Footnotes - Public Affairs Update

Public Affairs Update

NSF’s Behavioral and Cognitive Science Division has a new head . . . . Mark Weiss, who previously served as Senior Science Advisor in the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE), has been named head of SBE’s Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS). Prior to his new position, Weiss had various positions within the NSF and was the Assistant Director for the Social, Behavioral, and Education Sciences at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in 2005. He returned to NSF in 2006. He replaces Sandra Schneider, who is returning to the University of South Florida. Weiss recently chaired a Federal Interagency Task Force that developed a policy for the admission of scientific samples such as blood, DNA, and archaeological specimens into the United States. He is an AAAS Fellow and has won the NSF award for Management Excellence. The BCS Division includes programs in archaeology and archaeometry, cognitive neuroscience, cultural anthropology, developmental and learning sciences, geography and regional sciences, perception, action, and cognition, linguistics, and social psychology.

The world’s mental health care needs are largely going unmet . . . . A global survey reveals a significant gap in meeting the world’s mental health care needs. The Global Burden of Disease and Risk Factors (2006) found that mental disorders rank among the top ten illnesses causing disability—more than 37 percent worldwide—with depression being the leading cause of disability among people ages 15 and older. Yet, the world’s mental health care needs are largely going unmet, especially in less developed nations and in high-income countries, according to results from a new survey conducted as part of the World Health Organization’s World Mental Health Survey Initiative. The results, partially funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), were published in The Lancet in September 2007. Researchers analyzed data from interviews on mental health service use with 84,848 adults across all economic spectrums in 17 countries. The survey found that mental health service use varied significantly. Overall, fewer people in less developed countries with mental disorders sought services compared with people in developed countries. The U.S. population used services more than any other country, at 18 percent. The lowest rate of services use was 1.6 percent in Nigeria. In all countries surveyed, women were more likely than men to seek mental health services. For more information, visit www.nih.gov/news/pr/sep2007/nimh-06.htm.

From the demographic files: Latinos comprise larger share of U.S. military personnel . . . . The 35 million Hispanics in the United States comprise the country’s largest ethnic minority, but they have been underrepresented in the all-volunteer armed forces, especially among officers. The situation is beginning to change, with dramatic increases in Hispanics among active-duty enlisted personnel, particularly in the Marine Corps. Moreover, despite the traditionally masculine culture of the military, the Hispanic share of military women has been increasing faster than the Hispanic share of military men. This research was performed by sociologists Mady Wechsler Segal and David R. Segal, associate director and director, respectively, of the Center for Research on Military Organization at the University of Maryland-College Park. An October 2007 Population Reference Bureau article about their research on racial and ethnic change and other socioeconomic characteristics of the U.S. armed forces can be viewed at www.prb.org/Articles/2007/HispanicsUSMilitary.aspx.

Survey gives a view of older Americans’ health, work, and economic status . . . . A comprehensive new publication, Growing Older in America: The Health & Retirement Study, is now available from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This compendium is a window on older Americans’ health, work, and economic status, as well as retirement and family lives. It is based on analyses of data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a national survey of Americans over age 50 (see Sept./Oct. 2006 Footnotes, “Public Affairs Update,” p. 3). The online publication is intended to familiarize policymakers, researchers, health and retirement experts, the news media and others with the HRS. A major goal of the study, which is a unique, longitudinal survey, is to help address the scientific and policy challenges posed by the nation’s rapidly aging population. The publication describes the survey’s development and offers a snapshot of diverse research findings. PDF and plaintext editions of Growing Older in America: The Health & Retirement Study can be accessed at www.nia.nih.gov/ResearchInformation/HRS.htm.