Solution to the Patient, Family, or Population's Mental Health Problem

Patient, Family, or Population Health Problem Solution
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Patient, Family, or Population Health Problem Solution
Introduction
A majority of patients with mental health disorders tend to present with physical conditions: for instance, the patient is not only depressed and suicidal but is also a cancer patient. These disparate comorbidities cannot be sufficiently treated using a model of care that relies on an individual clinician delivering the required intervention. The complex treatment needs require an evidence-based integrative model that employs a patient-centered approach using both conventional and adjunctive treatments through a concerted care approach.
Collaborative Care Model
The collaborative care model is a suitable solution to the identified mental health patient problem. The collaborative care model is an efficient method of treating the patient’s depression and anxiety problems in primary care environment through the active assimilation of care managers and consultant psychologists, under the management of primary care physicians, to proactively manage chronic mental health challenges, as opposed to just treating the acute symptoms (Sanchez, 2017). Research evidence shows a positive correlation between mental illness and chronic medical conditions, including cancer, where one form of illness can worsen the other. Like in the patient’s case, physical illness can cause psychological distress and even exacerbate suicide ideation: the patient’s cancer diagnosis accompanied by feelings of loneliness and despair may have pushed him to act on his suicidal thoughts. Collaborative care is, therefore, the best solution to the patient problem because it integrates mental and physical care by treating psychological issues in the primary care setting (Wagenaar et al., 2019).
A multidisciplinary team of the primary care provider, social workers, behavioral health specialists, and other mental health specialists use motivational interviewing to understand the patient’s mental and physical health goals. The information collected from the patient is then used to create a plan of care that all concerned clinicians work collectively to fulfill. Collaborative care employs patient-reported outcome measures to influence clinical management and certify that the patient cost-effectively meets specified health goals. The collaborative care team is headed by a primary care provider and includes nurses, behavioral health care managers, and other mental health professionals. For instance, in the patient’s case, the collaborative care model could include a licensed therapist, psychologist, psychiatric nurse practitioner, and social worker.
The team typically employs evidence-based practice guidelines to execute a measurement-based care plan dedicated to meeting the patient’s needs and not fulfilling clinical goals. Unlike other care models that fail to incorporate behavioral health services, the collaborative care model is not only supported by clinical evidence but is founded on chronic care delivery principles, over and above, concentrates on ensuring accountability as well as quality improvement. Applying a team-driven approach promotes internal accountability among clinicians involved in the plan of care (LaVille Thoren & Vista‐Wayne, 2021). The five critical facets of the proposed solutions are patient-centered team care, population-based care, measurement-based treatment to target, evidence-based care, and accountable care. By integrating physical and mental health care in one care setting, the collaborative care model avoids duplicate evaluations, enhances patient care experience, and improves clinical outcomes.
The model uses electronic health records to track a specific group of patients to ensure no one is being left out. Not improving patients are tracked and assisted by mental health clinicians who provide caseload-specific consultation and not just generic guidance. Focusing on those patients who are not improving to treatment allows swift and smooth transitions of care to other clinical or community-based resources. The collaborative care team categorizes those patients who require special attention irrespective of their engagement levels by going through the electronic health records list of patients every week. This approach allows the collaborative care team to identify patterns of determinants and gaps within the delivery system. The integration of electronic health records is critical to population management and facilitates the implementation of system-wide interventions or enhancement of legislative policy. The collaborative care model ensures that the patient’s treatment plan enunciates individual goals and clinical outcomes, periodically evaluated using evidence-based tools (Geist et al., 2020). If the patient is not responding to a particular treatment, other interventions are sought until the patient’s clinical goals are attained.
Moreover, the treatment provided to patients is founded on credible research evidence to ensure success in treating the target condition. The effectiveness of the collaborative care model is supported by an extensive evidence base, unlike most integrated care models. Mental healthcare providers are also held accountable for the quality of care since reimbursement is based on clinical outcomes and quality of care rather than the quantity of care provided. Therefore, clinicians are incentivized to provide the most current evidence-based interventions, keep healthcare costs down, and ensure patient satisfaction.
Integrative Care
A suitable intervention to the identified mental health patient problem is combining conventional mental health care with non-pharmacological methods of treating comorbidity. Despite the extensive evidence showing the efficacy of pharmacologic treatments in reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms, the proof for complete and enduring reduction in suicidal tendencies from pharmacological interventions is limited. A significant proportion of patients struggling with anxiety, depression, and suicide thoughts fail to respond to pharmacological treatment. Studies indicate that poor clinical outcomes in this group are often the result of the limited efficacy of antidepressants, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers accompanied by adverse socioeconomic and environmental factors (Ee et al., 2020). For instance, besides his cancer diagnosis, he is also struggling with poor social capital in the case of the patient. His loneliness and alienation from his relatives may be compounding his anxiety and depressive symptoms, thereby pushing him to act on his suicidal thoughts.
Since the patient’s anxiety and depressive symptoms result from the interplay of societal, biological, and physiological factors, conventional mental health care may not effectively deal with presenting symptoms or recurring suicide thoughts. Because of the patient’s co...