Better Maori health serviced needed.
The prevalence, severity and burden of mental fitness among Maori continue to be greater than the rest of the population, with over half of Maori experiencing a mental illness at some time in their tires. According to the 2006 New Zealand Mental Health Survey, Te Rau Hinengaro,...

Veterans affairs health system and mental health treatment retention among patients with serious mental illness: evaluating accessibility and availability barriers.
Access to health services may be understood in terms of distinct dimensions of the fit between characteristics of potential clients and those of providers (Penchansky and Thomas 1981). The influence of specific dimensions of access may be examined with regard to contact with providers, volume of services, and continuity...

Mental illness factors in sentence; Drug supplier gets 30 months.
Byline: Lee Hammel WORCESTER - A bodybuilder who supplied a drug ring that included two police officers and a businessman was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court to 30 months in prison - less than half the minimum sentence that federal sentencing guidelines call for. ...

Youth, mental health, and the law.
A decade-old idea in adult justice has been introduced recently for youth in Canada. A Mental Health Court (MHC) for youth officially opened in Ottawa in May. Teens with serious diagnosable mental illnesses comprise ah estimated one-fifth of young offenders. Connecting ill youth with treatment is important, but just...

Children's mental health law signed; Child who spoke at statehouse later killed self.
Byline: Steve LeBlanc BOSTON - When Mary Ann Tufts trekked to the Massachusetts Statehouse in May 2007 to testify in favor a children's mental health bill, her daughter Yolanda tagged along for a "girls' day away." Yolanda, who'd battled anxiety and bipolar disorder for years,...

Alcoholism is increasingly seen as medical illness; U.S. survey also finds heightened stigma.
WASHINGTON -- The public became more likely to regard alcohol dependence as a medical illness over a 10-year period, but stigmatization of alcoholism increased over that period as well, the latest results of a biannual survey addressing public attitudes toward the disorder show. Most of the respondents...

headspace: National Youth Mental Foundation.
What is headspace? headspace is Australia's National Youth Mental Health Foundation. It provides a national, coordinated focus on youth mental health and related drug and alcohol problems in Australia. It aims to improve access to appropriate services for young people aged 12 to 25 and to ensure...

Lockdown torments mental health patients: mental health nurses at Long Bay have serious concerns about the welfare of their patients following the lockdown at the prison's hospital.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The extended lockdown of forensic patients at Long Bay Prison Hospital is preventing mental health nurses from discharging their duty-of-care and exacerbating patients' conditions, according to nurses. NSWNA member Ray Gregory said the draconian measures were having a huge impact on nurses' ability...

Behind prison walls: what makes a young nurse take up the challenge of forensic mental health nursing at Sydney's Long Bay jail?
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Built to confine and control, the maximum security walls of Sydney's Long Bay jail are hardly enticing. Many have dreamed of escape, a daring few have tried and even fewer have succeeded. Shona MacLeod is a young Scottish nurse who quit...

Depression and the elder person: the enigma of misconceptions, stigma, and treatment.
It is estimated that half of the 35 million people in the United Slates who are over the age of 65 are in need of mental health services, though fewer than 20% are actually being treated (Comer, 2004). Coexisting mental and physical problems make recognition of depression in elder...