Partnership for Workplace Mental Health
E-Update, January 2006
SAVE THE DATE
- The Institute for Health and Productivity Management's Second Annual Health Management Conference on
"Making Health Management Work: Reaping the Benefits of Healthy Behaviors," media sponsor Employee
Benefit News, will be held March 29 through 31, 2006, at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel Orlando,
Florida. Visit www.ihpm.org for more details.
- The 2nd Annual World Congress Leadership Summit on Cost Appropriateness of Behavioral Health and Wellness,
co-sponsored by the Wall Street Journal in association with the American Psychiatric Association will take
place May 15-16, 2006 in Baltimore, MD. Visit
www.worldcongress.com/events/nw624/index.cfm for more details.
- Article Highlights Employer Cost Advantage of Higher Quality Mental Health Care for Employees. The importance of providing
employees with access to higher quality mental health care was underscored recently in an article published in the November
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. "How Much Does Quality Mental Health Care Profit Employers?" was written
by two physicians on the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Committee on APA/Business Relations. Visit the Partnership
website to download a free PDF of the article.
- Improving Worker Productivity: Depression Management Key in Chronic Disease Treatment. About 10 percent of U.S. adults have
depression, but the rate is much higher in people with a serious medical illness or chronic disease. Read the article at
Benefitnews.com
to learn how depression added on top of a chronic disease can seriously impact the cost to businesses and how employers
can help head off the problem.
- Tips for Beating the Winter Blues and Having a Happy Holiday Season. The APA recently
offered tip sheets and other resources
to help families and individuals cope and make the most of the season. The Partnership encourages you to share the Tips
with your employees!
- Partnership focuses on Disability in the Workplace. The Partnership for Workplace Mental Health is collaborating with business to
help employees with mental disabilities successfully return to work. The Partnership recently convened leaders from the
corporate world, public sector, and medical arena in Chicago for a conference on disability and return-to-work issues.
Participants came to consensus that work is central to a person's identity and social role, and that not working is a crisis
and should be treated as such. The group crafted a mission statement, produced an action plan, and formed a steering
committee to carry out the plan. Read this article
from Psychiatric News for more details! If you are interested in learning more or joining us in this effort, please contact
Mary Claire Leftwich at 703-907-8561 or mleftwhich@psych.org.
- Resource Available on New Medicare Drug Benefit! As you know, Medicare's new prescription drug benefit, Medicare Part D,
will be available on January 1, 2006, and this will mean big changes for many people receiving treatment for mental illness.
www.mentalhealthpartd.org has been developed by the
APA in conjunction with several other leading mental health organizations to provide a guide for patients and their families,
psychiatrists and other physicians and providers.
- Share Mental HealthWorks with your colleagues! Through your affiliation with the Partnership, we are pleased to offer you the
opportunity to share our free quarterly newsletter with your colleagues. Visit www.workplacementalhealth.org
to download a PDF of the newsletter, or email mhw@psych.org to be placed on the email or print subscription list. Our
latest issue includes stories on
- A "Smart Little Company" Lowers Healthcare Costs and Improves Employee Health
- Kansas City Employers Join Forces to Combat Depression
- Alcohol Problems and Depression Go Undetected by Health Plans
Mental HealthWorks is a free quarterly publication of the Partnership and the APA.
Thank you for your continued interest in the Partnership for Workplace Mental Health. If you have any questions, or you wish not to receive these updates, please e-mail Mary Claire Leftwich at mleftwich@psych.org. Visit www.workplacementalhealth.org or call 703-907-8561 for more information.