There is a lot of prospect in community-based mental health careers both in the state of Maryland and all over the country. This is because for years now, there has been a lot of emphasis on prevention and reduction of inpatient hospitalization for all illnesses, including mental illness. This might primarily have been intended for cost control, it has also facilitated quality and access. The second reason why career prospects in community mental health are many is that there is currently a severe shortage of mental health workers in all sectors. The 2007 Maryland Mental Health Workforce White Paper revealed that the number and complexity of mental health problems experienced by children and their families have increased over the past decade. It further said, “At least one in five children and youth, or 20%, experience a mental health disorder. The crisis of mental health in the United States is such that 75-80% of youth with mental health diagnoses receive no services, and services received are often inadequate”. Thirdly, there is inadequate diversity among the few mental health workforce. For example, 28% of Maryland population is of ethnic minority but only 12% of mental workforce is of ethnic minorities. Furthermore, there is an acute shortage of African American males in mental health workforce.

 1. Outpatient Mental Health Clinics (OMHC)

Outpatient mental health clinics provide therapy, counseling, medication management, social skills teaching, and case management services to individuals with severe and chronic mental health problems. Career prospects available in OMHC include:

Therapists and Counselors: New regulations require therapists and counselors in OMHC to have a minimum of a Masters degree and a license (such as LGSW, LCSW, LCSW-C, LGPC, LCPC, RNC, APRN/PMHN) in nursing, social work, psychology, counseling, or psychiatric rehabilitation. Also, an RN without a Masters degree but with an RNC from ANCC can be employed as a therapist. Salaries are very attractive.

2. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Programs (PRP)

PRP programs are an extension of the services provided to the patient in the OMHC. A PRP may stand alone or be an additional service to an OMHC. The purpose of PRP is to promote the rehabilitation, integration and improved quality of life for the patient at home, school, work and community. It aims at helping the patient to function at his or her optimum best in life. The counseling can be done at the Program office (onsite) or at the patient’s home (offsite). PRP counseling could be about a wide range of topics, including anger management skills, social skills, assertiveness skills, medication compliance, coping with symptoms, managing peer pressure, taking a bus, determining bus route, drug and alcohol, gang prevention, sex education, STD education, accessing community resources such as food stamps, affordable housing, bus pass, ID card, driver’s license, job search, preparing for job interview, keeping a job, improving attention in school, completing homework and school projects, respect of authority, etc.     

Even though a mere one-year work experience in a mental health setting or having an AA degree qualifies one to be a PRP counselor, PRP programs prefer to employ persons with a BS degree in any health or mental health related field such as nursing, social work, counseling, psychology and rehabilitation. PRP counselors are usually paid $14 or more per counseling session. Each client receives 2 to 8 counseling sessions per month.

3. Expanded School-Based Mental Health (ESBMH)

In addition to the school clinic, some schools also have an ESBMH clinic. A therapist assigned from an OMHC manages each of such clinics. Apart from providing therapy to troubled kids sent to the therapist’s office from the class or principal’s office, the therapist also serve as a resource person to the school staff regarding particular children, issues or topics related to mental health. 

4. Crisis Response Programs (BCRI, BCARS)

Mental health professionals are also needed in crisis centers where services are provided for anyone in mental health crisis. The two main centers in Baltimore are Baltimore Crisis Response, Inc. (BCRI) and Baltimore Child and Adolescent Response System (BCARS). For employment inquiries, please call 410-433-5255. There are positions that do not need a Masters degree.

BCARS website provides the following information about what they do: 

BCARS is a mobile crisis response service that provides emergency contact with mental health professionals throughout the city. Dedicated crisis clinicians staff the program as part of a continuum of clinical care provided by the Catholic Charities.  The Johns Hopkins Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry provide psychiatric consultations to the program.  BCARS assists children and families facing psychiatric and psychosocial crises by providing hospital diversion and immediate intervention and respite. For information or assistance, please call the BCARS hotline (410) 752-2272. It is available 24-7. 

BCRI web site provided the following information: about what they do:

HOTLINE: The telephone crisis “hotline” (410-752-2272) is available 24 hours a day and is staffed by trained counselors who have the ability to provide information and referral to the network of human services in the Baltimore metropolitan area. The counselors also provide supportive counseling, dispatch emergency assistance and link callers with more intensive BCRI services.  In FY 2004 – 34,852 and FY 2005 – 30,257 calls were received on the Hotline.

MOBILE CRISIS TEAMS: Mobile crisis teams are comprised of mental health professionals including psychiatrists, social workers and nurses who can be dispatched to community locations to provide immediate assessment, intervention and treatment. Teams operate from 7:00am till midnight seven days per week. Currently the teams average over 2000 responses per year.

