| Celebrating 15 years in 2011! | |
7826 Cooper Road Cincinnati, Ohio 45242 (513) 984-1000 (phone) (513) 985-2182 (fax) |
| Updates from the Affinity Center
The Affinity Center Hosts “Positive Parenting” Seminar
The Affinity Center is pleased to announce a seminar to be held in March helping parents and caretakers of pre-adolescent and adolescent children understand how to create and implement positive discipline techniques, geared toward your child’s unique strengths and skills.
“Positive Parenting” will take place on Saturday, March 10th, from 9:30-11:30 a.m., and will be repeated on Saturday March 24, 2012, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. (Come to just one of the days). This seminar will explain:
• Developmental expectations for oppositional or problematic behavior.
• Why pre-teens and teenagers act out.
• How to create and implement rules and discipline.
• How to find and use your child’s unique strengths and skills.
• The benefits (and hurdles) associated with co-parenting.
• When to pick your battles.
• Parent self-care.
• Resources available.
The seminar will be conducted by Dr. Colleen Furey, Psy.D, and will take place at The Affinity Center offices, 7826 Cooper Road in Montgomery. The cost for the seminar is $30.00 and the class is open to the public. Reservations are required, and can be made by calling The Affinity Center at 513-984-1000.Be sure to specify which date you will attend.
Have You Been Affected by the Shortage of Stimulant Medication?
Many of you know all too well the frustration and confusion people are experiencing getting prescriptions filled for stimulant medication. Now there is something that you can do that may help.
It started a year ago with shortages of generic short-acting Adderall. This likely prompted an increased demand for substitutes, sparking shortages that included other short-acting generics (Ritalin and Dexedrine) as well as brand medications. Even long acting stimulants eventually became scarce, particularly the generic versions. The cause, you will discover, appears to be a combination of shortsighted rigidity in the DEA's decision to limit supply, and the drug companies' effort to make their expensive and more profitable brand name drugs more available than generics.
Locally, there appears to be some improvement in stimulant availability in the last month or so, but the issue persists and has clearly caused plenty of hardship. Changing from a familiar stimulant to another one just because it was temporarily available reminded people of why they settled on their preferred medication in the first place. Side effects reappeared, the new medicine often felt like it did not work as well, and finding the right dose was difficult enough when just as likely the next month a whole new search and trying yet another medication was required all over again. Even worse, moving from less expensive generics to sometimes very expensive brand name medications when they were available was so costly for some they decided to go without any medication at all for a while.
We try our best to help people respond to the shortages as quickly and effectively as possible, but the consequences have been very disruptive and have lasted for months now.
In an effort to keep you informed about the nationwide shortage of ADD medications we suggest two articles written in January 2012; one from the CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder) website and the other, a front page story in the New York Times (dated 1/1/12 at www.nytimes.com/). It will likely come as a shock that the DEA did not think there was a supply problem!
CHADD is spearheading a national effort to collect data to get to the bottom of this story in support of a lobbying campaign to change the situation. They need your help. If you have been frustrated getting your prescriptions filled over the past year, this is a great way to make your voice heard. The survey only requires a few minutes of your time. Here’s how to help:
(1) Go to the CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorders) website www.chadd.org/ .
(2) At the CHADD home page click on the picture near the bottom saying “ADHD Medication Shortages”.
(3) Look to the right and click on: “ADHD Medication Shortages: Your Information Needed Today”.
(4) In the second paragraph click on: “Quick, anonymous survey” and send your response.
