';
Tags Posts tagged with "OMHSAS"

OMHSAS

Image by photosforyou from Pixabay

This webinar series is being provided by the GLS Youth Suicide Prevention Team in collaboration with The COVID-19 Emergency Response Suicide Prevention & National Strategy For Suicide Prevention Grant Team.

Suicide Risk Assessment for Mental Health Professionals

  • October 6, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Safety Planning for Mental Health Professionals

  • October 13, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Family Engagement for Mental Health Professionals

  • October 27, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Postvention Training for Schools and Community Behavioral Health Partners

  • November 3, 12:00 pm – 1:15 pm

Lethal Means Reduction for Mental Health Professionals

  • November 10, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Visit here for more information and registration.

A Better Understanding of Mental Health to Improve Systems and Supports

Articles in this issue of Positive Approaches focus on lived experiences and emerging treatments and supports for people with mental health challenges, including those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Article topics include the training process and outcomes of Mental Health First Aid, a Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) and Allegheny County DHS pilot program to better address the complex needs of individuals with intellectual disabilities, autism, and/or acute behavioral health needs, and an interview with a person with lived experience discussing the gaps, challenges, and opportunities of supporting someone with an autism spectrum diagnosis and co-occurring mental health diagnoses. There are also articles detailing the transition process from an institutionalized setting to a community setting and the outcomes for individuals with autism and drawing on research and lived experience to conclude that mental health conditions in autistic people are a result of the society in which they live with autism, not autism itself.

This issue of Positive Approaches Journal is in digital form, available for viewing online, or available for downloading here. To print a copy of the PDF, online journal, or a specific article, you will find these options within your left navigation bar on any Positive Approaches Journal page. A new window will open with your selected document. In your browser, you may click the Print button in the top left corner of the page, or by using the Print capability within your browser.

Please submit feedback regarding your experience with the Positive Approaches Journal on MyODP by clicking on the feedback image on MyODP within your left navigation bar on any Positive Approaches Journal page.

The Positive Approaches Journal is published quarterly. For additional information, please contact ODP Training.

Young caregiver helping older lady to stand up

The Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) is pleased to announce the issuance of Bulletin OMHSAS-22-06 titled “Revised Bulletin for Services to Older Adults.”

In 2019, Pennsylvania ranked 7th in the United States for the largest number of adults 65 and older. In the U.S., between 2020 and 2030, the number of older adults is projected to increase by almost 18 million, a 39% increase. The fastest growing segment of the population during the next two decades is expected to be in the age 85 and older group. Social isolation and limited access to supports negatively impact the well-being of older adults.

Depression, anxiety, addiction, and other mental illnesses are not a normal part of aging and should not be considered as such. As individuals age, the support networks utilized to help manage symptoms of a mental illness may change, resulting in individuals seeking services for the first time in their lives.

The development of depressive disorders occurs frequently in older adults, making it critical that comprehensive mental health evaluations are conducted based on presenting symptoms regardless of age. It is important for providers to evaluate for suicidality given that older adult males have the highest suicide completion rate of any age group.

Older persons diagnosed with a neurocognitive disorder, including dementia, who are experiencing symptoms of a mental illness, including depression, anxiety, substance use disorder, post-traumatic stress syndromes, and behavioral agitation, are guaranteed access to mental health services under laws and regulations of the Commonwealth.

If you have questions or concerns related to this bulletin, please email OMHSAS or contact your RCPA Policy Director.

The Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS), in collaboration with the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL), will be hosting a webinar on September 9 from 9:00 am – 11:00 am to support counties in their use of annual Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) funds. This webinar will include an overview of IECMH, organizations that host IECMH-related conferences, summits, and/or trainings that are preapproved for reimbursement, and instruction for counties on how to submit an IECMH funding request that is not preapproved.

See the Program Flyer for additional details.

MEETING REGISTRATION:

Please register for the IECMH Funding Webinar on September 9, 2022, 9:00 am EDT. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Call-in Number: 415-655-0052
Access Code: 733418631#

For questions regarding the webinar, please contact Amy Kabiru or RCPA Children’s Policy Director Jim Sharp.

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

The next Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) Stakeholder Webinar will take place on Friday, August 19, 2022, from 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm. Visit here to register. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Call-in Number:
562-247-8422
Access Code: 865972147#

In the meantime, if you have suggestions for agenda topics for August’s webinar, please submit them via email by COB Wednesday, August 17, 2022. OMHSAS will monitor the account and will reply to the sender if more information is needed. Please be advised that responses will not be provided if additional information is not needed.

If you have further questions, please contact your RCPA Policy Director.