News Briefs

SAMHSA awards funds to enhance transformation: Ten states and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico have received Transformation Transfer Initiative program funding awards from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The states selected are Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Each of the ten states and Puerto Rico will receive an award of up to $105,000 for one year. The Transformation Transfer Initiative supports new and expanded efforts to improve the capacity and effectiveness of mental health systems that foster recovery and meet the multiple needs of consumers. The initiative's pilot programs will implement several innovative approaches, including comprehensive peer support services for adults with serious mental illness and youths with serious emotional disturbances and enhanced juvenile forensic mental health services that allow judges to order involuntary examinations of youths in outpatient settings, such as community mental health centers, rather than in traditional inpatient settings, such as psychiatric wards. "The Transformation Transfer Initiative will build a wealth of experience in the steps it takes to improve mental health services for consumers and their families," said SAMHSA Administrator, Terry Cline, Ph.D. "The knowledge gained through these individual awards will be shared with other states and territories working to provide more coordinated and effective care."

AHRQ toolkit to enhance medication adherence: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released 17 new toolkits designed to help physicians, nurses, hospital managers, patients, and others. The toolkits focus on an array of medical practices and settings. One of them, Improving Medication Adherence, is designed to help hospitals implement a multimodal educational intervention for patients about medications they receive during their stay so that they will remain adherent after they are discharged. The intervention, which draws on the theory of health behavior change, focuses on reducing 30-day hospital readmissions and improving patient satisfaction. Additional resources promote administrative support and staff training and the use of established quality improvement techniques. The toolkit includes classroom training materials, training CDs, and pocket and wallet-sized cards to promote health behavior change. The toolkits were developed through AHRQ's Partnerships in Implementing Patient Safety program. More information is available on the AHRQ Web site at www.ahrq.gov/qual/pips.