IN HOME SUPPORT: Persons experiencing a mental health crisis can often be maintained in the community through regular visits from the BCRI mobile crisis teams. An average of 350 people a year is cared for in this manner.

RESIDENTIAL CRISIS BEDS: Baltimore Crisis Response, Inc. operates 18 psychiatric crisis beds. Crisis beds are not new to Maryland. However, since its inception, BCRI has operated with an average length of stay of 4.5 days compared with the historical statewide average of 16.5 days.

PUBLIC EDUCATION AND TRAINING: BCRI provide public and professional education and training on a wide range of mental health related topics including: suicide prevention, crisis intervention, mental illness, and stigma.  Training has also been provided to members of the Baltimore City Police Negotiation Team, over 3,000 patrol officers, Housing Police and Sheriff’s officers. Through special grants and contracts, BCRI has provided training to Baltimore City Public School teachers and guidance counselors, clergy, 911 operators, shelter care staff and others.  Public education is also provided via a cable television program called “Mental Health Matters”.  This program provides practical information regarding mental health issues and community resources.  BCRI has also offered professional training conferences, workshops and symposia.

ADDICTIONS SERVICES: In response to the growing need for addictions treatment services BCRI has expanded and now provides a 10-day residential detoxification program for chemically addicted and dually diagnosed persons.  There are currently 16 beds operated for this purpose.

5. Group Homes

Direct care staff and counselors are needed in group homes to manage, care and support the residents in the areas of activities of daily living, behavior management, life progress, and community living. Employment preference is usually given to individuals who have a degree related to health or mental health. Salary rates are very attractive. New regulations now mandate each group home especially for children to be managed by a Program Administrator (PA) who must possess at least a BS degree in any field but preferably in a health or mental health related field. Program Administrators are very well paid, depending on their education and experience and the size and intensity of the group home. 

6. Private Practice

There are a lot of prospects for licensed mental health professionals with at least a Masters degree to establish their own private practice. The practice could be in the area of clinical, research, educational, or consultancy.

Better Your Dental Health with Cosmetic Dentistry in Cremorne City NSW, Australia, North Sydney, Chatswood Cosmetic Dentistry Dr. Phillip Stein

Cosmetic dentistry Australia is becoming more and more popular around the world. This is probably because along with enhancing your smile and the way you look, cosmetic dentistry also helps you improve your dental health directly as well as indirectly.

Originally the purpose of dentistry was to maintain and improve oral hygiene by taking care of germ and decay that attach the teeth and by cleaning the teeth regularly. Often teeth would have to be removed if they were too badly damaged.

With cosmetic dentistry Cremorne City NSW one can maintain the health without spoiling the appearance of your teeth. Cavities need not be ugly metal fillings anymore. With cosmetic dentistry, the fillings match the tooth exactly. Cosmetic dentistry Cremorne City NSW helps you deal with cracking, breaking or chipped teeth before they become infected and fall out. You can choose between crowns, bridges, veneers or even implants. In case of stained or yellow teeth which may be due to smoking, caffeine stains or even trauma, cosmetic dentistry offers teeth whitening to return the dazzling smile.

Cosmetic dentistry North Sydney even allows you to change the shape of your teeth and your smile without the pain of braces. Gaps between teeth or due to missing teeth can be filled in with the help of veneers or dental implants giving you a complete and beautiful smile. With cosmetic dentistry Chatswood it is easy to maintain hygiene as regular brushing and flossing is required and not any fancy gadgets.

Many people will be curious about where the large product range that exists to service the hygiene needs of the modern world has come from. Has there always been a supplier of the hygiene product variety or is the trend we see today for exemplary personal hygiene just a symptom of the society we live in? What did people do in the past when they wanted to clean themselves, surely a hygiene product supplier wasn’t just around the corner to cater for their needs? Today we use deodorants, soap and toilet paper as well as many others, was life in the past just a lot smellier?

We can be pretty certain that the average human in the developed world is a lot more aware of hygiene issues thanks to the product range at their disposal. In the past, while certain products would have been available from a supplier, on the whole people were smellier and hence more accustomed to the body odour of others.

Soap is a hygiene product that has in fact been around for thousands of years. It is believed that the ancient Mesopotamians used soaps for cleaning skin and clothes. These soaps were manufactured by boiling animal fats and then mixing this with ash from the fire. So in fact, a supplier who sold soap would have been prominent in Mesopotamian society. These soaps were undoubtedly harsh and abrasive on the skin.

