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New Oklahoma Pediatric Psychotropic Medication Resource Guide released for health care professionals
Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK
New Oklahoma Pediatric Psychotropic Medication Resource Guide released for health care professionals12/3/2020 ![]()
Darla Shelden, The City Sentinel
OKLAHOMA CITY— Oklahoma State University Center for Health Services has partnered with Oklahoma Health Care Authority, Oklahoma Department of Human Services and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center to develop a new Pediatric Psychotropic Medication Resource guide.
The use of medications like antidepressants, anti-anxiety agents, mood stabilizers and antipsychotics — also known as psychotropic medications — to treat children and teens with emotional and behavioral issues has increased dramatically in recent years, according to the press release.
“Oftentimes youth with the most significant emotional and behavioral needs are prescribed the most medications, and yet are less likely to have seen a child and adolescent psychiatrist,” said Dr. Sara Coffey, assistant clinical professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at OSU Center for Health Sciences. (https://medicine.okstate.edu/)
According to a 2015 study in the New England Journal of Medicine, there has been a 600 percent increase in use of atypical antipsychotic medications in the last 25 years compared to just a 70 percent increase in psychotherapy during that same time. (See also, OU Health Sciences Center https://www.ouhsc.edu/)
And in another study of Medicaid claims, up to 67 percent of youth prescribed atypical antipsychotic medications also reported quality of care concerns.
“With this overprescribing and at times imprudent use of medications, we put youth at risk for serious side effects and miss the opportunity to employ more evidence-based care,” Coffey said.
The majority of youth who do receive treatment get it from their primary care physician.
The American Academy of Pediatrics estimates that in the next 10 years, 40 percent of patient visits to pediatricians will involve long-term chronic disease management of physical and psychological or behavioral conditions.
“With the severe shortage in child and adolescent psychiatrists and limited access to evidence-based therapy, clinicians are doing what they can with the information they know to treat the symptoms of often devastating and destructive mental health symptoms in our youth,” Coffey said.
“It’s imperative that up-to-date, evidence-based resources and collaboration is available to our clinicians on the front line of what at times can feel like a mental illness epidemic.”
In order to meet this growing need, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (http://www.okhca.org/) and the Department of Human Services’ Division of Child Welfare assembled a task force to develop the Oklahoma Pediatric Psychotropic Medication Resource Guide, a collection of resources for Oklahoma physicians and health care professionals caring for youth with mental illness. (https://ift.tt/1TLCDmG)
The Telligen Community Initiative also provided additional funding to aid in the creation and distribution of the guide. (http://telligenci.org/)
Dr. Deborah Shropshire, director of Child Welfare Services in the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, says that children who have experienced high rates of trauma are much more likely than other children to be treated at some point with psychotropic medications.
“Unfortunately, Oklahoma has a high rate of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), the kinds of trauma that can result in behavioral health symptoms that often prompt families to seek health care solutions,” Shropshire said.
“While reducing trauma is and should be a priority, it’s also critical that there is clear, evidence-informed guidance for providers on how to safely and effectively treat children with behavioral health needs,” she added. “And that is what prompted the creation of the guide.”
Clinicians from the University of Oklahoma Center for Health Sciences and the OSU Center for Health Sciences, including Coffey, lead the core team that invited child and adolescent psychiatrists, pediatricians and pharmacists to join the task force in drafting the guide.
The task force reviewed and compiled up-to-date information on best prescribing practices.
“I want to thank our amazing task force members who came together voluntarily to work on this important project, and Telligen Community Initiative that helped support this endeavor,” Coffey said.
The comprehensive document is for any clinician managing psychiatric medications in children and adolescents such as pediatricians, family physicians, psychiatrists, physician assistants and nurse practitioners.
Future revisions to the guide will be made to ensure treatment recommendations are evidence based and current.
“Although this resource is meant to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of children and adolescents, it is important to note that ultimately the care of patients is a partnership with the patient, their family and the treating clinician,” Coffey said.