Archived 2/14/12 Get a Grip Series Loving Food without Losing Control The statistics are troubling. Two thirds of all Americans are overweight and diets aren’t helping. There is a growing movement toward an alternative approach to weight management that is about paying close, nonjudgmental attention to food and your body. The Affinity Center’s coach-in-residence, Melissa McKelvie, will be presenting 5 ways to adopt this new and different approach into your life. Topics to be covered include: 1. Am I really hungry? 2. Is it eating or avoiding? 3. Totally mindless eating. 4. I can’t belie ve I ate the whole thing. 5. What’s exercise got to do with it? The presentation will take place on November 9, 2011 from 5:30 - 7:00pm. The cost is only $40 to learn how to start eating mindfully and joyfully. Call The Affinity Center to register, 984-1000. In the weeks following, there will be group meetings to discuss implementation and struggles - November 16 and 30 from 5:30 to 6:30. Each follow up session is $20. Archived 10/31/11 The Affinity Center Hosts “Get a Grip!” on Communication Seminar
To Begin During ADHD Awareness Week The Affinity Center is pleased to announce a seminar that will be held in October helping adults to communicate effectively and compassionately. The seminar will kick-off during ADHD Awareness Week, which is October 16-22nd. “Get a Grip on Effective Communication” will take place on Wednesdays, October 12th, 19th and 26th, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. This three-week class will cover how to: Each week, new information will be presented, followed by practice and questions. The seminars will be conducted by Melissa McKelvie, Ph.D., coach, and Amanda Conrad, speech and language pathologist. This is open to the general public – you do not need to have ADHD or be an Affinity Center client to attend. Classes will take place at The Affinity Center offices, 7826 Cooper Road in Montgomery. Cost for the full seminar is $120. Reservations are required and can be made by calling The Affinity Center at 513-984-1000. Archived 10/1/11 Does treatment for AD/HD in childhood improve your chances of being employed? We have long known about the negative impact of AD/HD in childhood on academic functioning, psychological health, and social adjustment. We are now learning more than ever about the possibility of destructive impact of AD/HD later in life and of discovering the benefits on the adult lives to early treatment of children with AD/HD. Two recent studies from Norway have shed new light on the difficulties children with AD/HD face as they become adults. Dr. David Rabiner https://add.site-ym.com/page summarizes one of them (1) in the recent edition of ADDA online (www.adda.com). Over 400 adult men and women seeking treatment for AD/HD* were asked about their childhood and current functioning. As other studies have shown, adults with AD/HD, compared to a random sample of non-AD/HD controls, were less likely to have attained a college degree (23% vs. 59% of non-AD/HD controls in this study) and more likely to have less than a high school education (29% vs. 6% of controls), had higher lifetime rates of anxiety or depression (70% vs. 17% of controls), and more problems with alcohol (30% vs. 3 % of controls). The main and relatively novel focus of the study, though, was the striking finding that only 24% of the AD/HD patients were employed, compared to nearly 80% of the control group. When the researchers looked at the impact of whether they had obtained treatment, including medication, as a child, the picture was much more encouraging. While less than 20% of the adult AD/HD patients had been treated with medication as a child, those now-adult patients (the ones who had been treated with medication) were three times more likely to have a job than the adults with AD/HD not given medication as a child. Current and past medical treatment of AD/HD was positively correlated with having a job as an adult, and while a history of substance abuse, having the combined type of AD/HD (i.e., with hyperactivity) and a history of anxiety or depression made unemployment more likely, the good news is that reported treatment with stimulant medication as a child was the best single predictor of being employed as an adult. While taking medication as a child was also associated with less anxiety and depression as an adult, the authors concluded that “early recognition and treatment of AD/HD is a strong predictor of being in work as an adult, independent of comorbidity, substance abuse, and current treatment.” A more recent study from Norway not yet in print (2) used a smaller sample of (149) adults and found a similar relationship between having AD/HD and unemployment. They also found in their medical records and responses to questionnaires that the younger they had experienced their first treatment with stimulant medication and the lower the severity of inattention the more likely that as adults they were employed. Sure, Norway may be different from the United States, and we really cannot say that something as complex as future employment is a direct result of the impact of taking medication as a child. It may also be that the opportunity and motivation of families to seek treatment