Mental Health Issues
Meeting the Nation's mental health needs poses many challenges. Westat assists Federal and
other policymakers by providing up-to-date information on the mental health service delivery system.
- Westat provides consultant support for the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. Created
by an executive order, the commission was charged with conducting a comprehensive study of the Nation's mental
health service delivery system—both public and private sectors—and advising the President on
methods for improving the system. Westat has performed the following:
- Managed the development of the commission's interim and final reports to the President;
- Analyzed and reported on more than 1,200 public comments to the commission; and
- Edited, researched, and prepared for publication 16 issue papers on mental health
topics, such as evidence-based practices, cultural competence, children and families, and
older adults.
- The Federal Employees' Health Benefits (FEHB) Program is the largest employer-sponsored health insurance program in the
Nation, serving more than 8.6 million Federal employees, annuitants, and their dependents. For the Evaluation of
Parity in the FEHB, Westat is part of a team awarded a 3-year contract to evaluate the implementation of a
mental health parity requirement, that is, that mental health and substance abuse services are covered in the same
way as other health care problems. Westat is synthesizing the research findings and developing the
final report.
- Westat has been selected to conduct the 2005 Client/Patient Sample Survey to provide current national
estimates on adults and children receiving care in the mental health service system. Westat is undertaking a major
redesign of the survey, with the goal of converting the survey to real-time data collection from mental health
providers. Westat staff will perform the following:
- Develop and pretest the redesigned survey,
- Enlist the support and participation of state mental health agencies and
national professional organizations,
- Prepare the sampling plan, and
- Conduct the survey nationally in both hard-copy and electronic format.
- Under the sponsorship of NIMH, Westat surveyed police officers and spouses in two major metropolitan
area departments to study workplace stresses and their interaction with family
conditions.
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