A look at allied dental education in the United States.

Background: The American Dental Association conducts surveys of educational programs in dental assisting, dental hygiene and dental laboratory technology. The 2002-2003 survey included questions about enrollment, graduates, program information and trends.

Methods: The ADA Survey Center mailed the Survey of Allied Dental Education to 548 program directors of dental assisting, dental hygiene and dental laboratory technology educational programs.

Managing care for mental illness: paradox and pitfalls.

Historically mental health has been separated from physical health care, and within mental health there have been largely separate public and private systems. A managed care approach now offers the potential of integrating and rationalizing mental health care. Counihan et al.

Mental health services: critical component of integrated primary care and substance abuse treatment.

The documented high incidence of mental health disorders among individuals in substance abuse treatment argues for the importance of studying the provision of mental health services to this population. This survey documents how the Linkage Programs assembled an array of mental health services based on the assessed health care needs of clients. Specialty and nonspecialty personnel addressed the extensive mental health needs of ethnically diverse, multiproblem clients with substance abuse problems.

Reflections on the mental health community's experience in the health care reform debate.

The creation of an effective coalition of mental health organizations was integral to the mental health community's early success in furthering coverage for mental health services in national health care reform. A unified coalition was able to establish political credibility and clarify substantive choices while the Task Force on National Health Care Reform was formulating the Clinton Administration's proposal, leading to initial indications that parity for mental health benefits and flexible coverage of a wide range of services would be included. As concerns about the cost of the benefit package increased, the Administration stepped back from including comprehensive coverage, and some organizations in the coalition became divided over specific provisions.