Challenges Using the AQHR Reseac Paradigm at an Outpatient VA Menral Health - Essay Example

Challenges using AHRQ Research Paradigm at an outpatient VA Mental Health Your al affiliation The agency for health research and quality (AHRQ) mission is to support and conduct research to improve the safety and quality of health care .Therefore, this agency produces evidence based information and ensures that it’s effectively used (Clancy, 2005).AHRQ recommends the use of an integrated care program managing mental health problems ie, integrating mental health care in primary care setting.

This integration has shown to have many benefits .For instance, it enhances patient engagement and yields favorable results compared to evidence based care (WHO, 2007).Other benefits are; reduced stigma, better access to health care since the patient will be treated for co-morbid conditions such as Hiv /Aids , cancer and diabetes. Using this model enhances easier communication with practitioners and better follow-up of mental health disorders. Integrating of mental health care in primary care systems ensures early detection and prevention of mental health disorders (WHO, 2007).

There are a number of challenges in using ARHQ recommendations. Time availability is a major challenge and it leads to overworking of the health care workers due to diverse health care programs. Increasing the number of health care providers can help in solving this challenge. The primary health care providers can also feel uncomfortable when dealing with mental disorders. Reluctance when working with mental disorders is also expected (WHO, 2007).Absence of a good referral system between primary health care and secondary care institutions is another challenge as it reduces the effectiveness of mental health care offered at primary care level (WHO, 2007).

Another challenge is organization barriers which include lack of administrative support and appreciation of such research paradigm (Cook and Grant, 2002). Therefore, implementing of this research paradigm may be prevented by bad administrative policies. Organizational barriers are in the form of resistance to change and addition of new responsibilities.Lack of enough infrastructure and staff is another challenge and strengthening of the existing health care institutions can help in solving this challenge.

This will involve enabling primary health care centers to offer mental health care services. More medical staff should be trained and recruited to increase competence and quality of services offered, Training of human resource ensures easy identification and treatment of mental disorders. However, this requires more resources which may not be available. Lack of sufficient funding is a major impediment to the use of this paradigm (Menlnyk, Fineout-Overholt, Feinstein, Small, Wilcox and Kraus, 2004).

The government should avail more funds to solve this challenge.Another challenge is sustainability problem (Butler, Kae, McAlpine, Kaltol, Fu, Hagedorn and Wilt, 2008).For sustainability of any research paradigm, continued supply of resources and commitment is required. Sometimes there is lack of resources and commitment and this compromises sustainability of the paradigm. Various strategies can be used to solve this challenge. These strategies are; continued supply of medicines for psychological disorders, adequate supervision of staff and developing of collaborative network to offer referral services.

Such collaborative links are important for better outcomes (WHO, 2007).Junior professionals should also be incorporated to help in professional growth.Lack of good monitoring and evaluation system in many institutions is a major challenge in implementing this paradigm (Melnyk, 2002).A good monitoring and evaluation system will help in assessing success of this paradigm and possibly detect those areas that need more attention.ReferencesButler, M., Kae, R.L., McAlpine, D., Kaltol, R.G., Fu, S.S.

, Hagedorn, H and Wilt, T.J. (2008). Integrating of mental health /substance abuse and primary care. AHRQ publication No. 09-E003.Retrieved from http:www.ahq.govClancy, C.(2005). Evaluating the potential of new Technologies.Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22842/Cook, L. and Grant, M. (2002). Support for evidence based practice. Seminars in Oncology nursing , 18 (1), 71-78. doi:10.1053/sonu.2002.30049Menlnyk, B.M (2002). Strategies for overcoming barriers in implementing evidence based practice.

Pediatric nursing , 28 (2), 159-161. doi:10.1016/j.pedn.2006.09.002Menlnyk, B.M., Fineout-Overholt, E, Feinstein, N.F., Small, L., Wilcox, L and Kraus, R (2004). Nurses perceived knowledge, belief, skills and needs regarding evidence based practice:Implementing for accelerating for paradigm shift. World views on evidence based nursing , 185-193.doi:10.1111/j.1524-475x.2004WHO. (2007). Integrating mental health care into primary health care.Retrieved from http://www.int/mental_health/policy/services/MHintol/HC_Inforsheet.pdf