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Learning From The Past and Planning For The Future
MENTAL HEALTH MOMENT April 9, 2004 "It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have these three unspeakably precious things:
freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them." - Mark Twain - from Following the Equator
Short Subjects
LINKS Rocky Mountain Region
Disaster Mental Health Institute
CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS:
CRISES IN RURAL AMERICA
Crisis Interventions And
Critical Incident Stress Management:
Current Status and Future Directions
April 21-24, 2004
Casper, Wyoming
Registration: 1-800-442-2963 ext 2212
Society of Australasian
Social Psychologists 33rd Annual Meeting
April 15 - 18, 2004
Location: Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
27th National AACBT Conference
(Australian Association for
Cognitive and Behavior Therapy)
May 15 - 19, 2004
Location: Perth, Western Australia
AUSTRALIA
WFPHA 10th International Congress on
Public Health: Sustaining Public Health
in a Changing World: Vision to Action
April 19-22, 2004
Location: Brighton, ENGLAND
Contact: Allen K. Jones, PhD
Secretary General World Federation of
Public Health Associations
Email: stacey.succop@apha.org3rd Annual Hawaii
International Conference on Social Sciences
June 16 - 19, 2004
Location: Honolulu Hawaii, USA
Contact: social@hicsocial.orgSociety for the Psychological Study of
Social Issues (SPSSI) Convention
June 25 - 27, 2004
Location: Washington, DC, USA
17th Congress of the International Association
of Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP)
August 2 - 6, 2004
Location: Xi'an, CHINA
Contact: Zheng Gang
Institute of Psychology
Chinese Academy of Sciences
100101 Beijing, China
Email: iaccp2004@psych.ac.cnSixth International Conference of
the Learning Sciences (ICLS 2004):
"Embracing Diversity in the Learning Sciences"
June 22 - 26, 2004
Location: Santa Monica, California, USA
International Society of Political Psychology
27th Annual Scientific Meeting
July, 15-18, 2004
Location: Lund, Sweden
62nd Annual Conference of the
International Council of Psychologists
August 3 - 6, 2004
Location: University of Jinan
Jinan, CHINA
Contact: Dr. Natividad Dayan
Scientific Chair
99 General Ave
GSIS Village, Project 8
Quezon City, Metro Manila
01108 PHILIPPINES Telephone: 632-724-5358
Email: bereps@pacific.net.phXXVIII International Congress of Psychology
August 8 - 13, 2004
Location: Beijing, CHINA
Contact: XiaoLan FU, Deputy Director
Committee for International Cooperation
Chinese Psychological Society
Institute of Psychology
Chinese Academy of Sciences
P.O. Box 1603
Beijing 100101, China
Telephome: +86-10-6202-2071
Fax: +86-10-6202-2070
22nd Nordic Congress of Psychology:
"Psychology in a World of Change and Diversity -
Challenges for our Profession"
August 18 -20, 2004
Location: Copenhagen, DENMARK
Contact: Roal Ulrichsen, Chair
NPK2004 Organizing Committee
Danish Psychological Association
Stokholmsgade 27, DK-2100
Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
Email: bh@vanhauen.dk
PICNIC ROCK FIRE IN COLORADO
Residents of about 23 homes are still waiting to find out when they can return to their homes as a large wildfire northwest of Fort Collins continues to burn. The 9,158-acre fire still threatened a few of the homes in the Bonner Peak subdivision. But the cooler, wetter weather that allowed firefighters to dig lines around 50 percent of the fire Sunday had authorities hopeful Monday that crews had gained the upper hand. See here for more information: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/2974613/detail.html
Flash Flood in Northern Mexico Kills 25
Torrential rains swelled a tributary of the Rio Grande by 25 feet early Monday, causing a flash flood that inundated the Mexican border city, Piedras Negras, killing at least 35 people and forcing hundreds more into shelters. Dozens more people were missing. The death toll is expected to rise. Mexico declared a state of emergency in the area. Floodwaters from the Escondido River began receding after the rain stopped by midday. Piedras Negras, a city of 200,000 people is about 150 miles southwest of San Antonio. Supplies of drinking water, electricity and gas were cut.
