Suicide Prevention in Native Populations: Helping Youth "Live to See the Great Day That Dawns"
“Suicide and suicidal behavior are preventable.” Those are the first words in the recent free publication from SAMHSA that offers guidance to communities with a particularly high-risk population—American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth and young adults.
The 172-page publication, To Live To See the Great Day That Dawns: Preventing Suicide by American Indian and Alaska Native Youth and Young Adults, helps address the problem of suicide and promote mental health among Native young people. The guide answers the question, “What are the strengthening factors that are known to help protect young people against suicide?”
Helping Child Welfare Workers Support Families With Substance Use, Mental, and Co-Occurring Disorders
SAMHSA's NCSACW is proud to announce the launch of the
Helping Child Welfare Workers Support Families With Substance Use, Mental, and Co-Occurring Disorders Training Package toolkit. Developed for child welfare professionals, it is intended to provide learning opportunities and baseline knowledge on substance abuse and mental health problems and interventions; motivate and facilitate cross-systems work; and incorporate cultural awareness and facilitate cultural competency in child welfare practice. The toolkit covers six modules and provides a range of training materials that were developed to be adapted to meet the needs of child welfare trainers for in-person workshops or training sessions.
Addiction Recovery included in healthcare reform package
Don't count addiction recovery advocates among those who see healthcare reform as 'Armageddon': the bill signed into law by President Obama on March 23 includes addiction and mental health services in its basic benefits package and is being broadly praised by treatment, prevention and recovery leaders.
According to an analysis from the Legal Action Center (LAC), the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (HR 3590) requires a basic benefit package for all health plans in the individual market and small-group markets. "All such plans will be required to cover mental health and substance use disorder services," according to the LAC, which said the measure represents a "ground-breaking expansion of addiction and mental health coverage of prevention, treatment and recovery."
SAMHSA launches website
SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) recently launched a Web site -
http://chab.samhsa.gov - to help grantees, health professionals, and the public address problems of homelessness and co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders.
Recovery Symposium Videos Now Available for Viewing
The NeATTC and IRETA are pleased to announce that videos of the presentations from the Recovery Symposium, “Aligning Contexts, Practice, and Concepts to Promote Long-Term Recovery: An Action Plan” are now available for online viewing.
Visit the New National ATTC Workforce Development Page
Visit the National ATTC section of the website devoted to workforce development to find resources about careers in the addiction field, watch the award-winning recruitment video, "Imagine Who You Could Save," and more.
Dual Diagnosis Program Effective, Study Says
Irish researchers say that programs designed to meet the specific needs of depressed and bipolar alcoholics can effectively improve mood and lower craving and alcohol consumption.
Eyes Can Reveal FASD in Children
Fetal-alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) can be identified using an eye-blink test when children have been exposed to alcohol in the womb but don't exhibit the classic facial malformations associated with FASD.
Smoking Your Sleep Away
Smokers are four times more likely than nonsmokers to report sleep problems, and researchers say that nicotine may disrupt sleep patterns and prevent smokers from experiencing deep sleep.
Methadone Cardiac Death Danger Reported
Normal therapeutic doses of methadone could cause sudden cardiac death.
Comprehensive Health Coverage Resource Center Launched
The Foundation for Health Coverage Education (FHCE) has launched a new Internet resource center that provides eligiblity and other information on more than 144 government-sponsored programs designed to help people who lack health insurance.
Stop-Smoking Drug Faces Suicide Warning
European regulators are calling for a suicide warning to be including on packaging for the stop-smoking drug Champix (varenicline).
NIDA Releases Draft Strategic Plan, Seeks Comments
Citing "recent revolutionary advances in drug abuse research," NIDA has been working with its national advisory council and others in the addiction research field to develop the plan, the agency's first major new outline of goals and objectives since former director Alan Leshner, Ph.D., published a five-year strategic plan in 2000.
Co-occurring Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders in Adolescents
The NeATTC has recently revised the Adolescent Co-occurring Curriculum. The curriculum format has been updated to include the power point within each module of the trainers manual. A participant manual was also developed. . . . .
New SBI Codes, Dollar Values, for Medicare, Private Insurance
Physicians now have four different codes that can be used in 2008 for screening and brief intervention (SBI). These codes are a victory for the addiction field, and especially for the sponsors, with Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, leading the way.
