Alcohol and the Elderly
from The Washington Post via The Chicago Tribune
Seniors may help ward off dementia by indulging in a beer or a glass of wine daily, new studies suggest. But there's an important caveat: The findings apply to healthy people, not those with mild cognitive impairments or other chronic medical conditions. The studies add to scientific literature documenting potential health benefits associated with moderate alcohol consumption. For seniors, benefits include a reduced risk of dementia, heart disease, diabetes, disability and stroke. More

A Broader Vision for the Social Work Profession - by NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark, PhD, ACSW, MPH
from NASW IL
At a variety of social work events over the past month, including our 2009 Statewide Conference, references were made to National NASW Director Dr. Betsy Clark's very timely and passionate article, "A Broader Vision for the Social Work Profession." More

Who Minds the Kids When Parents are Behind Bars?
from The Chicago Tribune
Darlene Horton's arrest for shoplifting 12 years ago was a nightmare for her children. The police were shouting, remembered Horton, who lives on the South Side. Her children, then 7 and 12, were crying hysterically. And as she was led handcuffed out of the Peoria Kmart, she yelled out instructions to them about who to call to come get them. Her children, she said, were left behind, and a stranger ended up giving them a handful of change to call a teenage sister. "The police did not protect these little children," said Horton, who has gone through a drug treatment program and is now a coordinator at the Chicago Legal Advocates for Incarcerated Mothers and a student at Harold Washington College. More

Treatment Guidelines Issued on Depression During Pregnancy
from the Chicago Tribune
For the nearly one in four women who experience symptoms of depression during pregnancy, physicians on the front lines have long had little more than a prescription for antidepressants and a massive dose of uncertainty to offer. The result: At last count, roughly 13 percent of pregnant women in the United States took antidepressant medications at some point in their pregnancy -- often with little to guide them in weighing the risks the drugs may pose to their fetus against the misery and dangers of untreated depression. More

Quinn to Release 1,000 Inmates from Prison in Cost-cutting Move
from the Chicago Tribune
Gov. Pat Quinn is planning to release 1,000 inmates from prisons across Illinois the next several months in an effort to save money. An Illinois Department of Corrections prisons spokeswoman said only "low-level, non-violent" offenders who are in the last year of their sentence will qualify for early release and will be fitted with electronic monitoring devices. More

Coming Home After War
from CNN
For some war vets, coming home means "feeling like a foreigner in your own home.” Those who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq face issues from veterans of U.S. wars – and similar ones, too. Four veterans under 35 share their biggest concerns and challenges of returning to civilian life. More

Taking Care of Parents Also Means Taking Care of Finances
from The New York Times
Denise Egebrecht needed a break. It had been three years since her 86-year-old mother, Eleanor Schwartz, moved in with her and her husband in their home in Johnsburg, Ill. Schwartz has Alzheimer's disease and has trouble moving around. Then money became an issue. "So often I see clients who are in the middle of this situation but know very little about their parents' finances," said Henni Fisher, a Brooklyn, N.Y., clinical social worker who specializes in geriatrics. "Your parents may be unwilling or unable to give details. Or you may be uncomfortable bringing up the subject." More

Coming Soon: Better Medicare Support for Mental Health
from The New York Times
One good thing: On Jan. 1, Medicare will gradually begin reimbursing for mental health treatment the same way it reimburses for care of cancer or kidney disease. The current policy, as old as Medicare itself, treats mental illness differently from physical illness, a discrepancy that discourages elderly patients from seeking help for psychiatric problems. More

Global Alzheimer's Cases Expected to Rise Sharply
from USA Today
The number of people with Alzheimer's disease isn't creeping up, it's briskly rising, according to a new report. The 2009 World Alzheimer's Report, estimates 35 million people worldwide are living with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. The figure is a 10 percent increase over 2005 numbers. More

• $40 billion to expand the Pell grant program that aids low income students
• $10 billion to help community colleges increase enrollment and enable students to obtain a higher education
• $8 billion to help states improve early learning programs for children from birth to age 5
• $2 billion for historically black colleges and universities and other minority serving institutions

Upcoming Events RSW SIG "Alternative Therapies" Workshop (9/24/09) Incorporating Social Work Ethics Into Fieldwork Supervision (10/02/09) Resolving Ethical Dilemmas (10/09/09) A Counter-Intuitive Approach to Resistance in Social Work: Building Therapeutic Attachment While Supporting Healthy Autonomy (10/15/09)