Our Division of Behavioral Health Services recently submitted its combined mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment services State Plan for FY 12-13 to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The Plan that we submitted to SAMHSA doubles as the State Plan that’s required by ARS 36-550.01. The Plan provides an overview of Arizona’s [...]
One of our primary goals over the last couple of years has been to shift the focus of our performance measures toward actual outcomes. In other words, we don’t want to measure our success on simple activities like whether we did an intervention, placed an ad, or whether someone’s paperwork is right- but on whether [...]
You can think of the border public health advocacy network as a binational matrix of public health partners that collaborate to improve conditions along the US-Mexico border. The network includes national organizations like the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission along with state based partnerships like the Arizona-Mexico Commission and the annual U.S.-Mexico Border Governor’s Conference. Community based binational partnerships [...]
Guest blog by: From the Division of Behavioral Health Services Let’s Celebrate Wellness this Week! You are invited to join Arizonans this FRIDAY, September 23 to participate in the Line Dance for Wellness and Recovery which will be held at the Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza (next to the Capitol Lawn in Phoenix) and at DeMeester [...]
We’re proud to join in the celebration of National Health Center Week by highlighting Health Centers throughout our State and the vital services they provide. Community Health Centers are community-based, patient directed organizations that provide services to medically underserved areas. These valuable safety net providers offer full-time comprehensive primary and preventative care to patients regardless of their [...]
A new report is out that provides a state-by-state comparison of a wide range of behavioral health issues. Every state has to deal with some significant challenges with mental illness and substance abuse. For example, among people 12 and older, Alaska’s current illicit drug use rate more than double that in Iowa (13% versus 5%), [...]
One of our primary objectives over the last couple of years in behavioral health has been to shift the focus of our performance measures away from process and procedures toward actual outcomes. In other words, we don’t want to measure our success on whether someone’s paperwork is right, but on whether the services we provide [...]
A few weeks ago I blogged about the June plenary session of the Arizona Mexico Commission called Arizona & Sonora: Gateway for Innovation. The conference provided an opportunity to move forward a bi-national agenda supported by Arizona and Sonora. The health committee discussed regional approaches to valley fever surveillance, burn patient infrastructure, substance abuse, TB, border [...]
The Arizona Mexico Commission was started by then Arizona Governor Paul Fannin in 1959 to improve partnering between Arizona and Sonora in a wide range of areas. It’s evolved over the years to become a premiere and unique cross-border nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the well-being and quality of life for residents of [...]
A number of published studies have found that using marijuana (and other psychoactive substances) is associated with an earlier onset of psychotic illness (notice I said “is associated with” rather than “causes”). National mental health surveys have repeatedly found more substance use, especially cannabis use, among people with a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder. A [...]
