Right after the Tucson disaster, our team of behavioral health professionals started working on a decision tool to help folks better identify when and how to seek help. We launched our decision tool this week. Most people with mental illness aren’t violent and most people who are violent don't have a mental illness- but there [...]
Our Tobacco Prevention Program will be hitting targeted audiences (lower income Arizonans) a few days before New Years and during January with smoking cessation messages. There’s no better time to motivate folks to quit smoking than January because that’s the time of year when people generally set health goals for themselves. The ads (funded by [...]
I’m glad to announce that Rodgers Wilson, MD is our permanent Behavioral Health Medical Director. Dr. Wilson oversees the clinical/prevention and quality management/medical management areas of our behavioral health system. He has spearheaded Quarterly Health Initiatives that address common physical health needs among individuals with behavioral health illnesses and is currently developing collaborative training programs [...]
Did you know that nearly 1/8 of all emergency department visits in the US are because of a mental disorder, substance abuse problem or both? A new federal report found that depression and other mood disorders accounted for 43% of behavioral health visits, 26% were for anxiety disorders and 23% involved alcohol-related problems. These data are [...]
Just a reminder that you can sign up for electronic notifications in your in-box of our media releases, and lots of other cool communications like our weekly, in-season, healthy recipe at: http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?m=1101362445484. Tell your friends too.
Our Division of Behavioral Health Services is the point guard for substance abuse prevention & treatment in Arizona (also referred to as the Single State Authority for Substance Abuse Services at the federal level). One of those concerns is the abuse of marijuana- which continues to be in high demand and abused in our state. [...]
This week, I'm sharing the CDC's 5 Winnable Battles as set forth by the new head of the CDC), Dr. Frieden. During the next 3 years, CDC will be increasingly focusing its strategic planning on public health and policy interventions to help win the 5 “Winnable Battles”. There’s not much on the CDC’s website yet [...]
We updated our home page this week and added an information hub for behavioral health. The information at this site will be regularly updated in the coming weeks as we begin to implement behavioral health service reductions for folks that don’t qualify for benefits under AHCCCS. Our commitment is to continually share updated information with [...]
Our Behavioral Health Office of Prevention http://www.azdhs.gov/bhs/ops.htm provides tools, resources and technical support to promote the resiliency and prevention of behavioral health/substance abuse disorders in our communities. Our goal is to empower communities and kids to make healthier choices by collaborating with Arizona’s prevention workforce, including our Tribal/Regional Behavioral Health Authorities and local communities; strategically [...]
The MY LIFE program is an award winning approach to helping youth that have experience mental health, substance abuse and/or foster care-related issues to use their experiences, talents and voice to make positive changes in their lives while helping others to do the same. MY LIFE provides an excellent opportunity for youth to have an [...]
