)
Richard Frank, Ph.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Disability, Aging, and Long-Term Care Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Ruth Katz, Deputy to the Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Disability, Aging, and Long-Term Care Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
No presentation available.
Key Discussion with Leaders of the Ft. Hood Mental Health Response
Robert J. Ursano, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; Director of the
Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Bethesda, Maryland
Brian W. Flynn, Ed.D., Associate Director, Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland; Former RADM/Assistant Surgeon General in the United States Public Health Service (USPHS)
David M. Benedek, M.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services, University of Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland
No presentation available.
Mark K. Brown, M.D., M.P.H., Fellow, Disaster and Preventive Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland
