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Objective: Utilization of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (Lifeline; formerly called the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) was analyzed in relation to suicide deaths in U.S. states between 2007 and 2020 to identify states with potential unmet need for mental health crisis hotline services., Methods: Annual state call rates were calculated from calls routed to the Lifeline during the 2007-2020 period (N=13.6 million). Annual state suicide mortality rates (standardized) were calculated from suicide deaths reported to the National Vital Statistics System (2007-2020 cumulative deaths=588,122). Call rate ratio (CRR) and mortality rate ratio (MRR) were estimated by state and year., Results: Sixteen U.S. states demonstrated a consistently high MRR and a low CRR, suggesting high suicide burden and relatively low Lifeline use. Heterogeneity in state CRRs decreased over time., Conclusions: Prioritizing states with a high MRR and a low CRR for messaging and outreach regarding the availability of the Lifeline can ensure more equitable, need-based access to this critical resource., Competing Interests: Dr. Gould has received research support from Vibrant Emotional Health and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Dr. Gould has also received funding to conduct research evaluations of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Dr. Keyes has been financially compensated as an expert witness in litigation. Dr. Shaman has received research funding from Pfizer, Salesforce, and Regeneron and has also been a consultant for BNI. Dr. Shaman and Columbia University declare partial ownership of SK Analytics. The other authors report no financial relationships with commercial interests.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted public mental health systems across the country, nowhere more than in New York State (NYS). The authors describe the NYS public health agency's response to the pandemic and offer ideas for redesigning public mental health systems post-COVID-19.

Calls for social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic have renewed attention on the utility of telepsychiatry. Although considerable evidence supports use of telepsychiatry in outpatient settings, telepsychiatry in hospitals is less studied and less developed. The COVID-19 pandemic may lead to rapid adoption of telepsychiatry by hospitals, and this column explores opportunities hospital-based telepsychiatry offers for staffing, patient and staff safety, social connection, and real-time responsiveness. Because hospital-based telepsychiatry brings unique challenges compared with outpatient telepsychiatry, this column also proposes a research agenda for studying and supporting adoption of these technologies in hospital settings.

In anticipation of a surge of COVID-19 cases in Northern California, the outpatient psychiatric clinic at UC Davis Health, in which 98% of visits initially occurred in person, was converted to a telepsychiatry clinic, with all visits changed to virtual appointments within 3 business days. The clinic had 73 virtual appointments on its first day after full conversion. This column describes the process, challenges, and lessons learned from this rapid conversion. Patients were generally grateful, providers learned rapidly how to work from home, and the clinic remained financially viable with no immediate losses.

Objective: Mobile technologies, such as smartphones, can improve health services by delivering assessments and interventions that reach people in their daily lives. There is, however, disagreement regarding whether people with serious mental illness make meaningful use of mobile technology and whether interventions that rely on mobile technology should be tailored for this population., Methods: At two clinics, 249 people with serious mental illness were interviewed regarding mobile phone use, and their cognitive functioning was assessed., Results: Mobile phones were used by 86% of participants, including 60% who used a smartphone. Phones were used for messaging by 81%, Internet by 52%, e-mail by 46%, and applications by 45%. Individuals who were older, had a persistent psychotic disorder rather than bipolar disorder, received disability income, or had worse neurocognitive functioning were less likely to own a smartphone (χ 2 =52.7, p<0.001)., Conclusions: Most patients with serious mental illness owned a mobile phone; a majority owned a smartphone. Developers should consider tailoring mobile interventions for psychosis and cognitive deficits.

Objective: Little is known about the role of mental health literacy in military veterans' treatment-seeking stigma and service use, or the impact of these factors on perceived need for mental health care. In addition, most research has focused on mixed-gender samples. This study examined the relationships among mental health literacy, treatment seeking stigma, perceived need for mental health care, and service use in a national, longitudinal study of female veterans., Methods: A sample of 171 female veterans were drawn from a larger three-wave prospective national survey conducted between 2014 and 2017., Results: Path analyses revealed that treatment seeking stigma had a direct negative effect on service use and an indirect effect that was mediated by perceived need for care, such that higher treatment seeking stigma was associated with lower perceived need for mental health care. Mental health literacy had an indirect effect on service use via its inverse association with treatment-seeking stigma. In contrast, mental health literacy was not associated with perceived need., Conclusions: Mental health literacy, treatment-seeking stigma, and perceived need for care affect female veterans' service use in unique ways. Further longitudinal research is needed to better understand these pathways in diverse samples.