Emergency Snow Aid Authorized For North Dakota
The head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that federal disaster funds have been authorized for North Dakota to supplement state and local government costs for responding to the record snowstorm that hit the state in late January. Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response, said President Bush ordered the aid under an emergency declaration issued after a review of the agency's analysis of the state’s request for federal assistance. The declaration covers jurisdictions with record snowfall from the storm that occurred January 23-27. For the Full Story, Go To: http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=11627
National Hurricane Conference Underway
Emergency Management officials , industry representatives and meteorologists from around the country are among those gathering at the National Hurricane Conference in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The weeklong conference focuses on better preparing the nation's communities against the threat of hurricanes and tropical storms. For the Full Story, Go To: http://www.hurricanemeeting.com/index.html
Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grants Announced
Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response, announced today the release of $26 million in Pre-Disaster Mitigation Competitive (PDM-C) Grant Program funds to states, territories, and federally recognized tribes for pre-disaster mitigation activities. For the Full Story, Go To: http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=11688
Fight against terrorism could restrict right to free expression, UN expert warns
The legitimate efforts of many countries to prevent terrorism might be restricting the basic human right to information, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of expression told the UN Commission on Human Rights. Delivering his report to the Commission's annual meeting, being held in Geneva, Ambeyi Ligabo painted a grim global picture, saying attacks continue to occur in many States against citizens - such as journalists and trade union workers - who dared to express different opinions. For the Full Story, Go To: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=10292&Cr=commission&Cr1=rights
Iraq: UN envoy Brahimi discusses poll, power transfer with Governing Council
Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Adviser, Lakhdar Brahimi, held talks with the Iraqi Governing Council in Baghdad as part of the United Nations mission to help form an administration to take over from the United States-led occupation forces on 1 July and prepare for elections early next year. For the Full Story, Go To: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=10314&Cr=Iraq&Cr1=
Concerned at Iraq violence, Annan urges protection of civilians
Voicing grave concern at the recent bloodshed and deteriorating security situation in Iraq, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged stepped-up efforts to protect civilians and end the violence. For Full Story, Go To: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=10362&Cr=iraq&Cr1=
UN envoy leads mourners of Rwanda's 1994 genocide to site of early massacre
The United Nations Special Adviser on Africa, Ibrahim Gambari, representing the UN at ceremonies to mark the tenth anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, led a silent 3-kilometre march to the Nyanza cemetery, where one of the earliest massacres of the 100-day orgy of killing took place. For Full Story, Go To: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=10359&Cr=rwanda&Cr1=
UN agency rushes vaccines to avert possible spread of meningitis in Burkina Faso
A rare strain of meningitis, which only two years ago killed 1,500 people in Burkina Faso, is now being controlled thanks to a coordinated strategy to produce a matching vaccine in record time, thus averting a possible “enormous tragedy,” the United Nations health agency announced today. For Full Story, Go To: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=10347&Cr=Meningitis&Cr1=
Urgent donations needed to prevent locust plague in northwest Africa - UN
Warning of an "extremely serious" threat of a desert locust plague in northwest Africa, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched an urgent appeal for international donor help to prevent an even greater upsurge over a vast swath of territory stretching from Morocco and Algeria down into Niger. In its latest update, the agency noted that despite control operations, the situation continued to be extremely serious. "If operations are not effective during the summer, this could not only have a dramatic impact on food security within the region but the current situation could develop into a plague by the end of the year," FAO cautioned. For Full Story, Go To: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=10168&Cr=locust&Cr1=
Medical Disorders as a Cause of Psychological Trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
As the study of psychological trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has evolved, it has broadened to include non-traditional stressors or situations that share characteristics of the criteria for psychological trauma but differ in important ways. Curr Opin Psychiatry 17(2) 2004 For the Article, Go To: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/470032?mpid=26934
War Exposure Increases Anxiety Disorders
Post-traumatic stress disorder is not the only important psychological consequence of wartime involvement. Combat veterans are also at increased risk of panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, investigators observe in the March issue of Epidemiology. For the Article, Go To: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/472588?mpid=26934
Revised Iraq War Clinician Guide
The National Center for PTSD is currently finalizing a revised edition of the Iraq War Clinicians Guide. With input from the Department of Defense, this revision focuses on issues dealing with active duty personnel. This new version includes information on: Treating the Traumatic Amputee; Substance Abuse in the Deployment Environment; The Impact of Deployment on the Military Family, and Case Examples from Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Iraq War Clinicians Guide was developed specifically for clinicians and it addresses the unique needs of veterans of the Iraq war. The new edition will be available May 2004. The current edition can be found on their page on the War in Iraq at: http://www.ncptsd.org/topics/war.html For a full pdf version of the Iraq War Clinician Guide, Go To: http://www.ncptsd.org/war/Iraq_War_Clinician_Guide.pdf
SCORE ONE FOR OLD AGE: EXPERIENCE MAKES STRESS EASIER TO BEAR
