Sharing Psychiatric Records Helps Care

Another great find by Deb!

Sharing psychiatric records with nonpsychiatric doctors has been a contentious issue. Only a fraction of hospitals in the US allow nonpsychiatric doctors access to all psychiatric records.

However, a survey of hospitals found that those with both full electronic psychiatric records and unrestricted accessibility to them had a lower rate of readmissions.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/07/sharing-psychiatric-records-helps-care/

 

Storm Weakened a Fragile System for Mental Care

Another great find by Deb!

The odds of securing mental health treatment in New York City have worsened significantly since Hurricane Sandy knocked out hospitals and disrupted outpatient services.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/27/nyregion/new-yorks-mental-health-system-thrashed-by-services-lost-to-storm.html

Mental Health Services Absent for Traumatized South Sudanese

This is a great follow up clip to Sarah's article. South Sudan was engaged in a civil war for almost 5 decades with the north, and in 2011 gained independence.

Here, you get a glimpse of the postwar situation. Because there are no psychiatrists, health professionals have to rely on sedation and imprisonment to handle mental illness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP1VCjeP1p8