The Romans and Greeks had a different method of maintaining hygiene, but instead of using a product like soap, oils such as olive oil were applied to the skin. The oil, after it had been rubbed all over the body was then scraped off with what was called strigil; a curved piece of wood that resembled a sickle. While this may have moisturised well, the benefits to hygiene may have been limited.

Deodorant on the other hand is a far more modern invention than soap although the process of perfuming our bodies to mask a smell is relatively old. This type of hygiene product can be seen as a development from the perfumes of the pre-eighteen hundreds that were sold by a supplier to the royal and aristocratic families. Spare a thought though for the ancient Egyptians, in order to prevent lice being a problem they shaved all the hair on their body and wore wigs, thankfully the hygiene product range today does not require such drastic action.

Rolled toilet paper was not invented until the mid-nineteenth century. Records show that to maintain levels of hygiene people used all manner of items to clean themselves. These range from the rather obvious leaves and scraps of cloth to the extraordinary moss and even cobs of corn; yes, honestly cobs of corn! Romans used a sponge on a stick that they took with them wherever they went, especially the legionaries. Some cultures in the east even used their left hand, which is still why in many countries it is still forbidden to use your left hand at the dinner table.

The hygiene product range has obviously entered into the oral world, and dental hygiene has been an important element in the development of the range our supplier may offer today. People have strived to clean their teeth and mouth for centuries, but whether these methods have been effective is debatable. The ancients are believed to have rubbed ground pumice and ash around there mouths mixed with scented herbs. Using a frayed stick to scrub the teeth and even reportedly using urine as mouthwash. Whether this created fresher breath is doubtful and the damage caused by the abrasive materials may have even done more harm than good.

These rather unsavoury methods of maintaining hygiene are certainly a long way from the supplier range offered to us today. Seemingly it is clear that people have always made the effort to be hygienic but it is only in the modern era that this has truly been achieved.

Most consumers associate the term “Glutathione” with beauty products. More specifically, they think of skin whitening when they see any supplement with the word “Glutathione” on it. That is because health products retailers are targeting the beauty market. They are offering L-glutathione as a solution to a skin problem - the problem of blemished or dark colored skin. So the products are more commonly promoted as beauty products as opposed to health products.

This is a little unfortunate because Glutathione does offer many health benefits that are often overlooked. The first thing that consumers should know about, is that Gluthathione is an antioxidant. It’s primary function is to eliminate harmful substances that are toxic from the body.

Toxic substances are slow killers. An individual may not feel the harmful effects immediately when the body is exposed to small doses of toxic substances. But as time goes by, the harmful toxins start to break down the cells in the body, bit by bit. At first, there are no visible symptoms. So it is very difficult to tell if someone is being injured by poisonous toxins. On the surface, everything looks fine.

When left unchecked, the immune system of the body starts to degenerate. The immune system is what protects the body from all sorts of illnesses and diseases. When the immune system fails, the body is vulnerable to all sorts of diseases. For instance, an infection may take a very time to heal. Or in the worst scenario, the infection may even become fatal. That’s because the immune system has become so weak that it is unable to heal the infection properly. Question is, how did this happen?

You see, in the human body, we all have the natural ability to fight against harmful toxins. Toxins can, and are constantly being discharged from the body. But the agents that are responsible for such functions must be present. There are many different ways to detox a body. For instance, the detoxification process can be stimulated by consumption of large amounts of water.

On top of that, the cells in our bodies have the natural ability to prevent toxins from breaking them down. They do so by producing Glutathione. With the presence of Glutathione, harmful toxins can be reduced to a harmless liquid state. The body then takes over to eliminate the liquids from the body.

Because of the body’s natural defenses against toxins, small amount of toxins in the body cannot cause severe damage to the body. The problem is, Glutathione depletes with age. As an individual gets older, his or her natural defenses against harmful toxins start to drop. The cells are unable to produce similar levels of Glutathione as before.

Fortunately, Glutathione levels can be supplemented by consuming L-glutathione. L-glutathione is a reduced form of Glutathione, and can be found in health products. When combined with other useful vitamins, such health products actually helps to strengthen the immune system of the body. Hence, general health is greatly improved.

Improving the Mental Health System

According to a news release that was dated May 9, 2006, the “Standing Senate Committee On Social Affairs, Science and Technology” in Canada recommended the creation of a Canadian Mental Health Commission that will be responsible for significantly upgrading the Canadian mental health system. As stated by Senator Michael Kirby, the Chair of the Committee, “The Senate Committee is committed to improving the range, quality and organization of health and support services that are required by the tens of thousands of Canadians who are living with mental illnesses and addictions.”

Funding The Proposed Change

Based on an extensive three-year study on mental health and addiction, the Committee determined that it will cost $5.36 billion over a 10-year period for this mental health system upgrade. Where will these funds come from? According to the Committee, the revenue will come from raising the excise tax on alcoholic drinks by 5 cents per drink.

