I’m attaching a very interesting article from a recent issue of TIME magazine that focused on health care, with the emphasis of prevention.  This piece is about research that’s been done on preventing or minimizing the onset of serious mental illness among high risk youngsters by using a family intervention and support approach.

I highlighted a couple of paragraphs of special interest, last but not least, the one that states that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has earmarked significant funds to support a nationwide expansion of the program.

In any given year, approximately 17% of Americans under 25 have a mental, emotional or behavioral disorder. (Over our lifetime, 46% of us will receive such a diagnosis.) If we reduce the proportion of young people who become mentally ill by even one-quarter, that would mean about 3.8 million saved each year from what can turn into a lifelong struggle.

How long is the window between first symptoms and actual diagnosis? The National Academies report says that across several mental illnesses — including obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression and substance dependence — we have about two to three years to intervene and keep short-term symptoms from becoming long-term afflictions.

One Family at a Time. The Robert Wood Johnson foundation is so impressed with McFarlane’s program that it has devoted $15 million to its national expansion. It is the foundation’s single largest mental-health initiative.

Does anyone on the steering committee have contacts there? It would be interesting to find out a little more and to learn whether there are any grant/funding opportunities related to it.