Problem Drinkers Find Help over the Phone

Dr. Grohol over at Psych Central reviewed a study that comes out in the August issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research that found that participants in the study were drinking less after three months.

"The researchers studied 897 people who went to see their primary care physician or family doctor for a non-alcohol related issue.
The people in the study received up to six sessions of protocol-driven telephone counseling based on principles of motivational interviewing and stages of readiness to change. Each telephone call was followed by a letter from the therapist that summarized the conversation.
The comparison group only received a pamphlet on healthy lifestyles.

After three months, patients in the counseling group were drinking less, the study found.Lead researcher Richard Brown, M.D., said that the study could empower time-strapped doctors to persuade reluctant alcoholism patients to seek treatment.

“The study shows that we shouldn’t just give up on those alcohol-dependent patients who cannot or choose not to get treatment. If we can identify these folks in primary care waiting rooms and provide telephone counseling … we can start to help many of these patients,” said Brown, of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health."

Los Angeles Settles after Being Sued for Inadequate Care for Foster Children

Jack Leonard at the Los Angeles Times reports:

"In response to a federal court order, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved an initiative of up to $90 million on Tuesday aimed at improving mental health services for thousands of children monitored by the county's child welfare system.

The plan follows criticism that the county has been slow to reform the way it provides mental health care to foster children living with families.

County mental health officials said the plan would allow them to better assess the mental health needs of all children who come into contact with children's social workers, not just those who were removed from their parents. It also calls for an expansion of intensive mental health services to kids at home, thereby helping them remain with their families.

The initiative stems from a 4-year-old legal settlement between the county and children's rights groups. The groups alleged in a 2002 class-action lawsuit that the county routinely failed to provide foster children with adequate mental health care.

Lawyers who brought the lawsuit welcomed the county's latest initiative, which was approved unanimously by the board, but said it did not adequately address how to treat thousands more children who were severely traumatized by abuse, neglect and abandonment.

"It is progress, and we encourage that, but I wouldn't say that it meets their entire obligation. There's a substantial way to go," said Kimberly Lewis, an attorney at the Western Center on Law and Poverty, one of the groups that sued the county."

Record Payout from Catholic Church over Priest Sexual Abuse Cases

"LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The leader of the largest U.S. Roman Catholic archdiocese apologized on Sunday for what he called a "terrible sin and crime" as the church confirmed it would pay a record $660 million to people who were sexually abused by priests."

..."The abuse scandal prompted a decline in donations at churches across the United States. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops acknowledged in 2004 that this was its worst scandal and vowed to "heal the hurt that has happened (Reuters Factbox) ."

I am relieved to see the acceptance of wrongdoing...but what is the systemic cause, and what is being done about it?

MD's are Actaully on the Front Line of Mental Health Treatment: (or should be)

A new Brandeis University study published in the July issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine shows that 68% of the American population had an appointment with their medical doctor in the last year. The lead author Constance Horgan and her colleagues recommend that patients be routinely screened in primary care settings to get the proper early detection and referrals in place.

Science Daily reports, "I think it's time we made screening for behavioral health problems as routine as it is for cancer and other major illnesses," says Horgan. "Detection is where treatment really starts."

The study was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.