Mental Health Issues and their Impact on Healthcare of Veterans - Research Paper Example

?Full and section number of Mental health issues and the impact of healthcare The veterans (especially returning veterans) of Spokane people are the most negatively privileged among the Spokane people. They are deprived of healthcare facilities and other basic facilities in their life. They are not capable to afford the cost of healthcare facilities and other needed amenities (Barlett et al. 2004). They encounter high rate of health issues and are uninsured and unprotected. Returning veterans in Spokane, Washington/Spokane County and surrounding areas suffer from various types of mental health issues (Spokane Regional Health District, 2008). The terrible experiences in their combat missions upset the psychological stability of individuals (Miliken et al 2007). As these people retire from their combat missions they struggle to relieve themselves from the horrific experiences of war. The memories of the horrors and the cruel experiences of war change the mind of the post-war personalities, making them psychologically weak and vulnerable to mental problems. The issue has been selected because mental health problems and increasing healthcare cost is becoming a big curse to the veteran population in Spokane, Washington/Spokane County and surrounding areas (How Trends in the Health Care System, 2008) (Sebastian and Bushy, 1999). . It has become quite unaffordable for these veterans to access the necessary healthcare assistance as healthcare costs are booming up without any control. State budget deficits and federal cuts result in reduction in Medicare and Medicaid programs. Essential medical services and medications are unaffordable for them. Veterans in the areas are devoid of proper health care coverage (Barlett et al. 2004). The number of people in the Spokane County and surrounding areas who are without insurance is increasing every year. The unfortunate veterans in these areas are unable to afford the health insurance programs offered for people. People have become increasingly vulnerable to chronic diseases (Sacia and Dobson, 2003). This ill-privileged group also has high mortality rate and negative health outcomes (Sacia and Dobson, 2003). The increasing mental healthcare problems suffered by the returning veterans and the lack of access to the healthcare facilities have pushed Spokane County and surrounding areas to grave healthcare catastrophe (Barlett et al. 2004). Healthcare service must be made more affordable to these negatively privileged people in the Spokane County and surrounding areas. As far as Spokane County and surrounding areas are concerned the need of the hour is nothing but a better healthcare coverage for the returning veterans in the areas. The entire healthcare expense of these individuals must be cover by the healthcare system. Healthcare services offered by the healthcare system should be a boon to all people, especially the returning veterans of the society who are under various mental problems. A solution to the issue of Spokane veterans would be easily affordable healthcare facilities. The ‘single payer’ health care system can support the healthcare needs of Spokane people. Service of universal healthcare is a boon to all people of Spokane, especially the negatively privileged veterans in the society. It can effectively solve the healthcare issues of veterans. People with mental sickness should be given free (or affordable) health care services. Mental healthcare services must be provided at no or meager charge. The entire healthcare expense of mentally ill people must be covered by the healthcare system. They should not be allowed to bother about co-payments or deductibles. Healthcare services offered by the healthcare system should be a boon to all people, especially the mentally sick individuals. This typical example of the returning veterans in Spokane County explains the importance of social capital in extending the healthcare facilities to the weak sections of the community. Unless there is sufficient social capital no society can afford providing healthcare facilities to its citizens. Social capital is mandatory for funding the healthcare services. Lack of social capital would make the healthcare costs increase which would in turn bother the low income groups of the society. Sufficient social capital and proper allocation of resources to the healthcare sector would solve majority of the healthcare problems in the society. Social capital is this directly relation to the welfare of the healthcare system. The mental healthcare services must be in a position to curb the suicide rates in its population by giving proper counseling to the mentally upset people and those who are under depression (Barlow et al. 2009). More non-profit organizations must rise up in negatively privileged areas for serving mentally ill and negatively privileged population of the areas. They must offer quality treatment and rehabilitation for people with mental illness and co-occurring disorders. Community based initiatives are highly required in the Spokane County and surrounding areas for the reintegration of the returning veterans into civilian status. Health service provides must come up with better healthcare facilities for the recovery of the returning veterans. The whole veteran population of the area must be considerably helped with affordable services. Healthcare system that provides healthcare facilities to returning veterans must provide high quality service. Health care workers like nurses and counselors must show higher level of cooperation and understand towards the mentally upset veterans (Barlow et al. 2009). The level of commitment of healthcare workers is a crucial matter in the success of the healthcare set up. Health care employees must be given classes regarding the way they must interact and care for the returning veterans. They must care for the unique needs and strengths of each person who seek assistance. The mental healthcare services in Spokane must be in a position to curb the suicide rates in its population by giving proper counseling to the mentally upset people and those who are under depression. Nurses and other healthcare workers must help their patients recover from depression and suicide thoughts. Nurses and mental health therapists must try to understand the real problems suffered by the veterans and must cooperate to the maximum. At no point of their service they must be impatient or frustrated with the mentally upset veterans who may display irritating characters. A nurse can help provide good healthcare service to mentally sick people. A health care nurse can assess the behavior and psychological needs in order to decide whether the patient should be admitted to care. The nurse can refer the patient to a nurse-led community treatment team which will provide him intensive support, treatment and care. The nurse can learn the patient’s nature and