Over the past decade, the experimental therapeutics approach has gained currency as an organizing framework for research in mental health. However, examples of this approach outside of person-directed therapeutic and preventive interventions have been relatively uncommon. This article describes an experimental therapeutics approach to mental health and human services research that considers the role of social and ecological determinants in a person's recovery from mental disorder. To illustrate this approach, this article decomposes an employment intervention to show three of its components and identifies the targets for two components: social relationships and health insurance. These targets can be engaged by provider-, community-, or policy-level interventions. Such applications of an experimental therapeutics approach to research on mental health services can enhance the rigor of studies and thereby contribute to the well-being of persons living with mental disorders in the United States.

An unprecedented amount of clinical information is now available via electronic health records (EHRs). These massive data sets have stimulated opportunities to adapt computational approaches to track and identify target areas for quality improvement in mental health care. In this column, three key areas of EHR data science are described: EHR phenotyping, natural language processing, and predictive modeling. For each of these computational approaches, case examples are provided to illustrate their role in mental health services research. Together, adaptation of these methods underscores the need for standardization and transparency while recognizing the opportunities and challenges ahead.

Objective: This study aimed to document population-level trends in mental health service utilization by college students., Methods: The study drew on 10 years of data from the Healthy Minds Study, an annual Web-based survey, with a sample comprising 155,026 students from 196 campuses. Analyses focused on past-year mental health treatment and lifetime diagnoses of a mental health condition. Changes in symptoms of depression and suicidal ideation and levels of stigma were hypothesized as potential explanatory factors., Results: Rates of treatment and diagnosis increased significantly. The rate of treatment increased from 19% in 2007 to 34% by 2017, while the percentage of students with lifetime diagnoses increased from 22% to 36%. The prevalence of depression and suicidality also increased, while stigma decreased., Conclusions: This study provides the most comprehensive evidence to date regarding upward trends in mental health service utilization on U.S. campuses over the past 10 years. Increasing prevalence of mental health problems and decreasing stigma help to explain this trend.

The authors trace the modern history, current landscape, and future prospects for integration between mental health and general medical care in the United States. Research and new treatment models developed in the 1980s and early 1990s helped inform federal legislation, including the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which in turn are creating new opportunities to further integrate services. Future efforts should build on this foundation to develop clinical, service-level, and public health approaches that more fully integrate mental, medical, substance use, and social services. [AJP AT 175: Remembering Our Past As We Envision Our Future July 1928: A President Takes Stock Adolf Meyer: "I sometimes feel that Einstein, concerned with the relativity in astronomy, has to deal with very simple facts as compared to the complex and erratic and multicontingent performances of the human microcosmos, the health, happiness and efficiency of which we psychiatrists are concerned with." (Am J Psychiatry 1928; 85(1):1-31 )].

The mental health services now in place are intrinsically linked with the technology that has been at our disposal for decades of research and practice. Advancements in Web, mobile, sensor, and informatics technology can do more than serve as tools to enhance existing models of care. Novel technologies can help us better understand the very nature of mental illness and revise our fundamental assumptions about the structure, boundaries, and modalities of mental health treatment. Recognizing the unprecedented opportunities new technology offers to improve the outcomes of people with mental illness, Psychiatric Services announces a new column on technology and mental health.

