A review of the literature on preventive interventions to promote mental health, & on the use of tobacco, alcohol & the misuse of licit & illicit drugs. 54 articles from 1964 to 1999 that demonstrate positive outcomes from preventive substance abuse & mental health interventions are summarized here. The following six preventive services are recommended for consideration by managed care org.: prenatal & infancy home visits; targeted cessation educ. & counseling for smokers, especially those who are pregnant; targeted short-term mental health therapy; self-care educ. for adults; pre-surgical educational intervention with adults; & brief counseling & advice to reduce alcohol use.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC 4.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Before new interventions are released into disease control programmes, it is essential that they are carefully evaluated in field trials'. These may be complex and expensive undertakings, requiring the follow-up of hundreds, or thousands, of individuals, often for long periods. Descriptions of the detailed procedures and methods used in the trials that have been conducted have rarely been published. A consequence of this, individuals planning such trials have few guidelines available and little access to knowledge accumulated previously, other than their own. In this manual, practical issues in trial design and conduct are discussed fully and in sufficient detail, that Field Trials of Health Interventions may be used as a toolbox' by field investigators. It has been compiled by an international group of over 30 authors with direct experience in the design, conduct, and analysis of field trials in low and middle income countries and is based on their accumulated knowledge and experience. Available as an open access book via Oxford Medicine Online, this new edition is a comprehensive revision, incorporating the new developments that have taken place in recent years with respect to trials, including seven new chapters on subjects ranging from trial governance, and preliminary studies to pilot testing.

Managed care has produced dramatic changes in the treatment of mental health and substance abuse problems, known as behavioral health. Managing Managed Care offers an urgently needed assessment of managed care for behavioral health and a framework for purchasing, delivering, and ensuring the quality of behavioral health care. It presents the first objective analysis of the powerful multimillion-dollar accreditation industry and the key accrediting organizations. Managing Managed Care draws evidence-based conclusions about the effectiveness of behavioral health treatments and makes recommendations that address consumer protections, quality improvements, structure and financing, roles of public and private participants, inclusion of special populations, and ethical issues. The volume discusses trends in managed behavioral health care, highlighting the emerging role of the purchaser. The committee explores problems of overlap and fragmentation in the delivery of behavioral health care and discusses the issue of access, a special concern when private systems are restricted and public systems overburdened. Highly applicable to the larger health care system, this volume will be of particular interest to all stakeholders in behavioral healthâ€"federal and state policymakers, public and private purchasers, health care providers and administrators, consumers and consumer advocates, accrediting organizations, and health services researchers.

Presents cost estimates for six preventive interventions previously identified through a literature review & analysis of peer-reviewed, published research in mental health or substance abuse services. A report by Dorfman in 2000 yielded a number of well-designed research studies. Twenty-one of those studies supported six preventive interventions that demonstrated patient benefits (i.e., better outcomes) or lower use & cost of medical care. The six are: prenatal & infancy home visits for high-risk mothers; smoking cessation targeted at pregnant women; targeted short-term mental health therapy; health promotion through self-care education; pre-surgical educational intervention with adults; & brief counseling to reduce alcohol use.