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With the nation's economic crisis contributing to greater workplace stress, providing effective mental health care for employees may be more important than ever.

Unfortunately, the approach most companies take in purchasing mental health care benefits is flawed and unlikely to produce the best outcomes for either their bottom line or their employees' welfare, according to a Florida State University College of Medicine researcher.

Kathryn Rost, the Elizabeth Freed Professor in Mental Health at the College of Medicine, has received a $2.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to conduct research with potential to change purchasing behavior for companies trying to provide mental health care to employees. The work has enormous potential implications that go beyond mental health. Rost is focusing on depression care management, but the findings likely will apply across a broad range of employee health care coverage.

Absenteeism and lost productivity at work due to depression costs American businesses $51 billion annually, according to a 2003 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Rost's work will examine the purchasing behavior of 360 businesses in 18 U.S. cities, each with a minimum of 100 employees, providing mental health care to more than 40,000 workers. Part of the study involves educating companies to ask the right questions of vendors selling mental health care coverage. Rost's team provides dos and don'ts when negotiating with vendors and uses role-playing to guide employers through the process of choosing the right plan.

America's mental health system is in dire need of a stimulus. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) gave the nation's mental health care system a D grade on its state-by-state report card, issued March 11, 2009. The national average grade represents an average of each state's individual grade for a number of different aspects of mental health care, including awareness, funding and improvement over time.

"The NAMI report card confirms what the National Council is hearing from community mental health centers that treat people with mental illnesses around the country. We are seeing treatment center after treatment center experiencing increased demand while receiving fewer resources. Clearly, years of federal and state neglect coupled with the economic downturn have caught up with us," said Linda Rosenberg, president and CEO of the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare.

State grades for 2009 include six Bs, 18 Cs, 21 Ds and six Fs, based on 65 specific criteria involving every aspect of a state's mental health treatment and support services. Although fourteen states improved their grades, 12 states fell backward since NAMI's last report card in 2006. The national average remained a D.

"At a time of increasing demand for services, community mental health centers have shown amazing commitment and creativity. These mental health organizations have proven remarkably resourceful, searching for alternative funding sources and implementing quality improvement measures in order to serve more individuals without added resources -- but it is time for a bailout. The evidence in NAMI's report card will help us rally the call to reinstate and strengthen state and federal funding for mental health resources nationwide," said Director of State Policy at the National Council Chris Loftis.

Labels: depression, funding, mental health

Curing Kids' Cancer today awarded the annual Killian Owen Research Grant to the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

$80,000 was donated to the Aflac Cancer Center's Clinical Research office in memory of Killian Owen, who lost his battle with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in 2003 at the age of nine after a four year battle with the disease. Killian is the inspiration for the charity Curing Kids' Cancer.

"It is virtually impossible to explain how valuable Curing Kids' Cancer is to the children of Atlanta and the surrounding southeastern region," states Dr. William G. Woods, Director of the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. "Philanthropic entities like Curing Kids' Cancer make it possible for our staff of physicians and nurses to fight pediatric cancer and get kids back to being kids."

Curing Kids' Cancer has two national grassroots fundraising programs -- Coaches Curing Kids' Cancer and Teachers Curing Kids' Cancer. Both programs urge parents and children to donate money to pediatric cancer research in the name of their coach or teacher rather than buying them traditional gifts.

Inspired by nine-year-old Killian Owen's battle with leukemia, Curing Kids' Cancer Inc. is a unique, national grassroots movement which aims to raise both awareness and money to find cures for all types of childhood cancer.

Labels: cancer, children, cure, funding

As a parent I can tell you I would do anything for my son. We're talking walking on coals, swimming oceans, walking to the ends of the earth and back again DAILY if it were necessary. So while I do not understand the plight of parents fighting for the life of their child, I do understand the love behind it.

Chad Czapor is 17 years old. He is a junior in high school. He has tons of friends and can be found helping out at sporting events whether with coaching or cheering on his brothers.

Recently doctors told him he has a brain tumor. His parents, Stephani and John, are now crusading, along with their community, to raise money for a procedure that could save his life.

Stephani and John are searching endlessly to find a doctor to operate on Chad. It is a delicate operation. They found a surgeon in New York who specializes in this type of brain tumor, but unfortunately, their insurance will not pay for the surgery.

Perhaps the risks are too great, perhaps the insurance fears such an operation would be fruitless. I won't pretend to understand how any person or business can put a price on a life or some how calculate whether or not a patient deserves a chance to fight, but this is our world.

And so, even in a time of struggle when it is hard for anyone to meet ends meet, I am asking you to put some spare cash (or even change) aside and add it to the Czapor Family Fund.

You may not have healing hands or be able to fulfill wishes, but you do have the ability to put a $1 to a cause which could save a human life and that my friends is a priceless and selfless honor.

"You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result." - Mahatma Gandhi

Labels: brain, cancer, funding, insurance