MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH:
News You Can Use!  

 Your source for updates on how the SC CTSI is working with the Los Angeles County Department of  Mental Health and the mental health community  
Volume 2, Issue 4                                                                                                                                            July 2013
NIMH News
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Mark Your Calendars for this free Webinar
OR plan to attend in person
AND/OR watch a short video
  
Working Through Trusted Community Partnerships to Promote Mental Wellness
  
 Presenting Results from the
 Community Partners in Care Study and

Providing Training In the Community Partners In Care Depression Care Toolkit

 

September 13, 2013

8:30AM - 4:00PM

 

Depression can affect anyone, but it hits ethnic groups more heavily partly because of reduced access to quality mental health care. To offset this imbalance, researchers from the RAND Corporation and UCLA, and community partners from more than two dozen community agencies, compared whether evidence-based quality improvement programs, which include psychotherapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy and antidepressant medications, are better implemented through involvement of the entire community or through clinic-based programs. The researchers polled 1,018 depressed patients in 90 randomized community- and clinic-based programs. The community-based approaches--in such places as churches, senior centers, and barber shops--worked best at improving mental-health quality of life, increasing physical activity, reducing homelessness risk factors, and getting more people to seek hospital and primary physician care.

 

This conference is presented by the National Library of Medicine in partnership with Healthy African American Families II, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU), University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed)

 

To register and for more details visit the Health African American Families website.

 

Community-based Treatment Offset Depression Disparities Video

 

 

 

See July 1, 2013 newsletter for details 

 

Webinar: Understanding Evidence for Suicide Prevention: CDC's Interactive Tool to Support Evidence-Based Decision Making - July 11, 2013, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM ET

 

Unwrapping Wrap: Utilizing Wellness Recovery Action Plans (WRAP) to Promote the Recovery of Justice-Involved Consumers - July 18, 2013, 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM ET

 

Webinar: Building Community Resiliency and Healing: Preparing for, Responding to, and Recovering from Community Trauma and Disasters - July 23, 2013, 11:00 AM - 12:45 PM ET

 

FREE Mental Health Tool Kit

 

 

 

On January 16, 2013, President Barack Obama directed Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Secretary Arne Duncan of the U.S. Department of Education to launch a national conversation on mental health to reduce the shame and secrecy associated with mental illness, encourage people to seek help if they are struggling with mental health problems, and encourage individuals whose friends or family are struggling to connect them to help.

 

As part of that effort a tool kit has been developed to help participants in community conversations about mental health achieve three main goals:

 

  • Get Americans talking about mental health break down misperceptions and promote recovery and healthy communities;

  • Find innovative community-based solutions to mental health needs, with a focus on helping young people; and

  • Develop clear action steps for communities to move forward in a way that complements existing local activities.

    •  
Highlights from June 15 & July 1,2013 NIMH Outreach Partnership Program Updates

See NIMH e-newsletter for details.

The tool kit can be downloaded or ordered on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website.

 

Videos and other resources are also available at MentalHealth.gov.

 

Mentalhealth.gov has launched

 

   


 

At the National Conference on Mental Health, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the launch of a new online resource for people looking for information about mental health. This website provides information about the signs of mental illness, how individuals can seek help, and how communities can host conversations about mental health. The website also features videos from a number of individuals sharing their stories about mental illness, recovery, and hope.

 

For ideas of how to implement mental health awareness in your community: Public Engagement for the National Conference on Mental Health

 

New look for NIMH website

   

 

The redesigned NIMH website has a new look and feel but the fundamental goal remains the same: to make it easy to find health information about mental disorders, explore research activities, and get the latest news from NIMH scientists and grantees.

 

 

Director's Blog: A National Dialogue

 

 

 

Reflecting the launch of the National Dialogue on Mental Health, NIMH Director Thomas Insel emphasizes the importance of research focused on predicting and preventing serious mental illness.  

 

NIH Research Matters: Brain waves predict  autism outcomes 

   

 

The brain activity of two-year-olds with autism as they listen to words predicts thinking and language skills up to four years later. The finding hints that brain measurements may help to anticipate future abilities in children with autism and allow for early, personalized interventions. 

 

NIH Research Radio: Depression's impact on healthy behaviors

 

This NIH Radio segment includes a discussion of depression's impact on healthy behaviors.

 

  AHRQ Research Activities

 

Both patient-centered and standard collaborative care approaches improve depression among black patients.

 

Black patients with depression showed similar improvements in depression severity and mental health functioning when they received either patient-centered, culturally tailored collaborative care (CC), or standard CC, according to a new study. The patients' symptom scores were consistent at 12- and 18-month follow-ups. The researchers compared the standard CC intervention for patients (disease management) and clinicians (review of guidelines and mental health consultation) to a patient-centered and culturally tailored CC intervention for patients (care management focused on care access barriers, social context, and patient-provider relationships) and clinicians (participatory communications skills training and mental health consultation). Standard CC resulted in higher rates of treatment, and patient-centered CC resulted in better ratings of care.

 

MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH: News You Can Use! is produced by the SC CTSI Community Engagement program. For questions or information, please contact Holly Kiger, RN, MN, CNS.