Promoting Access Through Integrated Mental Health Care Education.

Karan Kverno

doi:10.2174/187443460160101073

Abstract

Mental disorders are the leading cause of non-communicable disability worldwide. Insufficient numbers of psychiatrically trained providers and geographic inequities impair access. To close this treatment gap, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called for the integration of mental health services with primary care. A new innovative online program is presented that increases access to mental health education for primary care nurse practitioners in designated mental health professional shortage areas. To create successful and sustainable change, an overlapping three-phase strategy is being implemented. Phase I is recruiting and educating primary care nurse practitioners to become competent and certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners. Phase II is developing partnerships with state and local agencies to identify and support the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner education and clinical training. Phase III is sustaining integrated mental health care services through the development of nurse leaders who will participate in interdisciplinary coalitions and educate future students.

Highlights

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Constitution [1], “health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”
With the grant money received from the state of Maryland, we developed an accelerated online psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner program
The evidence shows that collaborative practice and integrated health care systems produce better health outcomes [2, 5, 11], understanding the specific impact of the Johns Hopkins Post-graduate Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners (PMHNPs) program will require the collection and evaluation of data regarding the PMHNP certification pass rates of graduates, employment settings and locations, employer and community perceptions of the value of PMHNP, roles in health care teams and availability and willingness to teach future students

Summary

INTRODUCTION

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Constitution [1], “health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. The aim of Phase II is to align state and local resources to support existing primary care nurse practitioners in designated shortage areas to obtain post-graduate PMHNP training This intersectoral approach involves the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Office of Access to Primary Care, the State Board of Nursing, local agencies, especially those funded by the state, the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and potential philanthropic donations. The Johns Hopkins School of Nursing Post-graduate PMHNP program aims to produce graduates who are “collaborative practice ready” by weaving a focus on integrated healthcare and collaborative practice throughout the educational program, including expert speakers from nursing, psychiatry, psychology, and social work and seeking clinical training opportunities in collaborative practice settings This includes building in the knowledge and skills inherent in the four collaborative practice competency domains identified by the Interprofessional Education Collaborative Expert Panel [17]: 1) values and ethics for interprofessional practice; 2) roles and responsibilities; 3) interprofessional communication; and 3) teams and teamwork. The evidence shows that collaborative practice and integrated health care systems produce better health outcomes [2, 5, 11], understanding the specific impact of the Johns Hopkins Post-graduate PMHNP program will require the collection and evaluation of data regarding the PMHNP certification pass rates of graduates, employment settings and locations, employer and community perceptions of the value of PMHNP, roles in health care teams and availability and willingness to teach future students

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Findings

A Call for Action