Care Coordination in Mental Health

Care Coordination in Mental Health

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Care Coordination in Mental Health

The world is becoming dynamic, with various changes being adopted and experienced each day. In the health sector, the provision of health care services has not been spared at all with the care coordination being adopted. Care coordination involves the deliberate organization of patient care activities and sharing the information among all the parties concerned with a patient’s care to develop safer and more effective care (Singh et al. 2019). Person- focused supplemented with patient-centred care remains paramount factors to be stressed if the system is to achieve its goal. In chronic diseases that require tender care to patients, care coordination offers a solution as the patient has faith in health care since they are attached to particular professional service even from remote locations. As adopted in the care coordination, primary care has been linked with better health outcomes and lower mortality rate (Weaver et al. 2018). In mental health care in Northwestern Washington, United States, care coordination is believed to be better and efficient health care delivery model to various mentally ill patients.

Mental health disorder is a matter of national concern within the United States, especially in the Northwestern part of Washington state (Singh et al. 2019). World Health Organization (2018) attested that a prevalence of mental disorder is 26% among the individuals aged above eighteen years in the United States. A significant concern to this particular health issue is that any individual is likely to develop more than one mental disorder at a particular period in their lifetime. This is majorly contributed to the high substance abuse and anxiety disorder which further culminates the problem with several instances of reoccurrence being reported among the substance-abusing individuals (Weaver et al. 2018). The adoption of care coordination has thus been developed within the state where the care coordination program has led the care coordination program. The program needs to have revolutions since many mental health issues have gone unreported for the past periods, leading to considerable functional impairment, poor medical adherence, adverse health behaviours complicating the physical health problems, and excess health care costs (Singh et al. 2019). In solution to the inadequate health care facilities, utilization of the primary care, as well as behavioural health clinicians, will be paramount as it will aid in collaboration with families and the patient (World Health Organization 2018). Leveraged collaborative care with patients will be adopted to provide individualized interventions that prioritize speciality mental health care to the severely ill, impaired patients and improve the overall medical and psychiatric results. In case of an encounter with a severely ill patient in locations which are miles away from the hospital, the team may seek the assistance of referring the patient to a facility which is near the patient’s residence as this will offer accessibility by the patient’s relatives to check on the progress of the patient (Weaver et al. 2018). The team will also seek various government and private institutions to offer the services, for instance, setting up temporary free private consultation medical camps outside some of the private and public facilities.

Since the care coordination goal is to meet the patient’s needs and preferences in delivering a high-quality and high- value health care, there are specific priorities that a care coordinator ought to establish in his or her plan (Singh et al. 2019). The patient’s need and preference should be known and communicated at the right time and the right people. This implicates on the need to seek the patient’s preferences before the onset of the treatment program. This information is used to guide the team of professionals who would be offering medical services to the individual. The care coordinator should link with the available community resources to acquire the aid of the nearby services and assistance in case of any emergency (Singh et al. 2019). The care coordinator should carefully align the resources they have been allocated with the patient and the population needs (Weaver et al. 2018). The care coordinator should also assess the patients’ needs and goal and help them achieve the best mental health through monitoring and follow-ups, which include responding to changes in the patient’s needs.

A satisfying patient experience is central to care coordination. The experience can be through the various methods such as linking the patient to the available health care facility from where the patient can seek the health services in case of emergency (World Health Organization 2018). Through this, the patient is assured of the attendance by the facility in case his health worsens. This opportunity further offers a satisfying experience since the relatives as well as friends to the admitted patient can occasionally pay a visit and check on the progress. A regular follow up by the care coordinator or the team under the care coordinator affirms the patient’s trust in the program and leaves the patient more satisfied (Singh et al. 2019). This motivates even the patient to adhere to medication as they trust that they will get healed. Setting a free private consultation service at various private and public institutions offers the services to the individuals whom the team cannot access their homes hence offering a satisfying customer experience. Through the various platforms like churches, radios and events, the team can lead in the public education on the dangers to engaging in substance abuse which exposes them to developing the various mental health problems (Weaver et al. 2018). Public education should also involve the need to seek early medical care and the advantage of adhering to the medications that prevent escalation of the problems that attract extra cost during advanced stage treatment.

The code of ethics for nursing in united states usually governs the care coordination decisions for primary care. The individual on whom a health professional shares the information on the health problem is limited to the patient and the immediate person attached to the patient’s care. As outlined in the code of ethics, the nurses should be willing and devoted to providing remote health care under this program as assigned by the care coordinator (Singh et al. 2019). The nurses’ demonstration of good rapport with the patients and respect for human dignity during the care coordination program ensures the program’s success.

The coordination and continuum of care coordination in the United States are affected by the various health policies both adopted by the national government as well as the world health organization. As developed by various organizations governing world health like world health organization, some policies significantly impact various health matters. World Health Organization (2018) outlined that continuity and coordination of care should be the global priorities for reorienting health services to the people, especially those suffering from various chronic complications with mental health being in inclusion. This policy has thus promoted the care continuum in the united states (Singh et al. 2019). As Passed by the government, the national policies affect health care like implementing the Affordable Care Act in the United States has led to relief for patients in mental health care to access the various health facilities. This has enabled the continuum of care coordination since various individuals have been able to refer to various hospitals within their accessibility.

In conclusion, care coordination plays a fundamental role in health care, especially in the psychiatric department where the health care facilities can monitor and attend to the patients in various locations either far from the facility. The program offers the patient-focused and patient-centred approach to achieve the goals that aim to reduce the country’s rising mental health complications since it has become a matter of national concern. The program should put the patient priorities at the front line to achieve its success. A collaborative approach with the alignment upholding the ethical code of nursing to this sector offers a successful program implementation. The various utilization of the health facilities within the patient’s residence area, regular monitoring of the patient, and linking the patients to the various health facilities offer a satisfying patient experience. Various policies have a significant impact to the health sector whether imposed by the national government or the world health organization like for instance the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and the mobilization of the care coordination by the united states has been a boost to the program in Northwest Washington, United States.

References

Singh, V., Pinkett-Davis, M., Kalb, L. G., Azad, G., Neely, J., & Landa, R. (2019). A preliminary study of care coordination services within a specialized outpatient setting for youth with autism spectrum disorder. International Journal of Care Coordination, 22(3-4), 109-116.

Weaver, S. J., Che, X. X., Petersen, L. A., & Hysong, S. J. (2018). Unpacking care coordination through a multiteam system lens. Medical care, 56(3), 247-259.

World Health Organization. (2018). Continuity and coordination of care: a practice brief to support implementation of the WHO Framework on integrated people-centred health services. Geneva: World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/274628