Evaluating a Preliminary Care Coordination Plan

Care Coordination Plan
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Care Coordination Plan
One of the three health care issues related to the selected health care problem of mental health is lack of knowledge and awareness of mental health disorders, over and above, availability and accessibility of mental health services and resources. There is a lack of sufficient mental health literacy levels among a majority of affected individuals to facilitate recognition of particular disorders and their risk factors to enable help-seeking. Various studies show that certain populations, particularly young people, are unable to recognize symptoms of mental health illness and lack knowledge about the availability of help. Because mental health problems arise at a young age, the challenge of mental health illiteracy among adolescents and young adults is a serious concern for care coordinators focused on mental health improvement. Suppose people suffering from mental health issues are unable to recognize their condition or even know where or how to seek help. In that case, their symptoms will likely worsen, thereby making it harder for them to recover and lead a more contented and meaningful life.
The second health care issue concerns the social stigma associated with mental health problems. Although societal disapproval towards people with mental health disorders has significantly lowered over the years, there is still some stigma associated with mental illness or seeking help for eating disorders, bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression, or PTSD. A national survey by the Centers for Disease Control showed that two-thirds of Americans believe that considerable stigma was linked to mental illness. Fifty percent of the respondents in the survey admitted that they would not welcome a mental health facility in their community (Carbonell et al., 2020). These negative and discriminatory attitudes make it difficult for those with a mental illness to seek help or even overcome their health condition and lead happy and meaningful lives. Unfortunately, the pressure of mental health stigma emanates mostly from the patient’s family members, friends, and coworkers. Stigma against mental illness is typically founded on personal, family, or social beliefs and is largely the consequence of a lack of awareness, perception, education, or fear. Discrimination against people with mental disorders is a serious concern for care coordinators because it results in negative social and health outcomes. Those who face stigma because of their mental health problems are unlikely to recover from their symptoms, be in long-term relationships, find a work placement, live in good housing, or be socially included in mainstream society.
The third concern relates to lack of transportation: the pursuit of good mental health services is inseparably linked to the affected individual’s ability to move freely and access community and health care resources. Unfortunately, due to financial hardships or the geographical location of the affected individual, a significant proportion of those suffering from mental health illness cannot access health care services or community resources. Transportation in rural areas can present a significant barrier to mental health care: the unavailability of reliable transportation impacts peoples’ ability to access well-coordinated and appropriate health care (Syed et al., 2013). Similarly, financial hardships can mean not having the ability to keep up with medical appointments or even accessing critical health. The groups most affected by transportation challenges include the elderly, veterans, people with disabilities, those living in remote and isolated areas, as well as low-income individuals and families. Transportation issues are a significant concern for the care coordinator as it results in poor utilization of mental health care services in the form of high no-show rates.
An intervention for the first two health issues (the challenge of lack of knowledge and awareness of mental health disorders as well as the availability of mental health services and resources along with the challenge of social stigma) is conducting a public health awareness campaign. Mental health promotion is the best way to foster individual competence and eliminate prevailing personal or social attitudes and beliefs that foster stigmatization of persons with mental health issues. The awareness campaign will aim to improve mental health literacy levels among the public, particularly regarding mental health risk factors, symptoms, and resources. Besides educating the public on the various symptoms of common mental health disorders, the campaign will strive to normalize help-seeking and self-care, over and above, the importance of managing one’s emotional health. It is tied to the objective of raising awareness about mental illness and community health resources to confront the continued stigma of mental health issues. Once people are empowered to manage their symptoms and even seek help to stop their mental health from escalating, the lack of understanding or fear associated with mental illness is significantly reduced. It becomes possible to deal with self-stigma and institutional discrimination against people with mental illness. Positive representations of people with mental illness and open discussion forums with public members will be a central part of the campaign aimed at shifting social and systemic barriers for those living with mental health conditions.
The other intervention relating to the health care issue of transportation challenges faced by mental health patients when seeking care or health care resources will be addressed by seeking a grant from programs that focus on improving access to public transportation. For instance, the Access and Mobility Partnership Grants provides competitive funding to support projects that improve coordination of transportation services for those facing transportation challenges and requiring non-emergency health services. There are other programs such as the Rural Business Development Grant Program, RAISE Transportation Discretionary Grants, Bus and Bus Facilities Infrastructure Program, and Community Mobility Ready-to-Launch Grants, among others that provide financial support to meritorious projects if care coordinators can demonstrate that the proposed initiatives will help ease transportation disadvantages to marginalized groups. Three community resources for addressing lack of knowledge and awareness of mental health disorders as well as the availability of mental health services and resources are the National...