Prevention News
On the Road to the Prevention Summit: Cowlitz County
May 06, 2008
A wan sun and a pale blue sky greet visitors and Cowlitz County mental health advocates and community members on a brisk spring morning in Longview, Washington. It's sunny, but cold. The Prevention Summit is a month away, and it's time to talk about making mental health work.
In the run-up to the Prevention Summit, public meetings like this have been taking place across Washington State. Citizens and government workers gather to express their concerns and sense of priorities about how to make a system with ever-dwindling resources work better.
In Cowlitz County, prevention is a topic near and dear to them. They still talk about a government study on public health issues produced here some 20 years ago. Its now legendary preface tells a parable about cliff bluffs on the ocean and rocks below, and a choice between whether to spend money on building a fence up top, or on enhancing the emergency services that collected casualties at the bottom.
Read full article: On the Road to the Prevention Summit: Cowlitz County
What Would Prevention Look Like for Mental Health?
March 19, 2008
At times, preventing mental illness may seem to be a lot like the weather. Everybody talks about it but nobody does anything about it.
But that's not entirely true. Last year's report from the Washington State Board of Health,
Mental Health–A Public Health Approach: Developing
a Prevention-Oriented Mental Health System in Washington State
[
771KB], identifies a number of successful
programs as well as several more fruitful avenues worth pursuing.
Read full article: What Would Prevention Look Like for Mental Health?
Can Mental Illness Be Prevented?
Feruary 15, 2008
First, the easy part. The principles of prevention in sustaining better physical health are well-known and simple:
- Screen regularly for cancer and catch it early – recovery odds improve
- Exercise and maintain a proper diet – risk of heart disease shrinks
- If people all around you are catching colds, take vitamin C – you might not get a cold
Read full article: Can Mental Illness Be Prevented?
Creating an Ounce of Prevention
January 31, 2008
Strike a blow for common sense. At one time, preventive strategies in public health such as wellness and early intervention were treated with suspicion. But common sense embraced them.
Read full article: Creating an Ounce of Prevention.
Prevention Presentation Made to KC and State Boards of Health
December 13, 2007
On December 13, the state Board of Health was presented the report
Mental Health–A Public Health Approach:
Developing a Prevention-Oriented Mental Health System in Washington State
[
771KB]. The report was also
presented to the TWG on January 4, and will serve
as the foundation for the Prevention Early Intervention Summit in May 2008. The
video presentation
can be downloaded from KCTV but you will need to
install RealPlayer on your computer to view it. It is part of the joint
State/King County Boards of Health meeting on 12-13. The meeting is two hours, thirty one minutes, with the
Prevention report coming in at about one hour and three minutes into the recorded meeting and lasting about
one hour and ten minutes.
