Patients Who Are Battling Mental Illness, Essay Example

Introduction

Access to healthcare is very important to communities in rural areas because it ensures that people who are suffering from mental illness and substance abuse will be able to receive help just like people who are suffering from chronic illnesses like diabetes. It is very important that hospitals are able to coordinate care for complex patients who are battling mental illness, substance abuse, and other health threatening conditions. In larger or urban areas, people have many choices when it comes to receiving healthcare services, but in smaller areas a hospital is usually the only place one can receive treatment of dual complexity. Hospitals are more successful when they cater to the issues people are having in that particular area. Recently, much attention has been paid to substance abuse and mental illness in rural areas. The lack of providers who are capable of managing and meeting the needs of such patients is a growing problem in rural areas. In order to reach and successfully treat these patients, hospitals must implement transitional care models that are able to assist patients who have medical, mental, and behavioral issues.

Implementation of Strategies

The importance of any strategy is to ensure that all community members, including those who have no insurance, have access to the needed service. They best way to do this is to ensure that all members of the community are educated about the long term effects of untreated substance abuse and mental health issues. In order to do this, healthcare officials must partner with members in the mental health field. With this partnership, when a patient is seen in the hospital with substance abuse related issues, that client will be seen and evaluated by a mental health social worker. Likewise, when a person receives mental health services, he/she needs to have a health evaluation to check for common ailments like hypertension and diabetes.

Disparities in Hospital Performance

In most areas, going to the hospital is the last resort. Many people will suffer through a weekend and wait to see their personal doctor on a Monday, rather than make a visit to the hospital. That opinion about hospitals must be changed. One way to do this is by using incentives to promote a quality process. When workers feel their hard work is noticed and appreciated, they are more likely to do a good job each and every time.

The Successful Manager

As a healthcare manager, my overall goal is to improve community access to healthcare services. This task cannot be done alone. There must be a partnership between various organizations to make the process a success. In order to do this, I would spear head a committee that would bring people from the community, healthcare, and mental health organizations together to come up with a plan to reach all parties. We will look for organizations and grants that would help fund these services. Often people who need the most medical or mental health attention are those who do not have access to it. Once receiving funding, this fact would be made known to the public so that people who really need help can be assisted. We would also encourage people to refer persons who may need help, but cannot afford it. Finally, as an organization, we would make every effort to educate the community by having rallies and seminars free to the general public. With these programs we would educate people about the signs and long term effects of drug abuse. We would partner with schools to educate students on the effects of drinking at an early age and use of “gateway” drugs. If we are able to raise awareness in children about these issues, we hope that we can help to reduce the problems of dual complexities in the future.