The challenge of partnership: a national foster care charter in the United Kingdom

The National Foster Care Association, in the United Kingdom, offers here its Foster Care Charter and its philosophy, which includes distinguishing "foster carers' from "foster parents' according to the plan for short- or long-term care.     

Implementing critical health services for children in foster care.

This article reports recommendations that were developed at the California Conference on Health Care for Children in Foster Care, organized to discuss implementation in the state of CWLA's Standards for Health Care Services for Children in Out-of-Home Care. Programs and legislation developed in the state are also discussed.     

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HHS Gives States Flexibility in Implementing Health Care Reform Center Sees Affiliation Responding to Managed Care, Client Needs The 10 Benefit Categories More Reflections from Readers: Hopes and Fears for 2012 The ‘Last’ House on the Block: Higher Power or Personal Power? SAMHSA's New Recovery Definition Applies to MI and SUD FY 2012 Budget Bill Includes Increases to SAPT Block Grant Briefly Noted Coming up     

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Managed Care: A Balance Between Terminating Contracts and Collaborating Washington State Data Finds Treatment Just as Effective for Methamphetamine Managed Care Tool Kit Resignation Letter from Charles G. Curie to President Bush Study Finds Link Between Alcohol Outlets, Violence PIRE Merger Program for Mothers and Children Expands into New Building, with Self‐Pay Spinoff Ellen Breyer of Hazelden Receives Outstanding Achievement Award from ACATA Mark S. Gold, M.D. Receives the Nelson J. Bradley, M.D. Award Briefly Noted Resources Coming Up     

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Oklahoma Medicaid Requires Master's Degree for Substance Abuse Assessments Wis. Program Diversifies Operation With Residential Care, Medications Who Can Treat What in Oklahoma Medicaid Managed Care Enters New York Addiction Treatment Measures of Success in Health Care Reform: Efficiency and Recovery Study Looks at Which Drinkers Best Respond to Naltrexone Most Treatment Admissions for Inhalant Abuse are Adults Obituary Coming up     

The Integrated Care Team: A Practice Model in Child and Family Services

The Integrated Care Team brings together representatives from each of Windermere’s service areas to create a group of highly experienced and knowledgeable professionals. This transdisciplinary team aims to provide a cohesive and effective support to service delivery staff working with individuals and families who are experiencing issues across multiple service areas. This support involves sharing of knowledge, contacts, resources and brokerage. Initial evaluation of the Integrated Care Team demonstrates strong positive outcomes for individuals and families with results that could not be so efficiently achieved through standard practice. Positive outcomes occur more quickly, more effectively, with less disruption to individuals and families and with more ease for workers than in standard practice. Workers who utilize the Integrated Care Team and representatives who sit on the Team comment on the efficacy of the approach reinforcing the value of key worker models, transdisciplinary teams, seamless service and breaking down silos between service areas; even within the same agency.     

Does Nursing Home Ownership Change Affect Family Ratings on Experience with Care?

Person-centeredness may suffer in nursing homes (NHs) with recent ownership changes. This study identifies associations between ownership change and reported care experiences, important measures of person-centered care for long-term residents in Maryland NHs. Care experience measures and ownership change data were collected from Maryland Health Care Commission reports, which reported data on 220 Maryland NHs from 2011 and 2012. Facility and market covariates were obtained from 2011 NH Compare and Area Health Resource Files. Linear regression was used to examine whether ownership change in 2011 was associated with lower care experience ratings reported during April to June 2012. Dependent variables were overall care rating (scale 1–10), percentage of respondents answering that they would recommend the NH, and assessments of five care and resident life domains (scale 1–4). Care experiences reported in 2012 were high; however, after controlling for covariates, ownership change was associated with significant decreases in 6 out of 7 measures, including a 0.39-point decrease in overall care rating (p = .001). NH managers and policy makers should consider strategies to improve patient-centeredness after ownership change.     

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NIDA and DPA Comment on Transient Psychosis and the Colorado Experiment Co‐Location with Primary Care May Prove Essential in SBIRT Congress and SAMHSA Look at Ways to Expand Buprenorphine CRC Officials on Need for Continuing Care, Treatment Retention Coming up     

Child‐Care Usage and Mother‐Infant “Quality Time”

Mothers' time‐use patterns were compared in families in which infants spent more than 30 hours per week in child care (In‐Care group; n= 143) versus 0 hours per week (At‐Home group; n= 183) from birth to 6 months of age. In‐Care group mothers spent about 12 fewer hours per week interacting with their infants, for about 32% less time; fathers of these infants were more involved in caregiving. The groups did not differ in the quality of mother‐infant interaction. In the In‐Care group, quantity of interaction was related to greater separation anxiety and concerns about effects of maternal employment. Time‐use data were not related to child outcomes at 15 months of age. Results suggest that the effect of extensive time spent apart on the quantity and quality of mother‐infant interaction may be smaller than anticipated.     