If there's an advantage to getting older, it's that you're likely to be able to handle everyday stress better. Older adults appear to do, on the average, a much better job of dealing with the daily stressors in life, says David M. Almeida, associate professor of human development and family studies in Penn State's College of Health and Human Development. "This may be due to a lifetime of having stressors and developing good strategies to deal with them," he said. "We also have some evidence that shows older adults are more in tune with their emotions than younger adults." Almeida is principal investigator on an eight-year project in which some 1,500 people between the ages of 25 and 74 were interviewed about their daily stressful experiences. Read the full story at http://live.psu.edu/story/6251
CRISES IN RURAL AMERICA
Crisis Interventions And Critical Incident Stress Management:
Current Status and Future DirectionsApril 21-24, 2004
Casper College Campus
Casper, WY24.5 Contact Hours + POST
Conference Web Page is located at:
https://www.angelfire.com/biz/odochartaigh/rural-conference.htmlList of Presenters and Presentations is located at:
https://www.angelfire.com/biz/odochartaigh/rural-presenters.htmlConference will take place on campus of Casper College
TO REGISTER,
CALL: 1-800-442-2963 Ext 2212 or 307-268-2212
Fax: 307-268-2224
Early Bird Fee - Prior to April 9, 2004: $175; Student: $90; One Day: $75
Late Fee or Onsite: $200; Student: $110; One Day: $90HOTEL: Holiday Inn,
$61/night
Reserve by April 6, 2004
Mention Conference name or Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute
CALL: 1-877-576-8636 or 307-235-2531
Fax: 307-473-3110
CRISIS RESPONSE SYSTEMS
Persons with serious and long-term mental health problems tend to experience periodic crises. Crises occur even when persons receive comprehensive and continuous community support services. It is at these times of crisis that clients most often are re-hospitalized in psychiatric wards of community hospitals and in state hospital facilities. This is evidenced by the high re-admission rates among persons with mental illness. This is often referred to as the problem of "the revolving door".
Because of these recurrent crises, the capacity to provide crisis assistance is a critical aspect of a community support system. Emergency or crisis services are needed 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide an immediate response to individuals in crisis and to members of the individual's support system.
The primary goal of crisis services is to assist individuals in psychological crises to resume community functioning. A second and complementary goal of many crisis intervention services is to prevent unnecessary hospitalization to the greatest possible extent through the formulation and implementation of alternative treatment plans. Through the provision of intensive crisis services, reliance on hospitalization for acute mental health crises often can be prevented or reduced.
In order to achieve these goals, crisis services involve the accomplishment of three major functions. These include:
• Stabilizing clients in crisis in order to assist them to return to their pre-crisis level of functioning.• Assisting clients and members of their natural support systems to resolve situations that may have precipitated or contributed to the crisis, and
• Linking clients with services and supports in the community in order to meet their ongoing community support needs.
The community support system component labeled "crisis services" is more than a single service. Rather, the component can be described more accurately as a system of crisis services, including a range of services that should be in place in order to provide adequate responses for persons experiencing mental health emergencies. This system of crisis response services is comprised of five major components.
Crisis telephone services are often the first point of contact with the mental health system for a client in crisis or a member of his or her support system. The crisis response system must include arrangements for 24-hour telephone crisis services of some type. Generally, mental health agency telephones are answered 24 hours a day, either by having staff on site at the mental health facility or by using various arrangements whereby an answering service can readily access on-call staff to provide telephone crisis services. Some communities offer 24-hour hotlines fully or partially staffed by volunteers who complete extensive training programs which prepare them for providing telephone crisis services. Most telephone crisis services involve screening and assessment, telephone counseling, and information and referral. A primary goal of telephone crisis services is to assess the need for face-to-face crisis intervention services and to arrange for such services when indicated.
The second essential component of a system of crisis services is walk-in crisis services or the capacity to provide face-to-face assessment and crisis intervention at a facility. This way, clients who come in or are brought to the agency in crisis situations can be seen immediately. In most communities, mental health staff are available at the agency during working hours to provide walk-in services. The staff may be specialized crisis staff or regular clinical staff who rotate on-call responsibility for handling crises. Some communities have staff who are stationed at the mental health agency after working hours, weekends, and holidays to respond to crises or who will meet clients at the agency when the need arises. In other communities, staff are stationed after hours at a separate location where they can respond to crises. Most frequently, hospital emergency rooms are used for this purpose. Walk-in crisis services typically involve screening and assessment, crisis stabilization, brief treatment, and linking the client with ongoing services.
One of the most innovative and effective components of the continuum of crisis services involves mobile crisis teams to provide such crisis services on an outreach basis. This component involves going to the client and providing services in the setting where the crisis is occurring - private homes, boarding homes, nursing homes, work settings, hospital emergency rooms, police stations, jails, human services agencies, and virtually anywhere else in the community deemed safe and appropriate to meet the client. The mobile crisis outreach staff may work with the client and significant others for as long as is necessary to intervene successfully in the crisis, initiating necessary treatment, resolving problems, providing high levels of support and making arrangements for ongoing services. Mobile outreach services are provided by individual staff members on teams, and law enforcement officers may accompany staff in situations which appear to involve potential danger. Some communities provide agency vehicles and portable phones to assist mobile outreach staff. Mobile outreach services also involve screening and assessment, crisis stabilization, brief treatment, and linking the client with ongoing services.
