Mental Health Poor in Rural Areas, Essay Example

The most immense health problem in the community I reside is the lack of mental health care. This is due to the poor funding available through the state and federal agencies and the lack of doctors that come to the area to provide such care. In order to receive mental health care a patient has to drive thirty minutes to the nearest clinic for outpatient screening and if they are deemed to need in patient care it is another thirty minute drive to the nearest hospital. The state and federal government simply does not take care of funding in the rural areas with respect to mental health care.

The value of the family perspective in family healthcare is very strong for it facilitates the drive and motivation needed to secure proper care for mental health patients and services in rural areas. I can recall two psychologists that set up practice in the area some years ago but there was not much support from the community so within one year their business was closed. People chose to use other doctors out of the area or there was no funding from the outside agencies to support their low caseload hence the doctors could not afford to stay afloat in the rural area. We also had a mental health facility in the old hospital, but when the new hospital was built just this year there was no financial allocation but in the budget for mental health. The mental health facility was moved to the next town over which is a thirty minute drive west. What the government is stating is after all these years the town just does not support the allocation of a mental health facility in this small town. There was only one dedicated and kind MD psychiatrist who would regularly see patients at the hospital. He would drive one hour to do so. Small towns are severely overlooked with respect for mental health care. Many people do not get the mental health care they need as a result because some people as the older folks do not want to drive one hour for the care they desperately need.

“Population based care is simply integrated system of disease management as opposed to individual disease management. It is designed to optimize the delivery of health care in a clinical and economic setting within a specific population.” The advantage of population based care are that they are straight forward and simplified and share common goals of maintenance and prevention rather than treating the wound or illness as it happens one by one. Population based care cuts the cost of treating the individual one by one. Doctors do not need to totally change how they practice medicine but they must allow nurses to take care of patients in order to promote efficiency and effectiveness of the system. When nurses are on bard with Population based care there is a decrease in paper work, increase in regulatory standards that can be adhered to and properly trained staff that will comply with such regulations. The whole idea of Population based care is incorporating the nursing staff and decreasing the one on one patient treatment of chronic illness to making it a preventative measure.

Evidence based practice is the best nursing theory of prevention to use when incorporating this program into practice. It allows nurses and doctors to “make use of the best research they can find to assist them with research decision making process.” (“Evidence Based Practice”). The nurse and doctor must know the right question to ask in order to gain the right answers. The ‘background’ and ‘foreground’ questions are the most relevant to the situation.

References

Balingit, R. Case Management Challenges In Population-Based Care Retrieved July 10, 2010 from, http://www.aiocm.com/articles/Case%20Management%20Challenges%20in%20Population%20Based%20Care.htm

Evidence Based Practice Asking the Clinical Question Retrieved July 10, 2010 from, http://www.med.yale.edu/library/nursing/education/clinquest.html

Maurer, F and Smith, C. Public Health Nursing Practice for Families and Population University of Maryland School of Nursing 2^nd ed, 2010