Objective: This study compared trends in racial-ethnic disparities in mental health care access among whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians by using the Institute of Medicine definition of disparities as all differences except those due to clinical appropriateness, clinical need, and patient preferences., Methods: Racial-ethnic disparities in mental health care access were examined by using data from a nationally representative sample of 214,597 adults from the 2004-2012 Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys. The main outcome measures included three mental health care access measures (use of any mental health care, any outpatient care, and any psychotropic medication in the past year)., Results: Significant disparities were found in 2004-2005 and in 2011-2012 for all three racial-ethnic minority groups compared with whites in all three measures of access. Between 2004 and 2012, black-white disparities in any mental health care and any psychotropic medication use increased, respectively, from 8.2% to 10.8% and from 7.6% to 10.0%. Similarly, Hispanic-white disparities in any mental health care and any psychotropic medication use increased, respectively, from 8.4% to 10.9% and 7.3% to 10.3%., Conclusions: No reductions in racial-ethnic disparities in access to mental health care were identified between 2004 and 2012. For blacks and Hispanics, disparities were exacerbated over this period. Clinical interventions that improve identification of symptoms of mental illness, expansion of health insurance, and other policy interventions that remove financial barriers to access may help to reduce these disparities.

Objective: Recessions are associated with increased prevalence of mental and substance use disorders, but their effect on use of behavioral health services is less clear. This study examined changes in spending per enrollee for behavioral health services compared with general medical services among individuals with private insurance following the Great Recession that began in 2007., Methods: The National Survey on Drug Use and Health was used to examine the prevalence of behavioral health conditions among persons with private insurance from 2004 to 2013. Truven Health MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters data (2004-2012) were used to calculate use of and spending on treatment of behavioral and general medical conditions before and after the recession among individuals with employer-sponsored private health insurance., Results: There was a statistically significant increase in serious psychological distress and episodes of major depression between 2007 and 2010. Between 2004-2009 and 2009-2012, the growth in average annual spending per individual slowed for general medical care (from 6.6% to 3.7%) but accelerated for behavioral health care (from 4.8% to 6.6%). From 2009 to 2012, the percentage of individuals receiving inpatient treatment, outpatient treatment, and prescription drugs for behavioral conditions increased, whereas use of these services for general medical care decreased or remained flat. Out-of-pocket costs increased more slowly for behavioral conditions than for other medical conditions., Conclusions: The recession was associated with increased need for and use of behavioral health services among individuals with private insurance. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act may have also played a role in facilitating increasing use of behavioral health services after 2008.

Objective: Feature articles in the Medical Surveillance Monthly Report (MSMR) reflect the U.S. military's health surveillance priorities. This study examined whether the recent rise in the number of ambulatory encounters for mental disorders in the U.S. military associated with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars was reflected in a proportional increase in MSMR feature articles on this topic., Methods: Articles published in the MSMR from January 1998 to December 2013 were examined to categorize feature articles according to health outcome. The proportion of articles by topic of outcome was compared with the proportion of all ambulatory encounters by category of disorder., Results: Mental disorders constituted 13% of ambulatory encounters and were the topic of 11% of 329 feature articles during the period, a statistically nonsignificant difference., Conclusions: The increased number of encounters for mental disorders has been met with a proportional but delayed increase in the number of MSMR feature articles focusing on these disorders.

Objective: Large-scale health care systems such as the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) have recently invested heavily in the expansion of psychotherapy services. This study examined longitudinal changes in use of psychotherapy at the VHA during a period of substantial programmatic change targeting increased availability and quality of mental health care., Methods: This retrospective cohort study used data from the VHA National Patient Care Database outpatient treatment files to identify patients with a new-onset diagnosis of depression, anxiety, or posttraumatic stress disorder during fiscal years (FYs) 2004 (N=424,428), 2007 (N=494,318), and 2010 (N=583,733). Use of psychotherapy during the 12 months after diagnosis was assessed., Results: The proportion of patients receiving any psychotherapy increased across the three study time points (FY 2004, 21%; FY 2007, 22%; and FY 2010, 27%). Amount of psychotherapy also increased such that with time a growing proportion of patients received eight or more psychotherapy sessions. The median time between diagnosis and start of psychotherapy decreased from 56 to 47 days from FY 2004 to FY 2010. Consistent with VHA expansion efforts, more substantial increases in psychotherapy reach, amount, and timeliness occurred between FY 2007 and 2010 than between FY 2004 and FY 2007., Conclusions: These findings highlight recent increases in the use of VHA psychotherapy and correspond to substantial efforts to improve access to mental health services. Despite these advances, most newly diagnosed patients received no psychotherapy or a low-intensity amount of psychotherapy. Additional efforts to promote veteran engagement in needed mental health services appear warranted.