“Our goal was to provide evidence-based information to support youth with psychiatric illness and the judicious use of medication to support psychiatric care.”
To view the digital Oklahoma Pediatric Psychotropic Medication Guide, visit okla.st/okpedpsychotropicmed. To order a copy, call 1-877-283-4113 and reference publication number 20-27.
New Oklahoma Pediatric Psychotropic Medication Resource Guide released for health care professionals Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK
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The City Sentinel
Edmond, Oklahoma – Herbert W. Armstrong College announces a winter musical production, “PAUL — Ambassador in Bonds.” Three performances are planned at Armstrong Auditorium. Two at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 19 and Monday, December 21. A matinee performance is scheduled for Sunday, December 20, at 2 p.m.
Composed by Armstrong College Music Director Ryan Malone, the musical portrays the final imprisonment of the Apostle Paul in a perilous first-century Rome. It is his latest in a series of six biblically-themed productions featuring the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah, King David, Ruth and an oratorio based on the life of Abraham.
“This musical depicts the timeless themes of overcoming obstacles, as well as adapting and advancing through adversity,” Malone said.
As is customary for the Armstrong Fine Arts Department, in the words of a release from the College, “the musical features brilliant costumes, innovative sets and a combination of a singing cast with step-dancing choreography from the campus’s acclaimed Irish dance school. The cast of 85 will be comprised of staff and students from Herbert W. Armstrong College, Imperial Academy and Armstrong Dance.”
Tickets to ‘Paul’ are now on sale and cost $20-25 for adults and $5 for children 17 and under (children under three are not permitted in the auditorium theater). Socially-distanced seating pods are available upon request by contacting the box office. For more information regarding ticket options, subscriptions or group rates please visit https://ift.tt/17Q7D4s or call 405-285-1010.
Armstrong Auditorium is located here: 14400 S Bryant Rd, Edmond, OK 73034. Contact the box office at: 405-285-1010
Armstrong College (in Edmond) presents original musical on the live of Apostle Paul Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK ![]()
There should be no statute of limitations on doing the right thing. This is most true for individuals, yet even nations should seek to rectify past error, without creating new wrongs.
On my mind, again: Land claims of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma.
In 1869, President U.S. Grant established the original boundaries of Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal lands (in what is now Oklahoma) through an executive order.
In 1883, almost 10,000 acres for a fort was chiseled out with an explicit understanding the area would revert to the Two Tribes when no longer needed for the military (Executive Order July 17, 1883, I.C. Kappler, Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties 842, 1904).
The executive order of President Chester A. Arthur reserved 9,500 acres for “military purposes exclusively” – with an explicit proviso that if and when the U.S. military no longer needed the land, it would return to the tribes.
Fort Reno was intended to protect both settlers and tribes. In some ways it functioned as such. When the tribes ultimately surrendered the bulk of their lands, Fort Reno was not included in the deed.
At the time of individual allotments in 1890, the reservation per se began to fade away. However, Fort Reno was not included in that cession.
I have previously detailed historic events establishing a formal presence – recognized by the U.S. government – for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. The key words in the foregoing paragraphs are “executive orders.”
Some presidents have abused this authority. However, their use extends back to the early days of U.S. history. Such Orders been employed to address questions in and around what is deemed “Indian Country.”
Fort Reno continued as a military installation until 1948, when the Army transferred the land to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The plot thickened. In 1949 and 1951, the U.S. House passed legislation to return the 7,000 remaining “fort” acres to the Two Tribes, but that died in the Senate. The “AG” department and allies kept the area away from the tribes.
In the 1970s, President Richard Nixon triggered new sensitivity to sovereign tribal powers. After Nixon, renewed sensitivity to tribal rights unfolded over many decades.