Part of the rationale for the 5-cent increase per drink was obviously the goal of raising the needed funds for the proposed changes in the mental health system. Another justifying factor for the price increase, however, was the fact that since each alcoholic drink will cost more, Canadians will be more inclined to drink lower-alcohol products such as beer and wine instead of liquor.

Let’s Do the Math

At first glance, this proposal seems to make sense. Why shouldn’t those who drink help finance a program that will provide them with a better mental health system? Why not let those who are part of the “problem” become part of the “solution”? This logic seems sound until you do the math. If $5.36 billion is needed to help finance the upgraded mental health system, then how many drinks will have to be consumed in a ten-year period to reach $5.36 billion dollars? The answer: 107,200,000,000 drinks. That’s 107 billion, 200 million drinks.

To arrive at how many drinks this is per year, all we have to do is divide this number by 10 (for the ten-year program) and the result is 10,720,000,000. This is still a huge number that fortunately can be “massaged” even more. According to The World Factbook website, the population of Canada was estimated to be 33 million people in 2006. Dividing 10,720,000,000 by 33,000,000 equals 325. Putting this in terms that the average person can understand, every man, woman, and child in Canada will have to consume 325 alcoholic drinks per year for the next ten years to finance the new mental health system! Simply put, these numbers are not realistic.

More Flaws

The “logic” of this proposed mental health program also breaks down when it is examined more deeply. For instance, why would people drink lower-alcohol products such as beer if the increased excise tax applies to all alcoholic drinks? To help understand this better, let’s use an example. Let’s say that the average shot in Canada currently costs $3.00 and the average beer costs $1.00. Based on the proposed price increase, if Joe drinks an average of 5 shots per week, his weekly average alcohol expenditure will be $15.25. When the numbers are calculated, this figures out to be 1.7% more than Joe would have spent before the proposed tax increase. Let’s do a similar exercise with beer. Based on the projected price increase, if Pete drinks an average of 5 beers per week, his weekly average alcohol expenditure will be $5.25. When the numbers are calculated, this figures out to be 5% more than Pete would have spent before the proposed tax increase. The point: since the proposed price increase affects higher-alcohol products (such as shots) proportionately less than their lower-alcohol counterparts (such as beer), why would Canadians switch to lower-alcohol products?

Alcohol and Mental Health

Another question. What if tens of thousands of Canadians, realizing that drinking alcohol is not good for their “mental health,” significantly reduce their alcohol intake or quit drinking alcoholic beverages altogether? Where will the money come from to offset this lack of revenue? In a similar manner, what if thousands upon thousands of Canadians who drink alcoholic beverages decide that they don’t want to pay the extra excise tax and, as a result, stop drinking alcoholic beverages? If this happens, where will the government get the money needed to transform the mental health system? In other words, does the Canadian government have a realistic “plan B” for this major transformation?

A Logical Contradiction

From a different perspective, isn’t it rather ironic that those who drink alcoholic beverages will pay for the revamped mental health system? Isn’t there a contradiction in logic somewhere in this proposal? Stated differently, if tens of thousands of Canadians have mental illnesses or are addicted to alcohol or drugs, wouldn’t the government want Canadians to drink LESS alcohol in order to reduce the existing alcohol abuse, alcoholism, and alcohol-related mental health problems? Yet according to the current mental health proposal, from strictly a financial standpoint, it would appear that the Canadian government is banking the entire mental health system upgrade on historical data that strongly suggests that Canadians will continue to drink at their current or even higher levels of consumption.

Budgetary Miscalculations

What happens, for instance, if there are cost overruns in the proposed mental health system? There are, of course, two “easy” solutions to this problem: increase the excise tax on each drink or motivate Canadians to drink even more alcoholic beverages. Either “solution,” however, is predicated on the fact that in order to “work,” the upgraded mental health system needs to be funded by Canadians who continue to drink alcoholic beverages.

Conclusion

It appears logical to conclude that the Canadian mental health system is in need of a major overhaul. As with most comprehensive government programs, however, the issue of funding becomes a major obstacle to overcome. The proposed Canadian mental health system upgrade is no exception. Based on the reasons given above, it seems obvious that the Canadian government needs to come up with alternate sources of revenue generation for this worthwhile project. Indeed, to point out one of the major “flaws” in the current proposal, consider the following question: When is more drinking a “good thing?” Answer: when it finances a nationwide mental health system upgrade. Something tells me that Andy Rooney from “60 Minutes” would have a lot of fun with this.

Copyright 2007 - Denny Soinski. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, and give the author credit.