Posts Tagged: health policy

Helping mentally ill people: The debate over ‘involuntary treatment’

A woman in a medical ward ponders her situation. (Photo: Boyloso, via Shutterstock)

by SIGRID BATHEN posted 05.18.2022

Lee Davis says flatly that without involuntary treatment for her raging psychosis, she would be dead. “It saved my life.” A mental health activist who chairs the Alameda County Mental Health Advisory Board, which advises the board of supervisors and county officials on mental health policy, Davis acknowledges hers is not a popular view among disability rights advocates,

Real change proves elusive in mental health care system

An illustration of the brain and potential links to instability -- including mental illness. Some elements provided by NASA.(Image: GrAI, via Shutterstock)

by SIGRID BATHEN posted 11.10.2021

Important legislation to improve California’s broken mental health system was passed this year, plus billions in new funding in the state budget — all aimed at stemming the tide of a growing crisis on California streets, in hospital ER’s, jails and prisons. But will it mean real change?

Nurse practitioners: Key piece of healthcare puzzle

A nurse practitioner, left, discusses care with a young girl and her mother.(Photo: Monkey Business Images)>

by THERESA ULLRICH posted 11.29.2017

OPINION: California is facing a crisis in our healthcare workforce. We lack enough primary care providers. This issue, combined with a wave of physicians getting set to retire and an expanding aging population, has created a perfect storm particularly in our rural and underserved communities.