White House panel calls for "transformation" of U.S. mental health care.A White House commission formed in April 2002 to assess the quality of U.S. mental health care released its final report on July July: see month. 22, calling the current system "beyond simple repair" and establishing six broad goals to promote recovery from mental illness and put limited resources to better use. The report, Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America America [for Amerigo Vespucci], the lands of the Western Hemisphere—North America, Central (or Middle) America, and South America. The world map published in 1507 by Martin Waldseemüller is the first known cartographic use of the name. , notes that the existing mental health care system focuses on managing disabilities stemming from mental illness rather than promoting recovery The report also states that mental illnesses generally are detected too late to take advantage of proven early interventions ear·ly intervention n. Abbr. EI A process of assessment and therapy provided to children, especially those younger than age 6, to facilitate normal cognitive and emotional development and to prevent developmental disability or delay. and, as a result, services stress living with disability rather than promoting better outcomes. Finally, the report laments that minorities and residents of rural areas have worse access to care and often do not receive services that meet their needs. The commission identified six goals that it says will facilitate better detection and treatment of mental illness and transform the mental health care delivery system: * Americans understand that mental health is essential to overall health. * Mental health care is consumer and family driven. * Disparities in mental health services health services Managed care The benefits covered under a health contract are eliminated. * Early mental health screening, assessment, and referral to services are common practice. * Excellent mental health care is delivered and mental health research is accelerated. * Technology is used to access mental health care and information. The keys to achieving these goals, the commission claims in its report, are greater engagement and education of "first line" health care providers (primary care practitioners) and a stronger focus on mental health care in schools, child welfare programs, the workplace, and the criminal and juvenile juvenile /ju·ve·nile/ (ju´vin-il) 1. pertaining to youth or childhood. 2. a youth or child; a young animal. 3. a cell or organism intermediate between immature and mature forms. justice systems. The report also stresses that "evidence-based practices" supported by research must be integrated into mainstream mental health care faster than the current 15- to 20-year lag between the discovery of effective treatments and their wide use in routine patient care. Information about the commission and both its interim and final reports are available on the Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the at www.MentalHealthCommission.gov See .gov and GovNet. (networking) gov - The top-level domain for US government bodies. . |
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