treat him accordingly. These nurses would take care of the patients with mental health problems in hospitals as well as community, helping them to overcome their ailments in order to bring them back to normal life as soon as possible. Everybody has episodes of depression, stress anger and fear in their lives, but there are certain times for certain people when they need care and professional help. One among six adults suffers from one or other form of mental illness. Mental illnesses have become very common these days. Depression and other psychological ailments do spread as other contagious diseases. Mental health nurses are at the front line in providing necessary support to the patients by coordinating with psychiatrists, social workers and others. The setting for mental care has been changed nowadays from hospital to community. Nurses may work in patient’s house, in small residential units, and also in local health centers properly planning and delivering the treatment. Nurses are key players in a multi-agency team. They do have one-to-one personal relationship with patients, which is the important part of the treatment process. A good environment and proper care and love can cure almost 40% of all the psychological sickness. Nurses are the central figures in this type of treatment. In this therapeutic relationship between the nurse and the patient nurses possess the ability to listen and draw information to help people find means of coping with their psychological and other problems. This may involve the patient’s family, friends and other contacts. Another challenge for the nurse is to identify and check if the patient is at the risk of harming themselves or others. Mental health nurses are also mostly responsible for co-coordinating a patient's care in the community. Mental health nurses need to deal with people of all ages and from different backgrounds helping them gradually come to terms with their problems. They must be able to learn the nature, characters and other personality traits of the patient and should proceed with treatment accordingly. They need patience, perseverance, understanding, love and care and kindness to provide the required help to psychologically unhealthy people. The service of hospitals can also be given to mentally sick people of Spokane. People with mental sicknesses are mostly treated in hospitals on a voluntary basis. They do also have the same rights as everyone else. They may also be called as ‘informal’ patients. As per Mental Health Act 1983, a small number of people are compulsorily detained and they do have some different set of rights. Such people who are brought to the hospital and compulsorily detained are known as ‘formal’ patients. However, informal patients when are found to be attempting to leave before complete cure are held under section five of the act and may become formal patients. The Mental Health Act of 1983 includes like compulsory admission to hospital, consent to admittance, treatment, right to appeal, patient’s guardianship, patient’s background and his involvement in criminal proceedings and various other factors. More non-profit organizations must rise up in Spokane and surrounding areas for serving returning veterans, children, elders and the negatively privileged population of the areas. They must offer quality treatment and rehabilitation for returning veterans with mental illness and co-occurring disorders. They can provide individual, family and group therapy; counseling; crisis response services; psychiatric and psychological services; medication management; vocational rehabilitation; case management and support; and consumer education that would solve the mental health problems to a good extent (Patel, 2010). As per studies on Spokane County, it is found that people with mental illness are very much susceptible to alcohol and drug abuse. They increasingly use alcohol and other drugs. Alcohol and other types of drugs are not difficult to obtain these days. People who are affected with mental illnesses like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are highly vulnerable to alcohol and other types of drugs. Marijuana and Cocaine are highly popular among these groups. As per the studies performed on epidemiology, more than half of the people who are affected with mental illness are found to be becoming victims of substance use disorder. People with mental illness depend on alcohol and other drugs. Mental illness is found to be making people increasingly vulnerable to drugs and alcohol. Some studies, however, reveal that people with psychiatric disorders use drugs in their attempt to heal themselves from the symptoms of their disease. They also use alcohol and other drugs to alleviate side effects of the medications they are taking. Psychological drawbacks like depression, poor cognitive function, social isolation, anxiety, poor interpersonal skills and prolonged pain drives people to alcohol and drug abuse. These risk factors that constitute mental illness have been making people try alcohol and drugs. Poverty, loneliness, insomnia, lack of structured activities and similar issues pushes people to find false solace in drugs and alcohol. People make misguided attempt to find relief by trying alcohol and drugs. Simultaneous occurrence of substance abuse and mental illness can be diagnosed and treated. High rate of coexistence of these disorders points to the need for a better approach that identifies examines and treats both disorders. People with both disorders show complex symptoms compared to people with either disorder alone. Integrated treatment is therefore required for those with both disorders. Patients should be closely monitored so that symptoms of drug abuse may not be mistaken as a symptom of mental disorder. Mental disease can pave the way for drug abuse, and drug abuse can increase vulnerability to mental illness. Diagnosis and treatment of one problem will reduce the risk of the other disorder. Studies recommend proper interventions to cure both disorders concurrently. This is however difficult to implement. The healthcare systems should provide healthcare services for mental illness and substance abuse Behavioral treatment methods that are specialized for particular genders and age groups have promised treatment for both disorders. All-purpose diagnosis and simultaneous therapy will bring good results for people with both disorders. Medical intervention is expected to solve mental health issues. Simultaneous treatment for mental illness and substance abuse will help solve both issues. Hospitals and addiction relied centres are able to provide a comprehensive medical assistance for substance abusers to help them come out of the lure of Cigarettes. Their treatment will make the addict a new person when he gets out after the treatment. They even supply special diet to addicts, which will help them recover from their weary condition. These hospitals also have their counselling team who give