It has been shown that a nurse practitioner, an occupational therapist, a psychologist, and a social worker can work collaboratively to improve the quality of patient care and improve outcomes.
HRSA www.hrsa.gov working towards integrating care for chronic illnesses and for mental issues, has awarded a grant for $2.1 million to the School of Nursing at the University of Mississippi Medical Center www.umc.edu.son to help design an integrated Behavioral Health Program. .
Each of the collaborating schools participating in the grant program will receive $20,000 to increase the number of psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners in the state. The goal is to improve both the diversity of the state’s health professions workforce and the health outcomes for the state’s vulnerable populations living in both rural and urban areas.
According to Dr. Janet Harris Professor and Associate Dean for Practice and Community Engagement and Director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program, “Addressing psychological needs is critical to treating patients with multiple chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. We have identified a huge gap in the State in meeting the needs of our patients in the community who have psychological problems.”
The program will start at UNACARE Health Clinic, the School of Nursing’s community clinic in midtown Jackson Mississippi, and rotate through other community clinics including two of the program’s school-based clinics in Jackson and the Delta. Students will be able to communicate with program directors at the school-based clinics and at UNACARE.
To begin the process, Dr. Harris analyzed emergency department admissions from the zip codes serviced by UNACARE. More than 1,500 patients 17 and older were identified with psychological or psychiatric issues in a 12 month period.
To continue the process for remote care, telehealth carts equipped with all the components needed will be placed at several School of Nursing locations to communicate with program directors.