“Caring for Patients with Mental Illness

at
Categories
Tags

Deinstitutionalization, a multi-stage process, resulted from a shift in policy. Deinstitutionalization allowed individuals with chronic, severe mental illness to move out of state mental hospitals into community-based settings. Between 1955 and 1980, the resident population of state hospitals dropped from 559,000 to 154,000 in the United States (Koyanagi, 2007). By 1990, state hospitals began closing completely throughout the United States.
Although deinstitutionalization sought to improve care for those with mental illness, progress has been slow. Moving patients out of state institutions has placed greater burdens on family members and increased the demand for funding and resources to care for those with mental illness. A shift toward community-based care has increased the role of social workers in community mental health.
To prepare for this Discussion:
Consider trends in mental health issues and mental health care. Review this week’s resources and focus on the debate about the deinstitutionalization policy in mental health care.
Post a brief explanation of how the deinstitutionalization policy has affected inpatient psychiatric care.
Then, explain how the policy affects the roles of psychiatric social workers in providing care for patients with mental illness.
Considering the policy, explain the challenges and issues caregivers face when caring for individuals with mental illness. Identify three resources (provide name and web address) available in your local area (county or state) to support patients with mental illness and caregivers.
Explain whether these resources are adequate to meet the needs of mental illness patients and caregivers. Justify your response

 

Sample Solution

Caring for Patients with Mental Illness

Deinstitutionalization has progressed since the mid-1950s. Although it has been successful for many individuals, it has been a failure for others. Deinstitutionalization policy has affected inpatient psychiatric care. For example, between 1955 and 1994, roughly 487,000 mentally ill patients were discharged from state hospitals. That lowered the number to only 72,000 patients (Mark James Estren “Prescription Drug Abuse,” Ronin publishing, 2013). States closed most of their hospitals. That permanently reduced the availability of long-term, inpatient care facilities. By 2010, there were 43,000psychiatric beds available. This equated to about 14 beds per 1000,000 people (Treatment Advocacy Center).

To continue with, by getting into a group of more “technologically developed” countries and companies, firms can benefit in improving their production. More specifically, by integrating with larger companies, firms incorporate better technological equipment. As a result, firms can produce more efficiently and hence, enhance their profits.

At this point it would be useful to mention the phenomenon of “government subsidizing”. When a government notices a decrease in the country’s GDP (i.e. deficit) due to great import of products, which is expensive and in some cases time consuming, it aims to increase the domestic production. By subsidizing small firms, companies/firms will result in greater production and will therefore commence exporting. In that way, companies will become increase their popularity and eventually become multinational.

However, it is of great importance for firms to obey to specific criteria in order for them to be in fact considered “multinational”.

It is true, that the improvement of technological equipment, transportation of products and development of production processes and communications play a great role in the consideration of a company as “multinational”.

Neil H. Jacoby proposes that a multinational corporation evolves from six stages. The first stage is exporting its products to foreign countries.

In fact, when a country wants to get involved with another country’s market (market share), the government of the first country subsidizes a small company in the second country (country of interest) so as to increase its incomes. This phenomenon is called joint venture exporting and can be more specifically described as the procedure of producing goods in one country and selling them in another one. This procedure is linked to the first stage Jacoby described. Following the procedure of exporting, firms become multinational, increasing their profits and contributing to the outcome of the world’s economy and GDP.

The second stage involves establishing sales organizations abroad.

The next stage involves “Licenses use of its patent and know-how to foreign that make and sell its products”. This process is called “licensing” and it can be the procedure of “when a company offers the

This question has been answered.

Get Answer