the required advice to patients. Counselling centres can give counsel to affected people. A nurse can assist him by providing an environment that will help him come out from the hold of addiction. Recreation activities, meditation, proper therapy, praying, rest, diet and exercise are few other ways with the help of which addicts can help them come out from this dreadful hazard. Appropriate treatment can help people come out of this deadly habit. Proper advice (health related as well as spiritual) will make the individual make up his mind against the addiction. Nurse can convince the addict about the ill effects of addiction. While treating for the addiction, the healthcare service providers can also help the patients slowly recover from mental illness. A nurse can assist the patient in providing a good environment, treatment, and advices to make him free from addiction. As the treatments proceed, the addict will gradually have his psychological problem solved. Nurse can offer both therapeutic and advice healing services which can take out the person from his mental issues. A nurse’s role can be better defined as a facilitating or supporting role that can assist a patient to attain a higher level of consciousness. A nurse who develops a care fellowship with a patient helps him to bring out the hidden healing which is already inside him. Mental health issues faced by returning veterans in the Spokane County can be solved by extending healthcare facilities to them. Counseling services, hospitalization and service of nurses can help mentally sick people attain relief from their problems. Deprival of healthcare facilities has been found to be the major problem for veterans in Spokane. Providing healthcare facilities through universal healthcare system and extending the services of healthcare professionals have been found to be the solutions for this problem. The barrier to the solution is nothing but the increasing healthcare costs in the United States. Healthcare costs, especially healthcare service costs are increasing at a fast rate (Marmor et al. 2009). Healthcare costs stand as a barrier for healthcare developments (Marmor et al. 2009). Mental healthcare facilities cannot be extended to people as people are unable to afford healthcare costs. Plan for the solution of mental healthcare issue A solution for mental healthcare issue in Spokane would be setting up a private mental healthcare service. A new business venture is an overwhelming task for mental health professionals. Proper plan should be followed to set up a mental healthcare service. First of all, the business plan should be properly assessed. Understanding the market is the next step. Further, a feasibility study should be performed. Operations should be planned in advance. Managing the finances is very much important in the venture. Moreover, a proper business plan should lead the business. The private mental healthcare service can provide substance abuse, mental health and developmental disability services to the mentally affected people of the Spokane County. The annual cost would be high and difficult to afford because of the increasing healthcare costs. Evaluation Private providers can provide excellent mental healthcare service to the affected population. Regional service networks will be developed. These services will work with community partners and mental health professionals so prepare local business plans. A schedule of programs and providers will be prepared. This will ensure proper connection between consumers and providers. It will also enable proper disbursement of funds and timely monitoring of quality and quantity of the services. The service of private mental healthcare providers should be fully community-based. Costs will be kept low through market competition. Private Service will increase the participation of families and individuals. There will be wider choice of providers and access to services near the houses of patients. Moreover information is readable available about different treatment options. Private providers can develop creative programs and target special populations. For example, private providers can address the issues of the affected veterans in Spokane County. Moreover, private providers can change their locations as they wants. Private providers can effectively address disparities in treatment, practicing new models of health. They can also empower people to become active in the different decisions that influence mental health. Evaluation tool Evaluating private healthcare service The private mental healthcare service focuses on mentally ill veterans in Spokane. As per the business plan, the initial amount needed for starting the business is $20,000. The project sale annually is expected to be over $50,000. The organization’s key to success include service quality, marketing, efficiency, good cash flow plan, growth potential, professional nature of activities and excellent business discipline. The private mental healthcare service is expected to have excellent growth rate and profitability level. The organization’s competitive edge and the new methods of service make them provide excellent service. The added personal touch will make the service special. Services include providing healthcare services, organizing therapeutic sessions, providing health maintenance groups and forming disease-focused therapeutic groups. The mission of the service is to uphold disenfranchised and negatively privileged people. The cash flow plan includes keeping sufficient money every month to meet the cash obligations in the following month. Tracing and avoiding surpluses or deficiencies in cash, changing financial plans to find more cash when deficiencies come, and keeping excess cash in interest-bearing, safe accounts or savings accounts. Understanding the market trend is also important. Apart from this, the organization should keep enough cash, as a backup amount to meet the expenses. Timeline After 3 months After 6 months After 1 Year Number of cases attended Number of healthcare service professionals Amount spend for services (Cost) Annual Project Sale Number of new methods of service added Growth rate and profitability rate References Barlett, Donald L. James B. Steele. (2004). Critical Condition. How Health Care in America Became Big Business and Bad for Medicine. Doubleday. Barlow, D.H., Durand, V.M., Steward, S.H. (2009). Abnormal psychology: An integrative approach. Toronto: Nelson. How Trends in the Health Care System Affect Low-Income Adults: Identifying Access Problems and Financial Burdens. (2008). Issue Brief: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured Kent J. Sacia and Robert H. Dobson (2003) Health Plan Administrative Cost Trends," Prepared for the BlueCross BlueShield Association by Milliman USA. Marmor T, Oberlander J, White J (2009). The Obama administration's options for health care cost control: hope versus reality. 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