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Providing Essential Care & Services Following Psychiatric Hospitalization
In this article we will address the discharge planning process. Affecting a proper discharge plan is an important continuation of the care rendered during the inpatient psychiatric hospitalization. This observation is especially true as the length of inpatient stays has become briefer. What an...
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Mental Illness Presents Challenges to Individuals, Families and Communities
Mental illness presents great challenges for individuals, families and communities. From stress disorders and depression among an over-stressed military, to incidents of school violence, to the $193 billion in wages lost annually in the United States because of mental illness, mental health issues...
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From the Publisher – Some Essentials on Surviving a Mental Illness During and Following Hospitalization
I am very pleased that we are addressing the topic Providing Essential Care and Services Following Psychiatric Hospitalization in this issue of Mental Health News. I want to thank the many people and organizations who helped make this issue possible. According to the National Alliance on Mental...
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Family Support is Key When a Member is Hospitalized
Enduring a hospitalization as a result of a mental illness can be a traumatic experience not only for the patient, but for the family, as well. This is true whether it is a first hospital stay or one of many. In an effort to assist caregivers in their roles, Federation of Organizations, in...
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Care Coordination Takes an Innovative Approach to Case Management at the Mental Health Association of Westchester
A 62-year-old woman named “Mary” from White Plains, New York has been diagnosed with a serious mental illness. During her lifetime, Mary had experienced a 20-year incarceration and multiple psychiatric hospitalizations. She was referred to The Mental Health Association of Westchester’s (MHA)...
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It Takes A Village
My philosophy as a clinical social worker has always been that families with children suffering from mental health problems need the appropriate skills, tools, and services to effectively help their child. These families often encounter deficit-based delivery systems and somehow get stuck. I never...
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Telephonic Follow Up to a Psychiatric Emergency Room Visit: A Call Center Service Model
A 2008 report by the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors argues that “…lapses in continuity of care, especially after discharge from emergency department and inpatient psychiatry units, contribute to significant suicide-related morbidity and mortality”. The report...
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Assisted Outpatient Treatment: A Helping Hand in the Community
Living with a loved one afflicted with a mental illness who does not comply with his or her treatment plan can have a tremendous negative impact on the family as well as the individual. Assisted Outpatient Treatment, or “Kendra’s Law,” is a valuable tool for families and others who seek to...
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Building a Responsive, Accountable, Recovery-Focused System of Care
I wish to briefly describe what is on the horizon for the Adult Mental Health system in our state. The New York State public mental health system is among the most well-funded in the country, yet outcomes are of concern. In the middle are people who struggle with mental illness and want to lead...
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After the Hospital the Real Treatment Begins
It is often in the period following an inpatient psychiatric hospitalization that the “real treatment” begins. After stabilizing the most severe symptoms that compromise a patient’s functioning, the patient and his or her therapist must then collaborate on the next steps that will help to...
