Milestone 4

Program Evaluation for Public Health Intervention for the Mental Health Crisis and Mental Shortage in the Concord, New Hampshire

SMART Program Goal	Connection to the Mission	Performance Measures	Data Collection Methods
Goal #1 - Revise salary packages of psychiatric practitioners as per the prevailing market standards	Many practitioners in the field are paid less compared to other professionals in similar job groups. Increasing their salary will motivate them to work hard as well as help retain them thus help address the issue of high rates of turnover	Process Measure: Ø  Salary increment	Ø  Questionnaires Ø  Surveys Ø  Checklists
		Outcome Measure: Ø  Satisfaction and retention of practitioners Ø  Improved wellbeing of those with mental conditions	Ø  Observation Ø  Documentation review
Goal #2 –Sponsoring students to pursue psychiatry in institutions of higher learning	There is shortage of psychiatrists throughout the country. However the number of doctors specializing in other areas have increased by 45% over the years while those taking psychiatric by only 12%. Sponsoring students pursue the course will help bridge the gap witnessed in the area.	Process Measure: Ø  More students enrolling for psychiatric courses	Ø  Case studies
		Outcome Measure: Ø  Increased numbers of practitioners Ø  Improved quality of healthcare	Ø  Observation Ø

 

 

 

 

 

Interventions

            Collaborative intervention program for the management of the depressive disorder is one of the recommended strategies that are appropriate for dealing with the mental disorders in Concord. This is an evidence based approach that is efficient in improving the symptoms of the depressed patients, their adherent to the treatment, their response to the treatment and the reduction and recovery from the depression. Based on the weight of the evidence that is acquired from the cost and benefits, it is clear that these collaborative model care interventions offer good economic value. This intervention program is also a health care system level intervention that utilizes case directors to connect primary care providers the patients as well as the mental health specialists. The intervention aims at improving the regular screening and diagnosing of the depressive disorder (Community preventive service task force n.y).

            This intervention program has been effective to the community as it have enhanced the support of the primary care givers through their case managers to perform functions such as providing the patients with education, making up follow ups so as to track depression outcomes and the observance to their treatment. They are also able to adjust treatment strategy for those patients who fail to respond well and fail to show signs of improvement (Community preventive service task force n.y). The use of the technology based resources such as the electronic medical data, telephone records and contacts and some of the provider reminder methods enhance the intervention to be a success as these mental specialists will be able to make an easier follow up on the patients.

            Collaborative model intervention program will thus be very vital in mental health sector in Concord as all the relevant care givers and other managers will be involved in ensuring that mental health crisis that is caused by the psychiatrist shortage is addressed. This gap that is in existence in New-Hampshire should be bridged through the collaborative initiative where the primary givers and case managers who are available are offered education and assistance from the few mental health specialists in the country. This will help in the division of labor amongst all these people thus allowing them to be able to treat the increasing number of people who are suffering from the depression disorder. They will also be able to offer and deliver timely treatment and follow ups on the patients as they the load of patients will be divided amongst all the collaborators. As the government also offers the resources and the funding of this program as they are also collaborators they will enhance these specialists to be able to meet the needs of all the case managers, the mental health specialists and the primary care givers. Hence they wil be able to function effectively and deliver quality services to their patients as they will be motivated to work in unison so as to attain a common goal of averting the mental disorders that face the citizens in Concord, New Hampshire.

            This intervention program is cost effective as compared to the usual care and other collaborative care that includes the pharmaceutical treatment. According to the other studies as well it is important to note that, it is vital to carry out training as well as background of the core members of the collaborative team. This should be integrated with more research on the effectiveness of the collaborative care that has been undertaken in the area and in other areas so as to be able to have strong information concerning the field on the practicality of this intervention for the management of the mental ill health so as to have a continuous improvement.

 

 

 

References

Community preventive service task force (n.y). Improving Mental Health and Addressing Mental Illness: Collaborative Care for the Management of Depressive Disorders. Retrieved from:

https://www.thecommunityguide.org/sites/default/files/assets/Mental-Health-Collaborative-Care.pdf