After hope for the Tribes early in Bill Clinton’s era, there was a bad end game. There were hearings that included House and Senate probes into alleged ‘quid pro quo’ promises (campaign gifts in return for restoration of the land) exchanged between administration officials and tribal leaders. The Clinton-era controversies are well-documented.
Time passed even as the Congressional Research Service in 1994 (and the Agriculture Department did not disagree) deemed the Reno facilities ‘redundant, outdated and duplicative.”
In some of my past essays, I detailed the efforts of Archie Hoffman and Charles Surveyor – two of my Oklahoma heroes among those who have gone on to the world to come. Their dreams were based on exchanges with key players for President Bill Clinton, but hope faltered.
Year after year, memory of the promise fades. Early in the new millennium, Senate-originated “riders” in the 2000-01 appropriations process barred any finding that would have allowed the land to return to the Tribes as a result of closure (and the “excess property” designation). The tribes successfully fought a bill in 2006 that would have directed federal mineral lease revenue toward historic preservation of existing facilities.
The tribes uncovered in litigation a U.S. government practice of classifying as national secrets various documents in order to obscure the land's status. Even as a federal court found the Two Tribes has missed a statute of limitations claim (under the federal Quiet Title Act) the judges admitted land title was clouded.
In 2009, President Barack Obama seemed the perfect executive to bring a measure of justice to the Two Tribes. But like those who came before him, he sent inconsistent messages, even as he often acted in ways that supported smaller tribal nations.
When he visited Fort Reno, some hoped Obama would revisit the issue during a swing through Oklahoma, laying the basis for the land to revert to its proper owners. That trip came and went without any official action – not even a meeting with tribal activists.
Obama bought into the Interior Department/BIA mindset following the model from generations of bureaucratic predecessors in both major political parties.
In a notable news report for Politico.com (October 2015), journalist David Rogers wrote, “From Oklahoma to California, rich tribes play the political system to protect their share of the gaming markets. Lost is any perspective on the hundreds of poorer tribes just trying to establish some economic foothold and homeland for themselves.”
Obama stuck with historic injustices that allowed large tribal interests to utilize areas that should have come to rest in the control of the smaller tribes like the C&As, UKBs (United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians), the Comanche, the Kiowa, the Kickapoo, the Kaw, the Otoe-Missouria, the Apache and others.
The U.S. should honor promises made to the Two Tribes by U.S. Grant and Chester Arthur. That could also in memory honor military veterans (Hoffman and Surveyor) and the legion of other Oklahoma tribal members who served America in good times and in bad.
Which brings me to Donald Trump.
In March of 2017, I detailed ways in which Trump could advance the interests of smaller Native American tribes marginalized by the power and economic clout of larger tribes, advantages exacerbated over generations through bad bureaucratic decisions about the location of trust lands, use of those lands and related decisions.
Concerning Fort Reno, nothing of a final nature has occurred in recent years. Trump still has time to do the right thing.
Two key words: Executive. Order.
Justice for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma.
Trump can deliver it.
Right now.
For background, see past stories online at capitolbeatok.com , including here:
(https://ift.tt/37s7gNV)
No Statute of Limitations for the Cheyenne and Arapaho. Chester Arthur and U.S. Grant made a promise. America should keep it Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK ![]()
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Reps. Cyndi Munson, Mickey Dollens, and Collin Walke called for improved cooperation with Oklahoma Gas & Electric, a strategy moving forward, and a commitment to a new long-term investment in Oklahoma’s powerline infrastructure following the devastating ice storms that hit the state in late October.
The three Democratic representatives, in a November 9 release sent to The City Sentinel, CapitolBeatOK and other news organizations, spoke to the concerns and experiences of numerous frustrated constituents.
At the time of their release, many in the city area still did not have power to their homes.
“As elected officials, it’s our job to ask tough questions and moral obligation to help constituents,” Dollens said in the release. “The past two weeks have been emotionally, financially, and academically devastating.”
