Research Paper 2: Access to Mental Health for the Youth

Access to Mental Health for the Youth
Student Name
Institution Affiliation
Date of Submission
Background
Mental health care is a subject that has been largely associated with the adults. However, there is a population that has been neglected for the longest time and one that not most researches have addressed; this is the population of youths that are suffering from mental health conditions. In most of the cases, the youths and their families do not have access to mental health care in their neighborhood and in some of the cases in their counties (Geist, 2017). As most of the health care facilities have concentrated their efforts on the adults’ population suffering from mental health conditions. In the wake of the school shootings that have been on the rise, there is a need to address the question of access to mental health services for the youths and children in the United States. It is clear that most of the policies in place within the health care systems do not capture the element of mental health among the youths. The hospital does not offer adequate cover for the mental conditions suffered by youths and hence the need for the changes (Cummings, Wen & Druss, 2013). This is also reflected at the national policies, however, this project will concentrate on the hospital policies which are much easier to review and change. In the future, the program could be expanded to cover the entire of the United States or some parts of the states. Parents struggling with mentally unstable children find themselves with the burden of accessing health care services out of their pockets (Geist, 2017).
Time
The project is estimated to take quite some time relative to the number of stakeholders that are involved in the changes. Given the parties involved and the intricate processes of getting the policies changed and implemented, it is estimated that the project will take one and half years. Relative to the scale of the internal policies that the hospital has to change one and a half years is going to be enough (Georgetown Institute, 2017).
Goals
* To offer parents a comprehensive cover for their youths
* To offer youth suffering from mental health access to medical insurance
* To offer adequate mental health care to the youths at the hospital depending on their resources
* To reduce the impact of mental health conditions on the society
Scope
The scope of the project is going to include a number of phases, one of them being the evaluation of the current policies on youth mental care services. This will include the level of access to health care services, which include checkups, treatment plans, and medication, dedicated teams to develop winning treatment plans and follow up services. The other aspects will involve the establishment of the insurance cover packages that will be introduced in the pilot project to cover the different social classes. The packages will heavily borrow from the Affordable Care Act approaches in developing policies.
Cost
The project is estimated to cost roughly 20 million dollars. This is considering that there quite a number of aspects that are involved in the project, such as the campaign, education, stakeholder meeting facilitation, evaluation of the current policies, development of the inclusive ones, review of the new policies in a follow up program.
* Campaigns-200,000
* Educating the stakeholders -400,000
* Stakeholders meeting facilitation- 100,000
* Evaluation of current policies-100,000
* Development of inclusive policies- 300,000
* Review of current policies-400,000
* Follow up program-500,000
Performance
To make sure that the project is running effectively, the project will be reviewed on the account of the milestones that the various departments will achieve. Every other stage on the project mentioned above will be awarded point relative to the progress of the program. The points will be out twenty, and will be awarded in a progressive approach. This is a crucial part of the project as it will ensure the success of the different parts of the program (Cummings, Wen & Druss, 2013). Based on the point system, the program will be evaluated to establish the different success level of the teams as well. If a program in a certain aspect is failing, there is a factor of the team that is contributing to the same.
Stakeholders’ identification
This is a program that affects not just the hospital but the community at large. As such there are a number of stakeholders that are going to be involved in the same among the insurance companies, state officials from the health sector, scholar in field of mental health medicine and community members. All the members are going to be pivotal in the establishment of the policies and such their inputs are going to be very important, relative to the different viewpoints. Members to the project will be sourced through request emails and interviews to determine their place in the program that they will play their part in. As such, it is going to be crucial that every other member of the project is vetted for their suitability and efficiency (Cummings, Wen & Druss, 2013).
Methods of Collecting Data
The research will employ questionnaires due to the fact that, the nature of topic to be covered requires information from many respondents. This research is cognizant of the fact that to initiate policy changes either at organizational level or at the public level there is need to involve all the stake holders (Soraceno, Van, & Mahoney, 2007). The respondents will be drawn in this regard from recognized mental health facilities that will be able to give the information needed. The health care providers are better placed in analyzing the issues of policies and the challenges these policies pose to them when offering mental health care services to the patients. The questionnaires will be offered to psychiatrist mental health practitioners who will be very resourceful in providing relevant and first-hand information in regard to their service provision to the general public. Some of the key factors that will be addressed are the challenges that they face when offering mental health care services to the public, the policy limitations in the health services provision to the youths and the recommendation for change in order to provide access of their services to the youths. Moreover, the hospital management and government organizations in charge of mental health issues will be crucial in the change process they shall provide the relevant information and they will give a wider view of the issue under investigations. The other stakeh...