Feed Editor 18 Nov 2009 10:43:12 CST The NASW-IL Weekly Update provides industry-specific news and information to leaders in the social work profession. Delivered weekly, the publication keeps professionals abreast of topics that impact the industry. http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/nasw-il/update.xml en In early September, city schools chief Ron Huberman announced an ambitious plan to combat youth street violence, in part by offering intensive mentoring and jobs for the high school kids most likely to fall victim. Two months later, some details have changed, while others remain cloaked in secrecy. But key elements of the plan are under way. 18 Nov 2009 10:43:12 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b0311da4cd7e 1 Alton Broten's long career in social work was instrumental in creating family atmospheres for troubled children and teenagers in the custody of social service agencies. "Al was visionary in many ways because he wanted to develop a caring community," said Broten's wife, Jane, of his work with troubled children. Alton Broten had died of prostate cancer. He was 88. 18 Nov 2009 10:43:12 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b03149169f6a 2 Malaria. Tuberculosis. Alzheimer's disease. AIDS. Pandemic flu. Genital herpes. Urinary tract infections. Grass allergies. Traveler's diarrhea. You name it, the pharmaceutical industry is working on a vaccine to prevent it. Many could be on the market in five years or less. Contrast that with five years ago, when so many companies had abandoned the vaccine business that half the U.S. supply of flu shots was lost because of contamination at one of the two manufacturers left. 18 Nov 2009 10:43:12 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b03123885079 3 With the help of some old familiar tunes, advanced-dementia patients at Beth Abraham Family of Health Services in New York are reconnecting with their memories and with each other in ways that may seem surprising for those with degenerative brain diseases. 18 Nov 2009 10:43:12 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4af9d1de0edd1 4 For more than 25 years, actress Glenn Close has wowed audiences with memorable performances. But her latest role in a public service announcement addressing the stigma of mental illness hits particularly close to home. Close is speaking out for the first time on about the legacy of mental illness in her own family. Her sister, Jessie Close, has bipolar disorder, and Jessie's son Calen Pick, 28, has schizo-affective disorder. 18 Nov 2009 10:43:12 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b0315a371de5 5 A report released by the Pew Center on the states shows that some of the same pressures that have pushed California toward economic disaster are wreaking havoc in a number of other states, with potentially damaging consequences for the entire country. Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin join California as the 10 most troubled states, according to Pew's analysis, "Beyond California: States in Fiscal Peril." 18 Nov 2009 10:43:12 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b03154405577 6 An Indianapolis woman with more than 25 years experience in child welfare, social work and family counseling will be the first ombudsman of Indiana's Department of Child Services. 18 Nov 2009 10:43:12 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b0315deaef36 7 A study by researchers at the University of Bergen, Norway, and the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London has found that depression is as much of a risk factor for mortality as smoking. Utilizing a unique link between a survey of over 60,000 people and a comprehensive mortality database, the researchers found that over the four years following the survey, the mortality risk was increased to a similar extent in people who were depressed as in people who were smokers. 18 Nov 2009 10:43:12 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b03162a5e94d 8 When Dr. Marc Chamberlain, a Seattle oncologist, was treating his brain cancer patients, he noticed an alarming pattern. His male patients were typically receiving much-needed support from their wives. But a number of his female patients were going it alone, ending up separated or divorced after receiving a brain tumor diagnosis. 18 Nov 2009 10:43:12 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b03167180b82 9