Objective: The aim of this review was to investigate to what extent information technology may support self-management among service users with psychotic disorders. The investigation aimed to answer the following questions: What types of e-mental health self-management interventions have been developed and evaluated? What is the current evidence on clinical outcome and cost-effectiveness of the identified interventions? To what extent are e-mental health self-management interventions oriented toward the service user?, Methods: A systematic review of references through July 2012 derived from MEDLINE, PsycINFO, AMED, CINAHL, and the Library, Information Science and Technology database was performed. Studies of e-mental health self-management interventions for persons with psychotic disorders were selected independently by three reviewers., Results: Twenty-eight studies met the inclusion criteria. E-mental health self-management interventions included psychoeducation, medication management, communication and shared decision making, management of daily functioning, lifestyle management, peer support, and real-time self-monitoring by daily measurements (experience sampling monitoring). Summary effect sizes were large for medication management (.92) and small for psychoeducation (.37) and communication and shared decision making (.21). For all other studies, individual effect sizes were calculated. The only economic analysis conducted reported more short-term costs for the e-mental health intervention., Conclusions: People with psychotic disorders were able and willing to use e-mental health services. Results suggest that e-mental health services are at least as effective as usual care or nontechnological approaches. Larger effects were found for medication management e-mental health services. No studies reported a negative effect. Results must be interpreted cautiously, because they are based on a small number of studies.

Objective: Between 2005 and 2009, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) enhanced its mental health programs and increased outpatient mental health staffing by 52.8%. However, suicide rates among VHA patients remained the same. This study evaluated this finding by examining variability in staffing increases between VHA's 21 regional networks (Veterans Integrated Service Networks) (VISNs) and associations with suicide rates., Methods: Suicide rates among VHA patients were derived from the National Death Index and VHA clinical and administrative records for 2005 and 2009. Comparisons across VISNs used measures of proportional change in mental health staffing (overall and in inpatient, residential, intensive case management, and outpatient programs) and comparable measures of mental health staffing per 1,000 mental health patients., Results: Significant correlations were found between proportional changes from 2005 to 2009 in suicide rates and outpatient mental health staffing (r=-.453, p=.039) and outpatient mental health staffing per 1,000 patients (r=-.533, p=.013). The ten VISNs above the median in proportional changes in mental health staffing had average decreases in suicide rates of 12.6% while those below had increases of 11.6% (p=.005). For proportional changes in mental health staffing per 1,000 patients, those above the median had decreases of 11.2% and those below had increases of 13.8% (p=.014). For the average VISN, it would have required a 27.5%-36.8% increase in outpatient staff over 2005 levels to decrease suicide rates by 10%., Conclusions: Mental health enhancements in VHA were associated with decreases in suicide rates in VISNs where the increases in mental health outpatient staffing were greatest.

Objective: National data suggest that attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is underdiagnosed in Britain and that parental factors determine service use. This situation may have changed in recent years following policy and research recommendations. This study investigated changes in rates and correlates of service use for ADHD in Britain between 1999 and 2004., Methods: Use of various services by children aged five to 16 with ADHD (N=176) who were identified in the cross-sectional, nationally representative 2004 British Child and Adolescent Mental Health Survey was examined. The 2004 sample was compared with a community sample identified in a similar survey conducted in 1999., Results: Most parents (90%) of children with ADHD recognized the presence of a problem, and 55% thought that their child had hyperactivity. Past-year contacts with education-based professionals exceeded those with professionals in specialist health services (74% versus 51%). One-third of children with ADHD were taking medication. Child factors, including severity of ADHD and a comorbid emotional or behavioral disorder, were the main determinants of service use. Parental burden was also associated with specialist service use. Specialist service use increased over five years after adjustment for severity and parental perceptions and burden (odds ratio=1.76, 95% confidence interval=1.13-2.75, p=.013)., Conclusions: Barriers to care for ADHD in Britain appear to have been reduced in recent years. Medication for ADHD appears to be used cautiously, and the study found little empirical evidence of overuse. There is a need for health services to provide training and support for education-based professionals to help them recognize and manage children with ADHD.

