Health
AMA calls for better campus mental health services
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 3, 2006
To deal with the increasing rate of depression, addiction and other mental health disorders in undergraduate and graduate students, colleges need to place a high priority on integrating the best practices for prevention, screening and follow-up of these illnesses into campus services, said a report issued at the American Medical Association Annual Meeting in Chicago last month.
The report from the AMA Council on Science and Public Health also called for student health insurance to give full parity to mental health and substance abuse treatment and for institutions to increase the availability of on-campus services. Colleges also should scrap policies that discriminate against students who seek help.
"[Students] need to receive whatever help they need," said Sarah Walker, a first year medical student at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine in Mobile.
In a related action, the AMA also intends to work with mental health organizations, other medical societies and public health groups to develop programs that encourage patients to discuss mental health concerns with their physicians.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/07/03/hlbf0703.htm.
