Creating Culturally Competent and Responsive Mental Health Services: A Case Study Among the Amish Population of Geauga County, Ohio.

Providing effective mental health services requires knowledge about and cultural competence across a wide array of beliefs and practices. This study provides an example of a successful project to improve public mental health service delivery in an Amish community. County boards of mental health in a rural area of Northeast Ohio contacted researchers in 1998 to provide assistance in reaching the Amish community because of a concern that mental health services were not being utilized by the Amish population.

The sustainability of Canada's healthcare system: a framework for advancing the debate.

The debate of whether Canada's healthcare system is sustainable is mired in ideology. This paper offers a framework that takes us beyond the ideological standoff with a process to deal ethically with the issue of the sustainability of publicly funded healthcare.

IT strategic planning: what healthcare CFOs should know.

The following recommendations can strengthen your strategic IT planning: Recognize how differently your organization may have to operate during the planning horizon. Make your organization's longer-term plan and strategic vision detailed enough to frame its IT strategy. Frame the planning effort with financial guardrails.

Beating the bug.

OVER THE PAST two decades, healthcare associated infections (HCAIs) have emerged as a significant threat to high quality health care. The technological advances made in the treatment of many diseases and disorders are undermined by the transmission of infections within healthcare settings, especially the emergence of antimicrobial resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus and enterococci that are now endemic in some healthcare.

Successful strategic planning: creating clarity.

Most healthcare organizations have a strategic plan of some kind. Many of these organizations also have difficulty translating their strategic plan into specific actions that result in successful performance. In the worst cases, this can jeopardize the viability of the organization.