In 2003 the President's New Freedom Commission called for the transformation of the public mental health system to one that is person centered, recovery focused, evidence based, and quality driven. In this column the director of the Center for Mental Health Services describes progress made by the center over the past five years as well as challenges and opportunities. She presents a strategic forecast, based on stakeholder input, to guide policy formulation and resource allocation. Central to the forecast is the concept of a public health model of mental health that takes a community approach to prevention, treatment, and promotion of well-being.

The President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health identified self-directed care as one service innovation that could create a more consumer- and family oriented mental health system. Four years later, there are still fewer than 400 consumers in five states accessing self-directed care in the public mental health system. This Open Forum identifies three main barriers to explain this lack of progress: the absence of a strong evidence base to support the effectiveness of self-directed care for serious mental illness, uncertainty over the appropriate scope of self-directed care, and the absence of a sustainable source of funding. The introduction of the 1915(i) provision of the Social Security Act in 2007 appears to partly address the funding barrier to self-directed care. There is also a strong case for a large-scale evaluation of self-directed care for persons with serious mental illness to address the two remaining barriers to progress.

Consumer-directed care, a payment system designed to make patients aware of the costs of care, requires treatment seekers to be active participants in their health care. Core components of consumer-directed care, such as higher deductibles and increased decision-making responsibilities, might preclude its easy translation from medical to behavioral health care. Aspects of behavioral disorders will force providers, insurers, and patients to compensate for unique barriers to increasing self-care, such as stigma, neuropsychological complications, and poor self-efficacy. This column describes important components of consumer-directed care and the unique barriers that behavioral health care creates for those components. Possible best practices are suggested for surmounting those barriers.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess changes in individual beneficiaries' utilization and expenditures that occur when individuals with depression, who often require maintenance treatment, return to Medicaid after a period of interrupted Medicaid coverage., Methods: Data from 1999 to 2002 Florida Medicaid claims from and eligibility files for beneficiaries with depression whose coverage was interrupted (N=1,946) were used to assess individual changes in the number of inpatient episodes, length of inpatient stay, emergency department visits, and total Medicaid expenditures between the three-month period immediately before and the three-month period immediately after an interruption in coverage. Multivariate analyses were used to assess how beneficiary characteristics are associated with changes in utilization and expenditures., Results: The number of inpatient episodes increased by .054 episode (p<.001), the length of inpatient stay increased by .32 day (p<.001), the number of emergency department visits increased by .57 visit (p<.001), and total Medicaid expenditures increased by 430 dollars (p<.001) in the three-month period after an interruption in coverage of more than one month. Individuals with depression who qualified for Medicaid because of a disability had a greater likelihood of experiencing higher expenditures after an interruption than individuals who were not disabled., Conclusions: Utilization of emergency and inpatient services and Medicaid expenditures significantly increased for beneficiaries with depression when they returned to Medicaid after experiencing a temporary loss in coverage, especially for beneficiaries with a documented disability. These findings point to the need for further research to assess the impact of interruptions in Medicaid.

