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Lyme
disease symptoms present challenges
Mood disturbances, difficulty concentrating, impaired cognitive
processing - all are symptoms that can be linked to an array of
diagnoses. Yet some psychologists argue that one possible culprit
is often overlooked, setting unknown numbers of people on ineffectual
courses of treatment. The culprit: Lyme disease. [More]
Report
reveals psych bed shortage
In March, the non-profit Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC) in Arlington,
Virginia, released a report citing a drastic shortage of psychiatric
beds nationwide with some New England states earning low marks.
[More]
Study
reveals shortcomings in diagnosis criteria
In February, Rhode Island Hospital released study findings that
suggest shortcomings in current DSM-IV guidelines for certain eating
disorders. The findings include recommendations for more inclusive
definitions. [More]
Health
IT must include right of consent, say privacy activists
Health information technology promises a holy grail:
better patient care, fewer medical errors, lower costs, streamlined
insurance processing and robust research. But it threatens dire
consequences if data security and patient privacy are jeopardized.
[More]
Safety
net hospitals experiencing shortfalls
Pioneering a new system is never easy and the groundbreaking
new Massachusetts law which required that all residents sign up
for health care by Jan. 1, 2008, is no different. A medical model
being closely observed by proponents of universal coverage across
the country, the healthcare reform mandates insurance coverage while
providing assistance for those who would normally be unable to afford
private healthcare. [More]
Changes
resisted at Caritas Carney
A report commissioned by the Massachusetts Attorney General
has recommended that Caritas Carney Hospital in Dorchester reposition
itself from an acute care hospital to a mental health center. Carney
has been the weak fiscal link in the six-hospital Caritas Christi
healthcare system, owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston,
and has depended on legislative subsidies to stay afloat. [More]
Virtual
reality program designed to help veterans
There are times when something you see, hear or especially
smell, can bring you, in an instant, to a place or a time from your
past. With luck, these unbidden memories are pleasant - the smell
of mud a reminder of the first baseball practices of spring when
you were 10, the sound of a Bee Gees song taking you back to a high
school prom, the sight of a child with a puppy a reminder of your
own son when he was young. [More]
New
Hampshire and Vermont still seek parity in spite of laws
While the issue of parity has made important strides
nationwide, some New England states still face challenges in enforcing
the law. [More]
Future
of Vermont’s mental health care services documented in video
Two panel discussions were videotaped in late January
documenting opinions on how and what should replace Vermont State
Hospital, (VSH) and how best the Green Mountain state can accommodate
its mental health patients. The VSH was notified in 2003 by the
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services that the two suicides
at the hospital that year and other issues found by the organization
were cause for its decertification and closing. [More]
We
Can! focuses on treatment of childhood obesity
"There is no mission of greater importance," said Acting
Surgeon General Steven K. Galson, M.D., MPH, in a speech last November
at Boston Children's Museum, speaking of a national effort to combat
childhood obesity. "Obesity has become an epidemic," he said. "Right
now we've got it backwards. We live in a treatment-oriented society.
We need to change it to a prevention-oriented society." [More]
Anorexics
at high risk for suicide
A new study shows that anorexics who are suicidal use highly lethal
methods to kill themselves, challenging the theory that the high
rate of suicide among anorexics is because of their weakened physical
conditions.[More]
Moving
residents out of Fernald still an issue of dispute
The battle continues. On one side, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
wants to move the remaining residents out of the Fernald Developmental
Center in Waltham and into group homes. It would like to be free
to sell most or all of Fernald's 180 acres of prime land. However,
the Fernald League for the Retarded, representing about 1,000 family
members, friends, and guardians of the residents is opposed to Fernald's
closure. The state, they say, should not be trying to balance a
budget on the backs of its most vulnerable citizens. The state insists
that Fernald residents could do well in other settings, while the
League says many of those left at Fernald are too fragile to move.
[More]
Q&A:
Walden executive discusses whole health approach
to care
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes of financial collapse,
Walden Behavioral Care, located in what was once Waltham Deaconness
Hospital, has built itself into a powerful new player in the field
of eating disorder treatment. Invited by the Commissioner of Mental
Health to save the 45 mental health beds that would be lost when
the hospital closed in August 2003, Stuart Koman, Ph.D., and David
Fassler, M.D., joined forces to create Walden Behavioral Care, a
facility that would incorporate both the inpatient psychiatric facility
and its eating disorder program. [More]
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