Damian Sendler on Community Mental Health
Damian Sendler: Given the rising cost of health care treatments in the United States, there has been a lot of debate about how we can improve the delivery of mental health treatments to the masses. One glaring shortcoming of these efforts has been the lack of health coverage for those that needed the most. And another big issue concerns accessibility to providers, which is limited, especially in rural environments. Therefore, one of the frontier places of mental health treatment and delivery are community hospitals.
Read on: What are the common barriers to psychiatric care.
The reason why community hospitals are such a great place to start with the expansion of mental health services is that they typically know their neighborhood and its patients best. The things that might work ideally in cities might not necessarily reflect what is seen in the communities themselves. Given the recent outbreaks of an opioid epidemic, rises in cases of depression, it is essential to consider how community hospitals can act as a bridge between patients who need treatment, and larger, resource-rich institutions that can provide specialized care if necessary. Thankfully most community hospitals are equipped with the opportunity to care for most patients, experiencing psychiatric distress. And it is essential to capitalize on their experiences in expanding access to care.
Current Research
Damian Jacob Sendler : My research has examined how community hospitals can extend access to psychiatric care, especially in demographic environments, where there is a shortage of mental health providers. I’ve talked before about the importance of expanding e-therapy and giving patients expanded access to mental health services through the internet. There are many different pros and cons of these approaches. One of the most important goals here is to increase the affordability of treatments. But also to allow a more significant number of people to access counseling and therapies when the demand for available providers keeps climbing.
In the next 5 to 10 years in the United States, there will be a severe shortage of primary care providers. This statistic doesn’t even touch on other critical shortages of physicians, namely in the arena of psychiatry. Therefore, it is crucial to keep those upcoming changes in mind when thinking about how we can allow more people to access care in the age where many people do not have health insurance, and the number of qualified providers keeps decreasing. The reason why community hospitals are such a great place to start with understanding how mental health treatments can be expanded quickly to millions of people is to recognize their involvement in caring for the neediest. Furthermore, many community hospitals serve people who have a specific social, economic, or ethnic background.
Read on: Health information-seeking behavior and mental health.
Having this insight into who are the people that we’re going to help allow community hospitals to spearhead the delivery part health care treatments and to target at-risk populations such as those who might be addicted to drugs, or people who have experienced some trauma that might have derailed their normal functioning. Lastly, community hospitals have an excellent understanding of financial resources available in their vicinity and being able to predict what types of patients will be willing to participate in treatment given possible associated costs and also other obstacles such as limited mobility or lack of public transportation.
Future of Community Medicine
Damian Jacob Sendler: Once we identify how community hospitals can provide valuable information on delivering mental health treatments to the masses, it is essential also to note the limitations of community hospitals. The main restriction for most of these hospitals is the availability of resources. Large medical centers can afford to have a wide variety of specialists and community experts who can assist in the development of treatment and prevention programs for a wide range of patients. Many community hospitals have limited availability of specialized staff, the number of beds in the hospital, and opportunities for collaboration with local government. Therefore, it is essential to keep in mind those critical aspects of community medicine before launching on the development of treatment programs provided by these hospitals.
Read on: Research methods helping Damian Sendler conduct psychiatric research.
There needs to be a synergistic collaboration between major medical centers and community hospitals to enhance how patients all over the country can access mental health treatments. There also needs to be a concerted effort to conduct research that examines these critical questions. We also need to understand what makes people in the community seek mental health treatments, especially when they were never exposed to the availability of these resources, or were never aware of the types of specialists that can help them alleviate the stress. My research indeed examines those questions, especially looking at, combining community derived resources, and looking at how hospitals themselves can facilitate the dissemination of affordable treatments to their patients.