for their children might also be related to future employment prospects, but these studies do at least suggest the strong possibility that early treatment might make an important difference in the long run. Doug Pentz, PhD (1)Halmoy, Fasmer, Gillberg and Haavik (2009). “Occupational Outcome in Adult ADHD: Impact of Symptom Profile, Comorbid Psychiatric Problems, and Treatment; A Cross Sectional study of 414 Clinically Diagnosed Adult AD/HD Patients”. Journal of Attention Disorders, 13, 175-187]. (2) Gjervan, Torgersen, Nordahl and Kirsten Rasmussen, abstract available at: http://jad.sagepub.com/content/early/recent “Functional Impairment and Occupational Outcome in Adults with ADHD” Journal of Attention Disorders set for publication 2011 *Getting treatment apparently is very difficult for adults in Norway. This study used patients who were requesting treatment from their physicians. In Norway, they have to go through a long wait with an elaborate assessment procedure and then have their request for stimulant medication be approved by an “expert committee” which evaluates the merits of each request. And we thought it was difficult in the United States! Archived 7/27/11 For the past several months, many people have been finding it difficult to get prescriptions for stimulant medication filled at local pharmacies. Many have had to go to several pharmacies and, in some cases, have had to switch the type of medication they were taking; from generic to brand, and vice versa in most cases, or taking less than a month’s supply in others. Some have even had to switch from a long-acting to a short-acting type, and a few have even had to resort to a different type of medication or to taking less than their prescribed dose. While this has been frustrating and more than a little inconvenient for many, the shortage does seem to be easing. Sporadic difficulties are still being reported, but over the past few weeks more of our clients seem to be finding what they need. That’s the good news, but the question remains: What the heck was going on? It is clear this is not a local problem. There were reports of nationwide shortages of a number of medications including some stimulants (particularly Ritalin and Adderall and their generic versions) that began after the first of the year. The Federal Drug Administration issued a warning regarding the shortage of stimulant drugs in late April 2011. The causes are not clear, but while some distributors have pointed to delays in the manufacturing process, increasing demands for these medications and a short supply of ingredients needed to make these drugs, we have heard nothing that makes much sense to us. One theory has it that with increasing mergers among drug companies and their financial stresses, the manufacturing priorities of many companies shifted to prioritize the highest profit making drugs, leaving shortages for many others. Would it really surprise anyone if it was all about maximizing drug company profits after all? The situation does seem to be improving but please let us know if you are continuing to have problems getting your prescriptions filled or if you have your own theory about what the cause of this frustrating situation has been. Doug Pentz, PhD Archived 6/28/11 “Getting a Grip on Time Management” will take place on Wednesday, June 8th from 6-7:30 p.m. This is for people who wonder at the end of the day where the time has gone, or who may find that the more time they have the less they get done. If you feel like all of your time goes to “have-to’s” instead of “want-to’s,” then this class is for you. Topics covered in this seminar include: The second seminar is “Getting a Grip on Decision Making” and is for adults who feel overwhelmed and struggle with making decisions for family, perhaps stemming from their pursuit of perfection. If you feel overwhelmed with details and make impulsive decisions at the last minute, or if you procrastinate until an opportunity has passed you by, or even turn over your decision-making to someone else – then this seminar is for you. This seminar will take place on Wednesday, June 15th from 6-7:30 p.m. Topics include: The seminars will be led by Melissa McKelvie, Ph.D, who is a coach at the Affinity Center. Classes will take place at The Affinity Center offices, 7826 Cooper Road in Montgomery. Cost for each seminar is $25 and snacks will be served. Reservations are required. Sign up for one or both seminars by calling The Affinity Center at 513-984-1000. Archived: 5/23/11 In Memoriam 2011 We are sad to announce the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Susan L. Montauk. Dr. Montauk was part of The Affinity Center staff from the opening of our doors in 1996 and played an incredibly important part in who we are today, both professionally and personally. Her sense of humor, vast knowledge, and openness to helping any human being in need were only a few of the qualities of her character that made us wiser and happier. Her presence in the office and in our daily practice and life will be greatly missed. The Cincinnati Enquirer published a story about Dr. Montauk shortly after her death in April. http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20110421/NEWS0104/104220303/ <!--[if !vml]--> |
