Social Workers and Self-Help Services: Forging Positive Relationships.

Self-help and peer-provided services for mental health and addictions have grown rapidly in recent years. Many individuals who seek professional social work services are also involved in peer-provided recovery activities. Although many social workers have positive relationships with peer-provided organizations in their communities, there is a need for social workers to increase their understanding of the goals and principles of peer-provided services, so that collaborative relationships can be established.

Policy implications of Medicare Part D for adults with mental illness: a qualitative exploration.

The Medicare prescription drug benefit, introduced in January 2006, has had a substantial impact on the lives of adults disabled by mental illness. However, few studies have undertaken an exploration of the difference that this benefit has made to beneficiaries' access to medication. This study uses a qualitative approach to examine beneficiaries' experiences with the Medicare Part D benefit, and whether having Medicare prescription drug coverage is perceived as helpful.

Case managers and the use of Medicare, Part D.

Purpose/objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences and opinions of community-based mental health case managers with the Medicare prescription drug benefit. A qualitative approach, consisting of analysis of data from 3 case manager focus groups, was used to achieve an understanding of the role that case managers played in beneficiaries' access to and use of prescription medicines.

Primary Practice Settings: Two urban nonprofit community-based mental health agencies.

Roles of community helpers in using the Medicare Part D benefit.

Objectives: To examine the experiences of low-income Part D beneficiaries with mental illness and their use of community helpers to access prescription medicines.

Methods: Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 Medicare beneficiaries with mental illness in community settings. The transcripts were analyzed for content related to community help-seeking and attitudes toward family and professional helpers.