In a few mobile outreach programs, crisis staff or specifically trained aides may stay with the client for a period of time ranging from several hours to several days. By providing intensive support and supervision, it is frequently possible for the client to remain in his or her natural environment throughout the crisis resolution process. A member of the crisis staff may stay with a client in crisis, or other arrangements may be made to provide extended support and supervision to clients in their natural environments. For example, some agencies hire professional companions to remain for a period of time with a client in crisis, and ex-patients provide crisis support in some communities.
Regardless of the level of support and supervision available, in some cases temporary separation from the natural environment may be necessary for a client in crisis. Accordingly, the fourth component of the continuum of crisis services is crisis residential services. These services involve providing crisis intervention within the context of a residential, non-hospital setting. The protective, supportive, and supervised residential setting is used to assist the client to restabilize, to resolve problems, and to access ongoing services. Crisis residential services can be defined as services which provide temporary housing, crisis intervention, treatment, and other support services in order to assist persons in crises to re-establish community functioning. Residential crisis options are provided in a wide variety of settings including family-based crisis homes, group crisis facilities which serve small groups of clients, crisis beds in longer-term residential facilities, and crisis apartments. They are typically voluntary programs which provide intensive intervention and support services to clients experiencing acute crises. While residential services appear to be the least well-developed crisis component, there is near universal agreement that utilization of hospital services could be reduced with greater availability of residential crisis beds. Some communities provide specialized residential crisis services for children and/or adolescents.
Acute psychiatric inpatient services comprise the final component of a psychiatric crisis response system. Inpatient services are ideally used as a backup when other approaches to crisis intervention prove insufficient. Inpatient services are used to provide intensive, crisis-oriented treatment in a secure setting. The hospital setting facilitates the accomplishment of psychiatric, neurological, and other medical assessments, and provides a highly supervised environment in which to employ chemotherapeutic approaches. Community inpatient units increasingly are emphasizing brief hospital stays for acute care with speedy return to the community and linkage with the full spectrum of community services.
Most communities have a variety of public and private hospitals which may be used for persons in psychiatric crises. Contracts or cooperative agreements often are negotiated with one or more hospitals to ensure access to inpatient services, particularly for indigent clients. Agreements are also used to establish agreed-upon mechanisms for facilitating admissions as well as for continuity of care between hospital and community programs. Additionally, state hospitals are available and typically are used for involuntary admissions, long-term hospitalization, forensic services, or when no community options are available.
It's important to remember that individual crisis components cannot be viewed in a vacuum. Rather, they should be embedded in a system of crisis services, offering a range of crisis responses which may be called into play according to the needs and wishes of the client. In turn, crisis systems should be embedded in comprehensive community support systems offering the array of services and supports needed by persons with long-term mental illness.
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To search for books on disasters and disaster mental
health topics, leaders, leadership, orgainizations,
crisis intervention, leaders and crises, and related
topics and purchase them online, go to the following url:
https://www.angelfire.com/biz/odochartaigh/searchbooks.html
RECOMMENDED READING
Crisis Intervention and Trauma Response: Theory and Practice
by Barbara Rubin Wainrib, Ellin L. Bloch
Excellent Crisis and TraumaText, March 29, 2001
Reviewer: A reader from Montreal CA
This is an excellent book, combining experiences of both life crisis and trauma.It can be used used as a graduate textbook or for for general reading by professionals in any of the health care professions. It can also be helpful to victims of crisis and trauma. It integrates theory and practice in a context of compassionate caring.Written in a lively and informative style it contains many helpful exercises, focusing on inner strengths rather than pathology, using a very down to earth approach.
Additional Readings at:
Also try looking here for September 11, 2001: A Simple Account for Children.
Videos on Terrorism
Other videos about terrorism
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Contact your local Mental Health Center or
check the yellow pages for counselors, psychologists,
therapists, and other Mental health Professionals in
your area for further information.
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Copyrighted and published by the Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute. No part of this document may be reproduced without written consent.The Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Newsletter is published online weekly by:
Rocky Mountain Region
Disaster Mental Health Institute, Inc.
Box 786
Laramie, WY 82073-0786
Newsletter Online: https://www.angelfire.com/biz3/news
Institute Home Page: https://www.angelfire.com/biz/odoc/rocky.html
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