Blazing a new trail for mental health consumers:
community leaders in a rapidly growing Texas county work together to
promote better care for people with mental illnesses.
by Couch, Terri
The Texas Health Institute chose the Mental Health Committee as one
of six community collaboratives in the state to receive funding through
a five-year federal grant as part of a statewide effort related to
mental health system transformation. This initiative emphasizes early
intervention and service coordination across multiple state and local
agencies (eight other states received similar funding). Plans include
developing a comprehensive and user-friendly Web site detailing
community mental health and social services resources and designing a
secure, Web-based database allowing field personnel to access pertinent
information when responding to crisis calls.
Therefore, the Mental Health Committee's process and
commitment has resulted in an invested group of people committed to
addressing the burgeoning concerns of people with mental illnesses in a
rapidly changing environment.
At the time this article was written, Terri Couch, BSN, RN, MA, was
Chief Operations Officer of Bluebonnet Trails Community Mental Health
and Mental Retardation Center in Texas.
Reference
1. National Alliance on Mental Illness. Grading the States: A
Report on America's Health Care System for Serious Mental Illness.
Arlington, Va.: NAMI; 2006.
www.nami.org/gtstemplate.cfm?section=grading_the_states&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=63&ContentID=30998.
BY TERRI COUCH, BSN, RN, MA
COPYRIGHT 2007 Vendome Group
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NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.