The Family Team at Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program: an integrated approach to care in outreach settings

Since 1986, the Family Team at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program has implemented an integrated, inter-professional, team-based model of care to serve families experiencing homelessness. The Family Team employs key strategies delineated by the well-established Health Care for the Homeless model, which emphasizes the importance of outreach medicine and a case management “one-stop shop approach”. We include an account of a specific case where the Family Team’s unique model helped a refugee family in Massachusetts access medical and social services otherwise more difficult to obtain. The Family Team’s onsite presence in the hotel-shelter and the team-based approach facilitated diagnosis of and successful treatment for cervical cancer in a mother of eight children. This case report suggests that the Health Care for the Homeless model of care should be more widely adopted in order to best serve homeless families.

Abbreviations: Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP); Emergency Assistance (EA); Health Care for the Homeless (HCH); Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)     

Dying Well!—Issues For The Living?

Hospice and Palliative Care is a relatively new speciality in Medical Practice and is based on the premise that the family unit, not exclusively the patient, is the focus of care. This paper attempts to outline the development of Hospice and Palliative Care over the centuries and explores the relationship of current practice as the art of medicine rather than science. Through the narration and discussion of a family interaction, the paper draws a parallel to situations common in Family Therapy and poses the need for teamwork and a multidisciplinary approach in Hospice and Palliative Care and in Family Therapy.     

Using the ‘risk factor paradigm’ in prevention: lessons from the evaluation of Communities that Care

This paper discusses results from an evaluation of the UK-based Communities that Care programme. This ‘risk and protective’ programme was set up in 1997 by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation with a central aim of exploring if such an approach could be successful in the UK context. Communities that Care puts into operation the ‘risk factor paradigm’ by providing evidence of risk and protection for local communities that help them target resources for the reduction of future social problems. Results show that such a model looks ‘promising’ although though there are substantial implementation issues that need to be addressed if it is to be successful over a longer time frame.     

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Recovery and Treatment get Closer with Kerlikowske Speech at BFC Primary Care Focus of OTP Allows Inroads in Hepatitis C Care Senators Ask GAO to Investigate Treatment and Prevention How Parity and Recovery are Modernizing the Medical Model CalTAF to Pursue Insurance Companies for Denied Claims State News Coming up     

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Study Highlights Dilemma of Coordinating Care for Methadone Patients Lagging Foundation Support Forces Colorado Provider to Shut Operations Congress Moves Closer to Health Care Reform Bill Level Funding for Addiction Treatment in South Dakota Remembering Joel Hernandez: A True Recovery Hero Antipsychotic Drug Being Abused by Addicts Briefly Noted State News Names in the News Coming up     

Green Care services in the Nordic countries: an integrative literature review

This article reviews Nordic literature on Green Care for people out of work or school, or with mental health- and/or drug-related problems, published from 1995 to April 2014. Green Care is a well-established international concept that uses animals, plants and nature in an active process to offer health-promoting activities for people. Reports, evaluations and scientific articles are included. The main finding was that the Green Care services described in the literature provided positive activities for our target group. Seven main categories emerged during the analysis: mastery and coping, positive effects on mental health, physical activity, structure and meaningfulness, the feeling of dignity produced by performing a decent ordinary job, social gains, animals and nature experienced as being supportive. Essential intervention factors identified can be described as: (i) contact with animals, (ii) supportive natural environments, (iii) the service leader as a significant important other, (iv) social acceptance and fellowship with other participants and (v) meaningful and individually adapted activities in which mastery can be experienced. These five components interact in a holistic way; the synergetic effects extend the sum of the single factors.     

Long-term care policy reform in Japan

The implementation of Japan's Long-Term Care Insurance Scheme in April 2000 was the culmination of some 30 years of policy deliberation on aged care. Understanding the policy debate surrounding the Long-Term Care Insurance scheme and its financing arrangements requires an appreciation of rapid demographic and social change, especially in family structures and attitudes to caring for aged parents; but the pressures that population aging and economic downturn are placing on Japan's pension and health insurance systems also must be recognized. Even more generally, the delicate balance of political interests in Japan's central governing body, the Diet, has shaped the implementation of Long-Term Care Insurance as a forerunner to other reforms in social security and health insurance.     

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Private Programs Use More Charity Care and Start Cutting Some Costs OASAS Vows to Serve Current Clients in Parolee Programs Losing N.Y. Funding Report Stresses Need to Add Primary Care Component SAMHSA Recognizes Organizations for Evidence‐Based Interventions NIAAA Grant to Study ‘Smart Phone’ Technology for Aftercare Briefly Noted State Watch Resources Names in the News Coming up     

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Bringing Addiction Treatment Into Primary Care: Calif. Experiments With Integration Interdisciplinary Care Seen as Crucial to Managing Pain in Recovering Patients Fully Integrated Program in Tennessee CSAT Pushing Field Toward Electronic Health Records Family Outreach Tip: Saturday Education for Children Researcher to Use Cell Phone Technology to Assess Drug, Alcohol Use Briefly Noted State News Business Coming up     

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SA Counselors of the Future: Recovery Coaches, Care Coordinators, or Ph.Ds? Sole‐Source Detox Services Help Protect Agency from Major Cuts Report to Congress More Reflections from Readers: Hopes and Fears for 2012 SAMHSA Gets $3.5 Million for Military Families Policy Academies Briefly Noted In the States Names in the News Coming up