Ensuring that every patient has equal opportunity to achieve optimal mental health and wellbeing is the cornerstone of ag亚游官网’s (唯有通过) 门诊行为健康服务 (OBHS) at the ag亚游官网 ag亚游官网 Highland Hospital Campus (WCHHC) and Fairmont Rehabilitation and Wellness.
“The collective goal of our OBHS staff is to create a compassionate, equitable and culturally sensitive health care environment for our patients suffering with mental illness,莫里斯·弗里德说, 博士学位, OBHS项目经理, 精神病学和行为健康. “我们满足不同患者的需求. We individualize their treatment plans and help remove barriers for achieving their highest level possible of independent functioning.”
Racial and ethnic minorities often suffer from poor mental health outcomes and face various obstacles including limited access, 精神疾病污名, 哪一种在少数民族中更常见, 语言障碍和缺乏多样性, 具有文化能力的提供者.
除了, while one in five American adults experience mental illness each year, 非裔美国人, Hispanic and Asian adults with mental illness are less likely than white adults to receive mental health services according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). These disparities can have powerful significance for minority groups and for healthy communities as a whole.
To help bridge equity gaps OBHS is prioritizing minority mental health through a continuum of 门诊 行为健康 programs and care strategies rooted in diversity, 公平与包容. The services provided include the Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP), 强化门诊项目（IOP）, 门诊行为健康服务诊所计划（OBHSC）, 以及善后/健康计划.
病人 are referred to OBHS programs from multiple agencies across the County including Alameda County Behavioral Health Care 服务 (ACBHCS), John George Psychiatric Hospital and our four ambulatory wellness centers. “每个来找我们的病人都有不同的精神障碍, 从严重到中度到轻度的精神疾病. We provide a supportive and inclusive home where they can receive care.”
例如, PHP serves patients experiencing moderate to severe psychiatric symptoms and who are transitioning from a residential or inpatient level of care. 唯有通过 provides transportation for patients to participate in structured treatment five days a week for four to six hours a day and they are still able to 住在家里.
Therapy takes place in group settings to minimize social isolation and to encourage patients to connect with each other and with diverse care teams comprised of medical and support staff. Dr. 炸 shared that because 唯有通过 serves a multiracial and multicultural community, 拥有能够反映我们所服务的社区的员工是至关重要的. “It increases trust and improves the overall patient experience to have providers and staff who look like them, 说同一种语言，有相似的文化生活经历.”
The benefits for PHP patients include maintaining important links to family and community as well as medication supervision and management, 开展了解精神疾病和减少耻辱感的教育, 复发预防和症状管理. PHP patients are also connected to much-need resources for access to healthy food, 交通和财政援助.
“Being part of this welcoming treatment community is priceless because it lets me develop and maintain invaluable relationships with peers and staff,分享了一个来自强化门诊项目的病人. “这给了我个人对未来的希望.”
因为心理健康影响到整个家庭, the program encourages family involvement in treatment planning and family therapy is also available to support the patient’s resilience and recovery. Dr. 炸 shared that a couple recently reached out to OBHS desperately seeking day treatment support for their thirty-year-old son diagnosed with schizophrenia.
他曾多次住院, was not doing well on his current medications and they were concerned for his safety as his depression continued to get worse. People with schizophrenia can have higher rates of suicide at 10 to 15%. Individuals with severe mental illness will require lifelong treatment; and a program like PHP can be extremely beneficial for improving their quality of life.
“The parents are getting older and they needed to know that their son would be connected to someplace that is going to look out for him long term and provide him with quality medical oversight throughout his mental health journey,”医生说。. 炸.
Mental health is essential to a person’s life in the same way as physical health. 为纪念全国少数民族精神健康月, it is important to normalize conversations surrounding mental health so people can feel empowered to seek the help they need.
OBHS has developed an integrated continuum of care with programs tailored to meet the ongoing needs and goals of each patient and to reduce their risk of hospitalizations. They also rely on colleagues in the department of medicine to help with medical care for patients.
“An integral part of delivering on our mission of serving all is reducing inequities in minority mental health through culturally responsive 门诊 care so that every patient reaches their highest potential to lead healthy, 积极而富有成效的生活.”
For more information on PHP and all of the OBHS programs visit 唯有通过’s 门诊行为健康服务.