Behavioral Health Of Behavioral Healthcare Essay

Our progress in learning the causes and treatments for mental illness has been steady as we build on the medical model of mental illness, which Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman (2010) describe as a model that, “views emotional and behavioral problems as a mental illness, comparable to a physical illness (pp. 341). Only in modern times have we been able to effectively treat mental illness with behavioral therapy, social support, medicine, and other research-based programs. However, there is still much work to be done in regard to access, proper facilities, policy and a host of other challenges that affect this issue.

Most contemporary psychological treatment approaches are predecessors of the ancient and medieval philosophies and theories. Cognitive behavioural therapy as one of the modern treatment method in not an independently formed treatment, different theories have contributed to its present shape and application.

Throughout the years public health efforts have evolved in order to meet health care need of populations. Despite advances the United States continues to have high morbidity rates of individuals with chronic illness. Adding to the rates, many Americans are suffering from mental health disorders. The issue caused many research studies to focus on integrating behavioral health and primary care in order to reduce health disparities in the nation. This paper will analyze how the integration of behavioral health in primary care facilities help serve the need of our population.

According to the World Health Organization, mental illness will affect approximately 25% of people at some point in their life (“WHO Qualityrights”, n.d.). Despite that, the current mental health care system in the United States is inadequate. Many aspects of the system need improving, especially the barriers to service. In fact, approximately 20% of individuals are left without necessary treatment for their mental health disorder (“Mental Health”, 2016). Mentally ill individuals have difficulty accessing necessary mental health care services for various reasons; insurance, socioeconomic status, and mental health stigma can all function as barriers to treatment. Insurance discrimination can make it difficult for individuals to find treatment (Han, Call, Pintor, Alarcon-Espinoza, & Simon, 2015). Gaps in insurance coverage can also be a barrier, as they disrupt the long-term treatment process (Gulley, Rasch, & Chan 2011). Socioeconomic status has been found to negatively affect appointment scheduling (Kugelmass, 2016). Finally, stigma in our society can also stop people from seeking out treatment that they need (Bathje & Pryor, 2011). The mental health system in the United States is not capable of caring for the mentally ill, as insurance, socioeconomic status, and perceived stigma all act as barriers that prevent people from receiving the treatment they need.

The conditions of psychiatric hospitals were poorly maintained yet again. From the late 1800s until the mid-1900s, the conditions of these institutions were hit or miss. Despite the rising population of those in need of mental health treatment, conditions were deteriorating across the board. This pushed in the deinstitutionalization movement (Nevid, Rathus, & Green, 2014). This was a push to remove patients from state-run hospitals into a more community-based treatment center. In most cases today, there are treatment plans in place depending upon the severity of the disorder an individual may be suffering from. It’s more about treating an individual with any variety of modern techniques or therapies and trying to reintegrate them into society rather than a lifelong stay in an institution. Deinstitutionalization didn’t work the way it was intended. After it was put into place there was a rise in the homeless population and different programs that were supposed to be put into place didn’t live up to

An interesting finding by Huskamp and Iglehart (2016) is that between the Mental Health Parity Act (MHPA) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), there should be a rise in people with mental illness seeking services, however, services are underutilized more than ever (Huskamp & Iglehart, 2016). According to Bendant (2014), in 2013 a total of 47 million people uninsured and 25% of those suffer mental illness (Bendant, 2014). These numbers are staggering for a service that is more inclusive now more than ever. The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) site indicates that the MHPA is regulated differently depending on the state (CMS, n. d.). The Department of Labor (DOL) has identified a few problems with the MHPA and addressed these issues to Congress via a 2017 report (DOL, n.

One of the biggest criticisms that Managed Mental health has received is that because of the way the managed care system works in regards to reducing cost utilization, then Managed mental health care could limit access (Boyle & Callahan.1995). However, in reality, there is a belief and some empirical evidence that Medicaid managed behavioral health care for children enhances access to care and that patients are more likely to obtain services in a timely and appropriate manner than under financially restrictive, traditional fee-for-service care (Boyle & Callahan, 1995). Regardless of this, the Surgeon General 's 1999 comprehensive report on mental health noted the seriousness of the problem and estimated that 70% of children needing mental health services do not receive those (Mennen & Trickett, 2007). Therefore, focusing on

