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BHN Fall(2) 2017 Issue
"Addressing the Nation’s Opioid Epidemic” Articles in This...
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When the Therapist Comes to You: A Model Home Visiting Program for Seniors
Sarah is 95 years old and is determined to live out her days in the small New York City apartment she has called home for over 60 years. Her walls are covered with four generations of family photographs, and her shelves are filled with books and mementos of her work as a teacher and travels with...
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We Must Advocate for Older Adults with Behavioral Health Conditions
As of this writing, the healthcare and behavioral health systems are facing unprecedented threats from proposed legislation to significantly roll back the gains achieved through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Medicaid is also under threat, as the current legislative proposal attempts to alter its...
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Fight Against Threats to Behavioral Heath Funding
The Trump presidency and Republican control of the Congress may do great damage to the already inadequate American mental health system by repealing the Affordable Care Act, eliminating Medicaid as an entitlement, privatizing Medicare, and limiting the authority of the states to regulate health...
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Consumer Perspectives on Change: for Better or for Worse
We were asked to consider whether changes in the way we receive and respond to behavioral health services has been for better or for worse, now that Medicaid Managed Care is the order of the day. It was a tough conversation because at the beginning, some of us really felt like we hadn’t even...
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WellLife Network – A New Name and Strategy Reflects New Priorities and Directions for Leading Health & Human Services Agency
It’s a time of change, challenge and an opportunity for accomplishment. For individuals and families coping with a wide range of mental health, intellectual disabilities and drug addiction issues, human service agencies continue to seek viable solutions while facing new scrutiny from government...
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Progress and Challenges in Accessing Treatment for People with Autism
Debora Thivierge, BCaBA, CBAA, attended her son’s high school graduation last spring, and looked on with pride as he started college this fall. This rite of passage was not something doctors who diagnosed her son with autism 16 years ago would have encouraged her to strive for. It’s a sign of...
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Congressional Mental Health Policy Reform: Hope or Hype?
Since the tragic killings in Newtown, CT in 2013, most politicians have mistakenly maintained that mass murder is largely a consequence of a “broken” mental health system. In Washington, and elsewhere, elected officials have been promising to “fix” the system, and to their credit they have...
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Addressing Workforce Challenges in Serving Individuals with Co-Occurring MI/IDD
Individuals with mental illness (MI) co-occurring with intellectual/developmental disability (IDD) have complex needs and present clinical challenges to the professionals, programs, and systems. These individuals are among the most challenging, expensive, and intractable to work with. Although the...
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Improving the American Mental Health System: The Importance of the Workplace
Bill lived in an almost constant sense of dread. At work he was distracted by his worries about his children, who were having problems in school and about his deteriorating relationship with his wife. He worried about having enough money to pay the bills. At night he lay awake ruminating about...
