Psychiatric Services Publishes "Transformation of the California Mental Health System: Stakeholder-Driven Planning as a Transformational Activity"

In their efforts to transform local mental health systems under the 2004 Mental Health Services Act, California counties consistently articulated the broad principles of a recovery orientation in their designs of programs for consumers and their families, according to a study by the Nicholas C. Petris Center on Health Care Markets and Consumer Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley.

However, there was little convergence on specific strategies to achieve this vision, reflecting the local planning process, which gave counties the flexibility chose methods that met the needs of their diverse communities, concluded the study, published in the October issue of Psychiatric Services.

Full Article

2008 Petris Symposium Details Now Available

The Annual Petris Symposium, "California Health Care Reform — Progress and Prognosis" took place on Friday, April 18, 2008 from 1:00 - 5:00 PM at the Berkeley City Club. You may now view the agenda, photos, and presentation files on the Events page.

Social Science & Medicine Publishes "Community-level social capital and recurrence of acute coronary syndrome"

Social capital has been shown to be associated with reduced mortality due to cardiovascular disease. Our aim was to determine the association of time-varying community–level social capital (CSC) with recurrence of acute coronary syndrome using a retrospective cohort study design. A total of 34,752 men and women were identified, aged 30–85 years, who were hospitalized for acute coronary syndrome.

View the full report [PDF] and the press release.

The Petris Center Releases New Mental Health Services Act Report

California's county mental health departments spent most of their budgets on outpatient services, with low overhead and low spending on hospitalization, according to a new report released today (Tuesday, November 6) by the Nicholas C. Petris Center on Health Care Markets and Consumer Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley.

The survey covers the structure, organization, and financing of county mental health departments in the 2004 fiscal year, providing baseline data on each county before voters passed the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) later that same year.

View the full report [PDF] or the press release.

Social Science & Medicine Publishes New Social Capital Paper

The August 2007 issue of Social Science & Medicine includes an article that examines the relationship between area-level social capital and non–specific psychological distress using data from the US National Health Interview Survey. Petris Center Director Richard Scheffler, Associate Director of Research Timothy Brown, and AHRQ trainee Jennifer Rice use the Petris Social Capital Index (PSCI) to draw their conclusions. View the abstract and full article.