Objective: This study estimated changes during the 1990s in the quality of usual-care treatment among persons diagnosed as having bipolar I disorder in a privately insured population., Methods: Retrospective private insurance administrative data were analyzed for enrollees aged 18 to 64 who were diagnosed as having bipolar I disorder during 1991 (431 person-years), 1994 (598 person-years), and 1999 (600 person-years). Medication and psychotherapy quality indicators were derived from bipolar disorder expert guidelines published in 1994, which were consistent with guidelines published until year 2002., Results: The unadjusted prevalence of receiving any lithium, valproate, or carbamazepine improved over the study period (68 percent in 1991, 64 percent in 1994, and 77 percent in 1999), whereas, compared with 1991, receiving any antidepressant in the absence of lithium, valproate, or carbamazepine increased in 1994 and then declined in 1999 (13 percent in 1991, 23 percent in 1994, and 14 percent in 1999). The unadjusted prevalence of receiving any psychotherapy declined steadily and sharply (94 percent in 1991, 89 percent in 1994, and 69 percent in 1999). The unadjusted prevalence of receiving any lithium, valproate, or carbamazepine and therapy together declined over time (65 percent in 1991, 58 percent in 1994, and 54 percent in 1999). After the analyses adjusted for patient characteristics, these changes were significant from p<.01 to p<.001., Conclusions: The prevalence of receiving the pharmacotherapy recommended in the guidelines improved after guideline publication in 1994, whereas other quality measures that included receiving psychotherapy declined throughout the study period. These results suggest different psychotherapeutic modalities are under differing constraints under managed care, constraints that overpower consensus in the literature of quality practice. Policy makers should measure a variety of key therapeutic modalities when measuring quality in order to capture these differences.

Objective: Redesigning the fragmented U.S. mental health care system requires knowing how service sectors share responsibility for individuals' mental health needs., Method: Twelve-month DSM-IV mental disorders and their severity were assessed in respondents ages 15-54 from the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) in 1990-1992 (N=5,388) and the NCS Replication in 2001-2003 (N=4,319). Six profiles involving potentially multiple service sectors were defined, including those in which pharmacotherapy plus psychotherapy (psychiatry profile, general medical with other mental health specialty profile), single modalities (general medical only profile, other mental health specialty only profile), or neither modality (human services only profile, complementary/alternative medicine only profile) could potentially have been received. The use of profiles was compared between surveys., Results: The general medical only profile experienced the largest proportional increase (153%) between surveys and is now the most common profile. The psychiatry profile also increased (29%), as did the general medical with other mental health specialty profile (72%). The other mental health specialty only (-73%), the complementary/alternative medicine only (-132%), and the human services only (-137%) profiles all decreased in use. The elderly, women, minorities, the less educated, and rural dwellers were less likely to use profiles capable of delivering pharmacotherapies and/or psychotherapies., Conclusions: How service sectors share responsibility for peoples' mental health care is changing, with more care falling to general medical providers rather than specialists. Efforts are required to ensure that people who would benefit have access to the necessary treatment modalities.

Objective: Mental health problems are often underrecognized and undertreated. Knowledge of the characteristics associated with the pathway to having a need for mental health care by appropriate treatment (met need) can help to correct this deficit. This study used data from a population-based study to determine the characteristics of persons whose needs were meetable, who were aware of the need for mental health care, who requested care, and whose needs were met., Methods: A total of 10,443 randomly selected persons in Stockholm, Sweden, aged 20 to 64 years answered a survey that included questions about mental health problems. A subsample of 1,093 persons was then interviewed by psychiatrists, who determined whether the respondents had a psychiatric disorder according to DSM-IV criteria. The interview also assessed need for care, service use, and whether an evidence-based treatment was available for the mental health problem., Results: Among the 1,093 persons interviewed 462 were found to have a mental health problem for which psychiatric treatment was available (meetable need for care). Among the 462 persons with a meetable need for care, 70 percent fulfilled the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for having a psychiatric disorder; the rest had various symptoms, mostly depressive. Among the persons with a meetable need for care, 84 percent were aware of this need, 37 percent had requested care, and 17 percent had their needs met by evidence-based treatment. Persons whose needs were met tended to be female, have more education, and have good social support. Also, they were less likely to report that feelings of shame would prevent them from requesting psychiatric care., Conclusions: The characteristics associated with unmet need suggest that strategies that focus on specific groups (for example, males and persons with less education) could increase the percentage of persons whose needs are met.