While most Oklahoma City residents had power restored by the time of the release, the representatives had heard, the release said, from numerous constituents who still didn’t have power -- including Rep. Munson.
As Munson said at the time (November 9), “As an OG&E customer who has been without electricity for 14 days, I have been living through what my constituents have. The outage has created a crisis — adding to the current pandemic we are living through — emotionally, psychologically, and financially.
“I have been displaced from my home and know the pain of throwing out a fridge full of food – and after two weeks, many of my constituents and I still do not know when this will end. I have appreciated the information I have been able to obtain from OG&E about the process for repairs, but all OG&E customers deserve clear, accurate, detailed, transparent, and timely communication during these disasters.”
The representatives called for additional and consistent communication from OG&E, including specific details about outages.
"We appreciate the hard work of OG&E and their staff and contractors, and we appreciate that OG&E is contending with a wide array of problems in each neighborhood, including having to navigate many issues at each home individually,” Walke said.
“At some point, however, a line of communication must be opened up and answers and solutions must be provided. Two weeks without power is not simply a matter of convenience in our city, it is a literal necessity.
“We are taking that first step and offering to assist OG&E in addressing these problems immediately. Our constituents, OG&E's consumers, are in need, and we want to know how we can help now and into the future. It is not too soon to begin a dialogue about how to prevent mass outages in the future – this crisis was not unexpected nor was it a one-time incident.”
Beyond better communication, the lawmakers want OG&E to work with state and local government entities as well as local nonprofits to provide additional support to constituents and to create a plan that provides both short-term solutions like relief funding for food and housing, as well as long-term solutions like buried power lines.
“The issue in front of us now is how does OG&E plan to prepare and prevent these delays and outages in the future,” Dollens said. “The Legislature and Corporation Commission must study OG&E’s infrastructure and disaster mitigation over the past decade and compare that to other utility companies who service a similar population – and we must work together to prevent rate hikes to address the shortcomings.
“There is no reason we cannot take the lessons from this disaster and build an infrastructure that exceeds expectations,” Walke said. “We stand willing to do the work."
Patrick B. McGuigan, founder of CapitolBeatOK.com, and publisher of The City Sentinel, an independent and locally-owned newspaper in Oklahoma City, saluted the trio of legislators for their timely release, saying: “Across the city, residents faced near-disaster during and at the end of the outages. In several instances, power was switched back on before downed high-voltage power lines had been cleared. Firefighters had to rush to save structures and prevent property loss and possible loss of life. They did so magnificently. Customers were frustrated because they had no practical way to report downed-lines, understanding in advance the risk they posed to homeowners and to homes or other property structures.
“As lifelong believer in reform of government’s regulatory strictures, I also believe that monopolies can and should serve customers better than was the case during the electrical and telecommunications power outages after the recent catastrophic winter storm. I commend Reps. Dollens, Munson and Walke for their pointed comments.
“As publisher, I pledge the support of The City Sentinel in advancing an accounting of system failures in the work of monopolies and quasi-monopolies. Their protected status should guide future investments in more reliable service and better communication to serve the hard-working taxpayers and residents of Oklahoma City.
McGuigan reflected, “Recent news stories and press releases were helpful in promoting an understanding of the challenges OG&E, its contractors and the teams from out-of-state faced as they did their work.”
He concluded, “If not for the lengthy and sadly frequent loss of both electricity and telecommunications access, I would have shared these reflections earlier. Nonetheless, I regret the delay in sharing these comments with readers and with the legislators. It’s never too late to begin to do better.”
Three Democratic state House members – Dollens, Munson, Walke – called for relief, infrastructure investment from OG&E Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK ![]() A Tribute Song: A Modern Warrior, Charles Surveyor sought Peace, Justice and Prosperity Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK |
Pat McGuiganThe dean of all Oklahoma Journalism, Mr Patrick McGuigan; has a rich history of service in many aspects of both covering the news and producing the information that the public needs to know. Archives
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