Mental health month celebrates successtreatment works, people recover
By Shelly Webb
May 8, 2011
293
May is recognized and celebrated as Mental Health Month, which actually began in 1949 with the goal to raise awareness of mental health conditions and mental wellness for all. During the past 62 years many things have changed in the mental health arena.
The biggest change has probably come in the way that society and communities treat and accept mental health issues. Local Holmes and Wayne County residents have many options when it comes to addressing the issue of mental health.
According to Judy Wortham Wood, executive director for the local Mental Health & Recovery Board of Wayne and Holmes Counties, nearly 7,000 Wayne and Holmes County residents, children, adults and seniors received treatment services this past year from the various treatment agencies partially funded by the Wayne-Holmes Mental Health & Recovery Board (MHRB).
Treatment services include counseling and other supportive case services. Every agency under the MHRB is closely studied and all findings and statistics are reported. The most recent report shows a very successful year for all area agencies, which mean that residents in Holmes and Wayne counties are extremely fortunate to have access to such professional organizations.
We offer many successful services and several great agencies that are available to the public, Wood explained. The Counseling Center of Wayne and Holmes Counties is one example of services offered. This year the efficiency rate regarding clients served per 1,000 population at the counseling center actually exceeded the MHCA (the Mental Health Corporation of America) benchmark by 92 percent, indicating a very efficient operation on behalf of the counseling center.
Wood added that the counseling centers treatment operation needed 15 percent less psychiatric bed days per 1,000 population than the Ohio statewide median, which produced significant savings in high expense care.
Also, when people returned to the community after being hospitalized for psychiatric care, the center successfully linked 15 percent more inpatient cases than their average for the last three years with direct aftercare services after discharge from the hospital, Wood added. And, 95 percent of all those treated (3,970 people) reported that services were helping them deal with their problems, and 99 percent indicated that they would refer others to the center.
Another local mental health service agency, Your Human Resource Center of Wayne & Holmes Counties, also had a great year, with nearly 60 percent of individuals treated for substance abuse reporting stable employment and housing at the time they completed their treatment at the agency.
Your Human Resource Center of Wayne & Holmes Counties served eight percent more clients than anticipated prior to fiscal year 2010 and still met 87 percent of their performance targets due to the agencys operational focus on efficiencies, Wood said. Also, 93 percent of youth in the agencys juvenile justice case management program did not recidivate into the justice system.
Liberty Center Connections (LCC) is one more successful treatment option available in our area. LCC started a drug court with the Wayne County Common Pleas Court to provide treatment supervision to adults convicted of drug offenses. Thirty-seven percent of those who participated in the court were drug free after six months, which is a great accomplishment and the mark of a successful program. Also, less than two percent of those completing the DUI Alcohol Education program were convicted of a similar driving offense in the following year.
We also saw great successes with Catholic Charities Community Services this year as well, Wood added. This agency served 62 youth and their families in our juvenile court program (Parents and Children Cooperating Together). Ninety-two percent of the youth served in this program did not require out of home placement. Also, 79 percent of the youth served in the program had no new charges with the court system at all.
In addition to Your Human Resource Center, the Counseling Center, Liberty Center Connections and Catholic Charities Community Services, the MHRB also helps fund the Village Network (TVN) and Christian Childrens Home of Ohio (CCHO) and saw great successes and wonderful customer satisfaction within these agencies.
Overall, when considering every agency supported by the local MHRB, Wood is very proud that the customer satisfaction rate is 95 percent and Robert Smedley, associate director of the board, agreed.
There is much more that goes into making treatment work than one might think, Smedley said. It is hard and complicated work. The service has to be customer friendly, it has to be accessible, it needs to be efficient and quality driven, and we must study the results of the work to continue the quality improvement process. Our most recent report reveals some of what goes into making treatment work.
Mental illness and drug addiction are biologically based brain disorders and can be treated like any other physical health condition, according to the Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities. It is often associated with chronic physical disorders including obesity, heart and pulmonary diseases, and hypertension. Recovery rates with treatment are 80 percent for bipolar disorder; 70 percent for major depression, panic and obsessive-compulsive disorder; and 60 percent for addictions and schizophrenia.
Untreated mental illnesses are costly: 50 percent of youths with a mental disorder drop out of high school, 75 percent of incarcerated youths have a substance disorder, 64 percent of adult jail inmates have a diagnosable mental illness, and 80 percent of children in foster care have a parent with a substance abuse disorder.
The agencies and the Mental Health & Recovery Board take the Wayne and Holmes Counties investment in mental health treatment very seriously, and make every attempt to provide the community with a good return on their investment, Wood added. Not only are the reports and data for these agencies in great standing, but public perception is also at a high level. Wood shared that the board completed an awareness survey at the Holmes and Wayne County fairs in 2010 to test the publics awareness and valuing of the services paid for by the board.
On a scale of 1-10, the survey indicated an overall value rating of 8.83, which is considered a high value rating, she said. This mirrors the boards efforts to maintain quality services for the public and we are very pleased with that.
In honor of Mental Health Month, the May 19 health feature will highlight a new mental health agency and program available in the community known as MOCA House.