The authors review the literature on substance use disorders among persons with severe mental illnesses, including the other papers in this special section on relapse prevention, and suggest future directions. Although prevention of relapse to substance abuse has a well-developed theoretical and empirical base, this perspective has rarely been applied to persons with co-occurring severe mental illness. Research indicates that clients with co-occurring disorders are highly prone to relapse to substance abuse, even after they have attained full remission. Their risk factors include exacerbations of mental illness, social pressures within drug-using networks, lack of meaningful activities and social supports for recovery, independent housing in high-risk neighborhoods, and lack of substance abuse or dual diagnosis treatments. The evidence in hand suggests several steps: developing healthy and protective environments that are experienced as nurturing of recovery; helping people make fundamental changes in their lives, such as finding satisfying jobs, abstinent friends, networks of people who are in the process of recovery, and a sense of meaning; providing specific and individualized treatments for mental illnesses, substance use disorders, and other co-occurring problems; and developing longitudinal research on understanding and preventing relapse that addresses social context as well as biological vulnerabilities and cognitive strategies.

Objective: This study assessed trends in access to and use of behavioral health services for school-aged children in TennCare, Tennessee's Medicaid managed care program, between state fiscal years 1995 and 2000., Methods: Claims, encounter, and enrollment data from the Bureau of TennCare were used. The data analyzed were restricted to services and enrollment periods for children and adolescents between the ages of four and 17 years at the time of service or enrollment. Measures were calculated in four areas: overall access to behavioral health services, use of inpatient services, use of outpatient specialty treatment services, and use of supportive services like case management and medication management., Results: The number of youths who received a behavioral service increased by nearly 50 percent between state fiscal years 1995 and 2000. At the same time, the number of youths enrolled in TennCare increased by 19 percent. The annual access rate increased from 72.7 youths per 1000 enrollees to 91.7. However, the volume of services for children fell. Access rates were low relative to estimates of need in this population. The system made less use of inpatient services and relied more on outpatient services, particularly case management and medication management services., Conclusions: Children's access rates for behavioral health services improved even as the TennCare program expanded to cover more children. The system served more youths in part by reducing the volume of services for children receiving treatment and substituting more supportive services. Ongoing performance monitoring for policy making will require enhancements of data monitoring activities by the state.

Objectives: This study examined characteristics associated with the use of seclusion and restraint among 442 psychiatrically hospitalized youths and sought to quantify changing trends in the rates of these modalities of treatment over time after the 1999 implementation of federal regulations and an institutional performance improvement program., Methods: Demographic and clinical data related to all 5,929 incidents of seclusion and restraint that occurred during 2000 and 2001 at a child and adolescent state psychiatric hospital were analyzed., Results: The two-year prevalence of use of seclusion was 61 percent and of restraint was 49 percent. Children and adolescents who were admitted on an emergency basis and those belonging to ethnic minority groups were more likely to undergo seclusion or restraint. Children aged 11 years and younger were more likely to undergo seclusion. The total number of episodes decreased by 26 percent and their cumulative duration decreased by 38 percent between the first quarter of 2000 and the last quarter of 2001. The decreases were the result of fewer seclusion and restraint incidents as well as shorter episodes of restraint. Over time, a concurrent increase was observed in the proportion of episodes associated with patient (but not staff) injuries and with as-needed use of medications., Conclusions: National reforms and institutional efforts can lead to downward trends in the use of seclusion and restraint among psychiatrically hospitalized youths. The active elements of these interventions warrant further study and replication.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the characteristics of long-stay patients in contemporary state psychiatric hospitals and to identify factors representing possible barriers to alternative placements for these patients., Methods: All patients in inpatient units of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health who had been hospitalized for at least three years as of April 1, 1999, were assessed by their treatment teams with a standardized data collection instrument. Domains assessed included medical problems, need for nursing care, psychiatric diagnosis, and history of problematic behaviors., Results: The 330 individuals identified as long-stay patients had an array of medical problems and nursing care needs that likely would have been manageable in other long-term-care settings. A total of 276 patients had at least one significant medical problem. However, some patients exhibited behavioral problems that might have complicated such placements, especially when behavioral problems co-occurred with the need for medical supervision. A total of 228 patients had exhibited a significant problematic behavior in the previous 30 days., Conclusions: Although the number of long-stay patients in state psychiatric hospitals declined dramatically during the second half of the 20th century, a small group of patients still requires care in this setting. State psychiatric hospitals continue to occupy a significant niche in the mental health system.