2007). While highly skilled, the majority of primary care and family practitioners have minimal training in identifying or treating psychiatric conditions and/or substance use disorders (Collins, 2010). The Presidents New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (2003) indicated mental health conditions and substance use disorders often go unscreened and thus untreated in a primary care setting. Currently, working as an administrator of a behavioral healthcare agency I am a daily witness to the impact delays in appropriate care cause. This is not only worrisome, it often leads to a need for a higher level of care and higher cost of treatment due the prevalence of untreated illnesses. Marrying behavioral healthcare services within a primary care setting has shown promising outcomes, affording for greater access to care for those suffering from psychosocial conditions, all the while cutting costs and providing greater proficiency in service delivery. (Mauer, 2002). As an administrator, the potential to implement and manage programs that not only provide greater access to care, but also cut cost is an exciting avenue to

The final item of business brought up was the vision for system integration in behavioral health. There was plenty of discussion focused on this since it is a new introduction but a much needed policy that needs to be put into place. Included in this discussion was the possibility of implementing behavioral health homes in Nebraska. Many other states have implemented behavioral health homes and some have worked out well and others have failed. One member brought up the big picture concern of behavioral health homes and how they are to take care of those with multiple morbidities since they are very complicated patients and healthcare workers tend to shy away from them. Nobody knew the answer to solve this concern but the committee planned how they should be thinking about what approach to take to make the behavioral health system more integrated. Today’s discussion about the vision for system integration was just the beginning of what is going to be handled at the next meeting.

The National Council is an organization helping people with addictions to veterans with behavior health issues such as PTSD as well as spreading awareness and educating on mental first aid. The National Council for Behavioral Health prides itself on being the unifying voice of America’s mental health and addictions treatment organizations. Partnered with approximately 2,500 member organizations, the National Council claims to be committed to all Americans having access to high-quality, comprehensive, care that explores unlimited opportunities for recovery. The National Council brought Mental Health First Aid to America and has documented that more than 500,000 individuals have been trained as a mental health first aider. The National

In today’s society there is a greater awareness of mental illnesses. With this greater awareness one might assume that there would be a substantial increase in government involvement or funding in the area of mental illness treatment. Unfortunately this isn’t the case in the U.S. today. There are hundreds of thousands of people with mental illness that go untreated. These potential patients go untreated for many reasons. These reasons are discussed in the Time article “Mental Health Reform: What Would it Really Take.

In 1965, there was a histrionic change in the method that mental health care was delivered in the United States. The focus went from State Mental Hospitals to outpatient settings for the treatment of mental health issues. With the passing of Medicaid, States were encouraged to move patients out of the hospital setting (Pan, 2013). This process failed miserably due to under funding and understaffing for the amout of patients that were released from the State Mental Hospitals. This resulted in patients, as well as their families, who were in dire need of mental health services. This population turned to either incarceration (jails and/or prisons) or emergency departments as a primary source of care for their loved ones.

In it's simplest form, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, (or CBT as it will be referred to from here on out), refers to the approach of changing dysfunctional behaviors and thoughts to realistic and healthy ones. CBT encompasses several types of therapy focusing on the impact of an individual's thinking as it relates to expressed behaviors. Such models include rational emotive therapy (RET), rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT), behavior therapy (BT), Rational Behavior Therapy (RBT), Schema Focused Therapy, Cognitive therapy (CT). Most recently a few other variations have been linked to CBT such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectic behavioral therapy (DBT), and

An individual's attitude towards his health influences his capacity to maintain an optimum level of health, prevent illness or recover from a disease. Understanding patient's attitude towards his condition is the key to establishing an effective health-related program for health promotion, disease prevention and disease management. Hence, different health behavior theories have emerged. All of these are designed to help the patient and his family to facilitate learning, adjustment and behavior change to improve his quality of life. ( Butts & Rich, 2011)

I believe an excellent alternative to the current approach to behavioral health issues would be the incorporation of Telemedicine encounters into the reimbursement schedule for Medicaid patients. If Medicaid and other payers in the industry would take a more proactive approach to the treatment of diseases and illnesses such as substance abuse or PTSD, then there would be more exposure and treatment available to people who suffer from these conditions and it would increase the overall population health in areas where Telemedicine services are provided and encounters with psychiatrists can be conducted via videoconferencing between the patients in their home and providers at their usual location that wouldn’t otherwise have been conducted at all.