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Write a research paper on the evidence-based practices in agencies such as yours, and which address the social problems your agency addresses with its clients.
Evidence-based practice is important in making qualified decisions regarding the care that patients receive. The use of data in order to better determine the most effective treatments moving forward can help immensely throughout the patient care process. Understanding the resources that are available to specific health care professionals and implementing methods for controlling standards in such environments present the most important means by which the care of patients can be made to be more clearly defined. The systematic collection and evaluation of materials, development of questions and hypotheses, and consideration of observations are effective ways to empirically promote the standards by which professionals are expected to act. Fully integrating the primary components of expertise, research practice and evidence, and values held by patients can help to promote the optimal care process. In enhancing professional skills in this area, healthcare workers can fully adopt the skills and knowledge that they have acquired and leverage leverage them in order to create a better environment for their patients. Assessment of information, asking questions, acquiring and applying evidence, and evaluating the overall experience are necessary steps in the process of enhancing patient recovery. There are a variety of institutions devoted to directing such values within the context of social work and behavioral health services. One such agency, Western Montana Mental Health Center (WMMHC) is dedicated towards addressing these concerns within a non-profit field. In evaluating the way in which this agency has adopted these ideals their implications in the real world can be better understood.
WHHMC is a collection of mental health care institutions composed of 45 different facilities spread throughout southwestern Montana. Programs involving case management, crisis response and stabilization, providing group homes for adults and youth, and centers providing drop in treatment and vocational services are all important aspects of the organization (WMMHC, 2012). Previous limitations on mental health services prompted the establishment of the organization, which was created after Federal involvement provided the necessary resources. Over the past few decades, the organization has grown to include more facilities with an increasingly wide range of perspectives. Through the application of evidence-based practice techniques, the agency uses research and evidence in order to determine what services and programs are offered. The institution is built upon a “recovery” model of care, which is primarily concerned with the establishment of methods that allow for the individuation of processes that can help to transform treatment on a fundamental level. This involves “an individualized process of transformation by which people move from lower to higher levels of fulfillment in areas of hope, satisfaction with social networks, control over life decisions, and level of symptom interference” (WMMHC, 2012). Assessing the mental status of clients, closely evaluating their ability to have positive community relationships, providing support in areas that have been found to be unstable, developing treatment methods for moving forward, helping patients to attain valuable and essential resources, and providing general outreach services in order to better meet their needs are all fundamental aspects of evidence-based practice that are utilized by the organization. The strength-based approach taken by WMMHC places the case manager at the center of a connected framework for the clients. In this way, their specific needs are able to be met by providing housing opportunities, access to educational, medical, or legal resources, and supporting them in their social lives. These aspects of care are essential for the organization and in promoting such values social issues such as inequality and social injustice can be met with explicit criteria for enhancing the lives of those in society.
Using two professional journal articles, describe what has been found to be effective in terms of models, practices, and interventions for clients or client systems such as your practicum agency.
Vincent R. Starnino, in his essay “An Integral Approach to Mental Health Recovery: Implications for Social Work” further elaborates on the way in which institutions devoted to health care are able to promote recovery. The process by which individuals with mental health disorders are able to improve their conditions is an important element in relation to the improvement of patient health within the field. Mental disorders or problems with substance abuse can be a major challenge to both patients and those obligated with their care. Early mental health institutions understood that their patient’s conditions could be better addressed if they were “recognized early enough and if the person was treated humanely, engaged in leisurely activities, and received rest in a relaxing environment removed from the community” (Starnino, 2009, p. 822). In providing these basic services, hospitals believed that they would be able to better establish healthy and restorative environments for patients. However, many began to doubt the benefits of such environmental variables and, at the start of the 20th century, institutions began to address mental illness as an incurable condition. Because of this, health experts began to take the role of caretaker rather than actively attempting to alleviate patient conditions. As psychoanalytic theories began to gain more prominence, hope for treatment in relation to mental illnesses began to be on the rise once more. Increasing professionality would lead to the adoption of care facilities that were established for the specific purposes of alleviating mental health issues. Today, social work is fundamentally concerned with understanding people on a more personal level. In this way, they are able to establish a “dual focus on both the person and environment” (Starnino, 2009, p. 836). The value of models associated with recovery have increased to a great extent in the modern world. The development of a more comprehensive understanding of the potential issues that clients might face is an important aspect of care for the WMMHC. This holistic approach allows them to focus their available resources in order to lead the way in developing a more integral understanding of health care.
Huiting Xie in “Strengths-Based Approach for Mental Health Recovery” discusses the pathologies that have been traditionally adopted by healthcare facilities in order to deal with issues in mental health. This traditional view has had a profound impact on how medical care has been effective in the past. Not only does it mean that healthcare will be more expensive, but will also ultimately serve to reduce the quality of care as well (Xie, 2013). However, in utilizing a strength-based approach, experts are able to rely more on the underlying capacity that the individuals have in aiding their own recovery by overcoming personal weaknesses. This use of empowerment is essential in focusing on the positive characteristics of patients rather than simply on their deficits. The increasing cost and prevalence of mental health care needs has resulted in the establishment of priorities directed at alleviating the conditions of these patients. Historically, medical professionals have worked by “looking for pathologies or symptoms in people with mental illnesses based on the diagnostic criteria for mental disorders” (Xie, 2013). However, this can often result in those seeking care for mental health disorders to perceive themselves in a more negative light. For this reason, it has become necessary to establish ways in which those with such conditions can be helped to have more positive associations with their own mental states. Rather than focusing on the ailments and symptoms that people are dealing with, the strength-based approach instead leverages the unique strengths and abilities of the patients themselves in order to provide better care. Such models for establishing client priorities have been effective in reducing the negative associations with mental illness and promoting recovery by instigating positive attitudes towards patient health and cultivating important concepts such as their aspirations, hopes, or interests (Xie, 2013). Using these strategies to overcome the challenges associated with mental health care practices can be an important step towards recovery. Promoting the strengths of patients rather than weaknesses is how organizations such as the WMMHC are able to continue to provide successful healthcare services.
References
History. (2012). Retrieved from http://wmmhc.org/index.php/about-us/history.
Starnino, V.R. (2009). An Integral Approach to Mental Health Recovery: Implications for Social Work.
Xie, H. (2013). Strengths-Based Approach for Mental Health Recovery. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry
and Behavioral Science. Vol. 7, No. 2. 5-10.
