Forward Strides But Miles To Go In Mental Health

With the development of new drug therapies and greater publicawareness of theravages of serious mental illness, impressivestrides have been made in addressing the challenges of thisform of disease. But important issues remain, as papers in thisvolume attest. This is the fourth thematic issue on mental healththat Health Affairs has published since 1992 with support fromthe John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. This generoussupport, along with grants from other philanthropies, has enabledProject HOPE’s journal to keep its price affordable, strengthenits Web presence, and remain free of paid advertising.

Our collaboration with MacArthur has also provided us with greaterentrée to researchers who have devoted their careersto mental health. Since 1980 the MacArthur Foundation has grantedmore than $100 million in support of mental health research,analysis, and advocacy. MacArthur is now refining its strategyto promote the most promising advances from research into policyand practice, with the goal of further improving access to mentalhealth services.

This refinement is well timed to take advantage of the momentumcreated by the President’s New Freedom Commission on MentalHealth, which has called for fundamental changes in how mentalhealth care is delivered. An interview with commission chairMichael F. Hogan is now available on our Web site, just severalweeks following release of the commission’s final report.In recognition of the power and immediacy of the Web, HealthAffairs plans later in fall 2003 to expand its online functionalitywith advanced search capacity, the ability to track citations,an enhanced e-mail alert feature, and more.

John K. Iglehart

Founding Editor

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Forward Strides But Miles To Go In Mental Health