…Ackowledging and incorporating the role of the mental on the physical in our organization
There is no doubt that mental illness is a huge component of morbidity and mortality in this country. Serious and persistent mental illness (SPMI) has a major impact in health care. Psychiatric patients are crowding the emergency departments and it is becoming more and more difficult to provide an appropriate disposition for those patients in the acute setting. Many hospitals are ill-equipped to handle these patients. Every physical illness has a psychiatric component and every psychiatric disorder has a physical manifestation. Furthermore, it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish the difference between what is a normal human emotion, such as anxiety or depression, and what comprises a mental illness. Physical illness in this country is culturally accepted but mental illness can be met with taboo and stigmas. How can we better incorporate the components of mental and physical illnesses into the total care plan for the patient? How can our care models equally address the significance of the physical and mental in the management and treatment of disease? Dr. Berkowitz will discuss national best practices in the total treatment of the patient that optimizes both the mental and the physical outcome.
- Discuss the impact of mental illness and in particular the burden of SPMI in this country today
- Discuss the continuum of physical disease and mental disease and how each one can effect the ultimate clinical outcome
- Discuss the medical and social stigmas of mental disease and how these prejudices effect patient outcomes
- Discuss the implementation of an integrative culture that values both physical and mental aspects of illness
- Review national best practice models in the treatment and management of both the physical and mental aspects of disease and how they can be applied to your institution