UIC Scientists: Caregiving Robots on the Way
from The Chicago Tribune
Elderly patients who want to stay in their homes instead of having to consider or be put in a nursing home could get help from a robot in the not-too-distant future, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. A basic prototype of a robotic caregiver for the elderly might be a mere three years away, they say. More

See You at the 2009 Conference…Join Us and Fulfill Your Licensure Requirement
from NASW IL
Don't worry, the 2009 NASW IL Conference venue at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza, is located about five blocks southwest of the Oprah Winfrey extravaganza on Michigan Avenue today. For those of you who are not aware, Oprah Winfrey will be taping the anniversary of her show on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. As a result, Michigan Avenue will shut down until 5:00 am on Wednesday morning the 9th. Our opening plenary starts at 9:00 am, registration at 7:00 am. So we’ll be just fine! More

$30 Million Plan to Save Kids
from The Chicago Sun-Times
Using a newfangled probability model, Chicago Public School officials have identified the 1,200 Chicago public high school students most likely to be gunshot victims -- and will direct millions in resources to help them this school year, Schools CEO Ron Huberman revealed. More

Government Blind to Child-care Fraud
from The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via The Chicago Tribune
Sue Meyers sat at her desk in May and authorized more than $700 a week in state child-care subsidies so a convicted cocaine dealer could go to work in a day care center. Perhaps the Racine County caseworker in Wisconsin didn't know that the woman, Katria Wright, was also under criminal investigation for scamming the same taxpayer-financed child-care program out of thousands of dollars. More

Adult Sibling Rivalry: How to Mend Those Fences
from The Chicago Tribune
Psychologists say that sibling rivalry begins as competition for parents' attention. As kids, we each act out behaviors, however crazy or obnoxious, to get adult family members to notice us. It becomes a script that we continue to act out. Children born close in years often have the worst sibling rivalry. Jealousy can also result from one parent's favoring a certain child. Or, if one child makes better grades or has a better personality, this can cause sibling conflict. Self-esteem issues start to enter the picture. More

Schools Want Teenagers for Bulimia Study
from The Chicago Sun-Times
The University of Chicago and Stanford University seek participants for the largest treatment study to date on adolescent bulimia. The goal of the study is to determine which of three outpatient treatments is most effective for adolescents: family-based treatment, cognitive-behavioral treatment or supportive psychotherapy. More

Fussy Eating vs. Feeding Disorder
from United Press International
A U.S. doctor says there is a difference between a child's picky eating and a feeding disorder. Dr. Peter Girolami of the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore says children often become picky eaters as their tastebuds develop and food preferences expand. "The difference between a fussy eater and a child with a feeding disorder is the impact the eating behavior has on a child's physical and mental health," Girolami says in a statement. More

Borderline Personality Disorder Grows as Health Care Concern
from Los Angeles Times
They have the thinnest skin, the shortest fuses and take the hardest knocks. In psychiatrists' offices, they have long been viewed as among the most challenging patients to treat. They are the kind of people who drive a friend away for interfering and subsequently berate that friend for abandonment. More

Program Curbs Teen Substance Abuse, Delinquency
from HealthDay News via U.S. News & World Report
Substance abuse and delinquent behavior among teens was significantly reduced in communities that tried a university-designed prevention program, a new study found. The Communities That Care prevention system, employed in a dozen small and mid-size towns in seven states, slashed alcohol use by eighth graders by nearly a quarter, binge drinking by 37 percent and smokeless tobacco use almost in half, according to the findings to be published in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. More

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