The Importance Of Being A Mental Health Care Manager Essay

Why do you believe you are a good candidate for the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at Argosy University?

Counseling others is a difficult job that requires people to listen, take notes, and respond in ways that are positive and helpful. It is important that trust be built between the counselor and the patient so that the patient will feel comfortable speaking about issues that are private or embarrassing. There are many different types of counselors including drug counselors; marriage counselors, grief counselors, job counselors, diet and exercise counselors, and others that can help people improve their lives in different ways. Counselors are trained to offer advice and listen to issues that may be bothering other people. They are not allowed to prescribe medication or expected to provide

This unit aims to provide the learner with knowledge of the main forms of mental health problems according to the psychiatric classification system. Learners also consider the strengths and limitations of this model and look at alternative frameworks for understanding mental distress. The focus of the unit is on understanding the different ways in which mental health problems impact on the individual and others in their social network. It

Describe the services and/or supports that are in place for students with psychiatric disabilities. (Helpful Hint: Check and see if they have a web site!).

The United States has never had an official federal-centered approach for mental health care facilities, entrusting its responsibility to the states throughout the history. The earliest initiatives in this field took place in the 18th century, when Virginia built its first asylum and Pennsylvania Hospital reserved its basement to house individuals with mental disorders (Sundararaman, 2009). During the 19th century, other services were built, but their overall lack of quality was alarming. Even then, researchers and professionals in the mental health field attempted to implement the principles of the so-called public health, focusing on prevention and early intervention, but the funds were in the hands of the local governments, which prevented significant advances in this direction.

Interdisciplinary team work is extremely important to ensure patients receive quality care that meets their individual needs (Nancarrow, et al, 2013). To achieve this a group of health care professionals work together by bringing their different professions, assessments and evaluations together in order to design a care plan for treatment of the patient (Korner, 2010). For example if a patient is dealing with a mental health disorder such as depression or schizophrenia, the interdisciplinary team would consist of the doctor, nurse, psychologist, psychiatrist, pharmacist and neurologist. The roles and responsibilities of each team member must be based on their scope of practice including the assessment of the patient, the treatment to be given,

Providing comprehensive care to patients requires a team of different providers which includes: social workers, care coordinators, nutritionists, educators and pharmacists. This meets the physical and mental health needs of the patient through a team based approach to care. As clinician providers they have to ensure that PCMH is effectively serving patients with complex health needs are met (Rich et al, 2012).

Identification of mental health services that could be utilized as part of Jared’s treatment plan.

Different members of the multi-disciplinary team work in partnership to be able to provide a higher effective quality of care due to the different levels of expertise each members brings to the health and social care service provision. This expertise means service providers have different skills, and knowledge which are available to offer a safe, effective high quality care for example a service provider might know what service would be the best to provide support and guidance for an individual suffering Alzheimer’s disease. Within health and social care the growing of complex needs results in partnership working between the multi-disciplinary team as they each have their own specialist areas which would ensure further essential information is provided on the growing disease and need for more services. “More people are experiencing ‘complex health needs’ where they will have more than one health problem. This ensures healthcare professionals can manage these needs effectively and progressively through multi-disciplinary action.

Comprehensive Mental Health Services (CMHS) is an organization in Kansas City, Missouri dedicated to serving those with mental illnesses, ranging from both low- to high-functioning. This group has a for-profit and non-profit side. The for-profit side utilizes doctors, nurses, and a pharmacy to aide in the non-profit side. Case workers, therapists, addiction recovery, and group homes are all funded via the organization. With diverse staff involvement, CMHS has a multitude of positions ranging from full-time salary doctors, to full-time hourly case workers, to volunteers. Volunteers vary between other organizations that CMHS collaborates with, including Harvester’s food pantry, and even patients who want to donate their time to some of the less-fortunate. While those with mental illnesses are oppressed, this report is not about their oppression, rather their open-mindedness on the oppression of those around them.

Mental illness affects 1 in 5 adults in the United States. This amounts to about 43.8 million or 18.5% of adults in the United States ("Any Mental Illness Among U.S Adults," n.d). This shows how prevalent mental illness really is in our society. More specifically, Bipolar Disorder is found in about 2.6% of the adult population ("Bipolar Disorder Among Adults," n.d). Bipolar disorder ranges in severity but the majority of the cases are considered severe. Bipolar Disorder is broken down into three categories as follows: Bipolar I, Bipolar II, and Cyclothymic Disorder. For the duration of the paper, Bipolar I Disorder will be referenced. Bipolar disorder is characterized by manic episodes that may alternate with depression or agitation. The etiology of Bipolar Disorder is biological and environmental. It is a strongly heritable disease at approximately 80-90% heritability. Bipolar Disorder is related to neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin and their dysregulation in the body. Excessive amounts may lead to mania while too few may lead to depression. Environmental stressors or trauma also contribute to the development of bipolar disorder (Halter, 2014). The patient that will be discussed in this paper is a forty-one year old African American woman who was involuntary committed to Montgomery County Emergency Services (MCES) as a result of severe mania and psychotic symptoms.

Mental Health Counseling became a licensed profession, when Virginia became the first state to pass a regulatory art for professional counselors in 1975 (Pope, 2012). By 1994, 41 state had acquired licensure and there were over 63,000 counselors licensed in the U.S..

When it comes to this program I did not find any information that stated it was developed based on empirical evidence. “Very little empirical data exist to help administrators select a particular staffing model for providing mental health services to inmates” (Hills, Siegfried, and Ickowitz, 2004, p. 37). This could have definitely hurt the program at Montford Psychiatric Hospital, but the staff seemed extremely professional, organized, skilled, and knowledgeable of what they were doing when assessing inmates mental health issues. Additionally, this program is also not based on theory because when a theory is created to change complicated issues, such as mental illness program or other health care programs it can be a daunting task. It is particularly troublesome when there is a lack of empirical evidence to support concepts that can lead towards success.

My field placement was ( I am no loner at this site) at the Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in the Psychiatric Medical Care Unit, an acute short stay unit. All patients are admitted after careful evaluation by a psychiatrist and/or a psychiatric nurse practitioner at the crisis center. The patients are first stabilized in the crisis center then transferred to the unit for further treatment and evaluation. Once on the unit a multidisciplinary team comprised of psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse(s), social worker(s), recreational therapist, peer specialists, mental health technicians and other medical professionals (as needed ) work closely with each other and the patient to develop a treatment plan and discharge planning.

Medical social workers collaborate with other human service workers to help severely ill patients, suffering from physical and psychological issues. Throughout the many challenges of patients, medical social workers and other professionals meet the common and severe needs of people with physical and mental illnesses. Andrews, Darnell, McBride, & Gehlert (2013) state “Social workers are familiar with the complex and overlapping systems that must be negotiated to ensure that the social, psychological and economic needs of individuals and groups are addressed in a way that underscores optimal health” (p. 67). Once the patient discuss their core issues with the medical social worker and other medical staff members at the hospital, physicians, nurses, and medical social workers can give patients ' positive feedback the concerns their health and well-being. Medical social workers interact with each other for the patient’s safety.