# 2810
Yesterday the HHS held their 10th in a series of PlanFirst broadcasts on pandemic preparedness, this time focusing on the the seldom discussed mental health issues every society will face.
This was the second HHS broadcast where volunteers `twittered' the highlights on the Internet. Those interested in seeing what the twitter output looked like can go to Twitter Search and enter the hashtag #planfirst in the search box- or simply hit this LINK.
I'd like to thank Twitter volunteers StandingFirmCM of Prepared Citizens, KobieT - one of the hardest working newshounds at the Flu Wiki, and Flutrackers of, you guessed it FluTrackers for helping out with this twitter experiment.
Incorporating Social Media to get the word out about important information like this broadcast is still in its infancy. Agencies like the HHS are trying new things, looking to see what works.
You can follow their progress by following BirdFluGov and AndrewPWilson on Twitter.
Lisa Schnirring of CIDRAP News has put together an excellent overview of yesterday's hour long presentation. I'll just post the opening paragraphs. Follow the links to read the entire article.
HHS experts air mental health planning for pandemic
Lisa Schnirring
Staff Writer
Feb 18, 2009 (CIDRAP News) – From stigmatization of people exposed to the virus to maintaining methadone treatment facilities, public health officials need to plan for a wide spectrum of mental health challenges that would likely emerge during an influenza pandemic, federal officials said today at a US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) live Web seminar (webinar).
Dana Taylor, chief of emergency medical services at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), urged pandemic planners to think more broadly than just how the pandemic events will affect people's feelings and emotions. He said that public perceptions and conclusions will affect their decision-making and behavior, which will be especially important when public health officials need their compliance with social distancing measures and other pandemic-related actions.
Taylor said pandemic planners can work with their communities now to build resilience and can use a process that mental health professionals call "stress inoculation."
"The more an individual knows what to expect, the more mitigation of fear and panic," said Taylor, who suggested that pandemic planners can use prepandemic stages to identify credible and trustworthy leaders who can address the public during a pandemic.
Brian McKernan, a technical assistance team manager at SAMHSA, emphasized that mental health pandemic planning is already well underway in several states, including California, Colorado, Ohio, Texas, and New Jersey. Some have already planned ways to ensure adequate supplies of psychiatric medications for mental health in-patient and outpatient facilities, while others have developed resources to address more general needs such as stress reduction. He also said federal officials have addressed mental health planning in a supplement to the HHS pandemic flu plan.
(Continue . . .)
