EC in Minnesota: some facts for minors

A recent comment from a visitor prompted this blogger to wonder–how accessible is emergency contraception in Minnesota, anyway?

The short (and uninformative) answer is, it depends. For women and their partners who are 17 and older, emergency contraceptive (commonly known as “the morning after pill,” branded as “Plan B” or “Next Choice”) is available over-the-counter.  Women can go directly to their pharmacist for purchase, but should be prepared to show ID.*  A map of Minnesota pharmacies that provide EC, searchable by zip code, is available here (call ahead to confirm stock): http://www.ecminnesota.org/

Women under the age of 17 can get EC with a prescription from a healthcare provider, thanks to a March 2009 federal ruling. For a searchable list of clinics that  will provide prescriptions for EC, click here: http://eclocator.not-2-late.com/search.asp.

Minnesota state law does not require clinics to notify parents when their child requests emergency contraception, so women under the age of 17 should be sure to call ahead to determine a) if clinics prefer parental notification and b) if an appointment is necessary.  Many clinics may call in a prescription to a local pharmacy without a visit.

If an appointment is necessary, minors who are concerned about confidentiality should pay in cash rather than use their family’s health insurance.

Publicly-funded Title X clinics will ensure patient confidentiality and also provide sliding scale services (both for EC, other birth control prescriptions, and additional services including  pregnancy option counseling). For a directory of Title X clinics (searchable by zip code), click here: http://nfprha.org/main/about_us.cfm?Category=Member_Clinic_Directory&Section=Main

*Undocumented individuals here in Minnesota still stuggle to receive equal reproductive care — the subject for another blog post.

Concern about young male veterans

An Associated Press article earlier this month raised concern about the high rates of suicide among young male veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.  According to the article, preliminary data from the Veterans Affairs Department suggests that the suicide rate among 18- to 29-year-old male veterans has increased significantly (26 percent) from 2005 to 2007.

One positive element that emerges from the data is that veterans who used VA health care services in 2007 were less likely to commit suicide than those who did not—representing a change from previous years. This difference may reflect recent efforts taken by the VA to meet the needs of young veterans, such as hiring thousands of new mental health professionals and creating a suicide hot line for veterans and military members.

For more information, please visit: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1953058,00.html

Good news for servicewomen

Today’s Airforce Times describes a new bill sponsored by Senators Al Franken and Olympia Snowe that would make emergency contraceptives available to women serving overseas.

The Compassionate Care for Servicewomen Act also mandates that patients “not be required to get prior approval”  before recieving care. It is similar, the article notes, to  legislation sponsored by Hillary Clinton when she served on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

For more on the Act, including its current status, visit:

http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2010/01/franken_wants_m.php

http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/111_HR_4386.html#toc0

NYT poll: nearly half of unemployed do not have health insurance

Nearly  half of the unemployed Americans surveyed in a recent New York Times/CBS News poll indicate that they do not have health insurance.

The survey, conducted in December via telephone interview, sampled 1,650 U.S. adults, 708 of whom are unemployed.  Of  those, more than half “have cut back on doctor visits or medical treatments,” 25% said they had “either lost their home or been threatened with foreclosure or eviction,” and 25% are collecting foodstamps.

These results are especially unsettling when we consider the pending health insurance legislation, which could positively impact the lives of millions of Americans. Although proposed Medicaid expansions may cover some of their needs,  the cost of additional coverage premiums will likely be too expensive for others to bear.

For more on health insurance affordability, see:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100105/ap_on_go_co/us_health_care_overhaul

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/us/politics/06cong.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

As well as a new study from the Urban Institute on subsidies and affordability:

http://www.urbaninstitute.org/UploadedPDF/411992_health_reform.pdf

*NEW* Healthy Generations: Early Childhood Mental Health

Hot off the presses! http://www.epi.umn.edu/mch/index.php/Page/View/Resources.

The Center for Leadership Education in Maternal and Child Public Health at the University of Minnesota is very pleased to announce the release of the winter 2010 issue of Healthy Generations.  Each Healthy Generations focuses on a significant MCH topic and includes articles written by leaders in the field. The winter 2009-2010 issue looks at the complex issue of Early Childhood Mental Health.  You can download a copy of this and past issues at http://www.epi.umn.edu/mch/index.php/Page/View/Resources.  If you would like to request (free) copies for yourself or your organization, please send an email to Jan Pearson at pears014@umn.edu.    If you are not on our mailing list, and would like to be added, please send a request to mch@umn.edu.

Letter from the Editors

In this issue of Healthy Generations, we focus on the mental health of young children, ages birth to five. We are aware that this domain of early childhood has too often been overlooked—only recently drawing considerable professional attention. Why this lack of attention? Perhaps too many have believed that young children, especially infants, cannot experience mental health problems. Infants who cry inconsolably or preschoolers who show excessive biting have often been viewed as “going through a stage” that they will outgrow. This dismissive attitude fits the societal stereotype about mental health problems in general; that is, the tendency to ignore such challenges because a parent or caregiver does not know what to do, or worse, fears being blamed for their young child’s behavior. Dramatic advances in our understanding of early brain development, the critical importance of social environments that stimulate and nurture, and the untoward consequences when relationships to provide this care are absent or unpredictable have taught us that the developmental trajectory towards positive mental health begins early. We now know what can and MUST be done to ensure that ALL infants and young children receive what they need from their caregiving environments to develop into happy, healthy children with positive mental well-being who grow into productive, contributing members of our society.

We want to thank the many professionals who contributed to this volume and shared their expertise about early childhood mental health. We are excited to see that public health thinking is being brought to bear in assuring the mental health of our young children. To present a balanced perspective—promoting positive mental health with attention to mental health problems—we invited articles that provide examples of interventions that promote mental health,  prevent problems in high-risk groups, as well as interventions that treat diagnosed mental health disturbances—in all cases, emphasizing evidence-based practice. Other articles in this volume highlight cutting edge issues related to early childhood mental health—screening and diagnostic assessment, collaborative efforts to develop early childhood and mental health systems of care, and workforce training initiatives in Minnesota.

We are pleased to showcase the wealth of information and strength of resources presented by our professional colleagues in Minnesota. We are also very proud to share with our readers several articles written by graduates in maternal and child public health at the University of Minnesota, who are leaders in this field. As we finalized this volume, we read, with sadness, that Norman Garmezy died on November 21, 2009.  Dr. Garmezy, a Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, was considered the “godfather of resilience theory.” Among the many findings of Dr. Garmezy and his colleagues was that good relationships with adults exert an effect that is as powerful – or even more powerful  – than the mitigating effects of adversity on child mental health. His work furthered our understanding of how children can flourish in adverse environments  and continues to stimulate researchers at the University of Minnesota and across the globe.

As always, we welcome your feedback about this issue as well as topics for subsequent issues.

Joän Patterson, PhD, LP,  Julia Johnsen, MPH, and Wendy Hellerstedt, MPH, PhD