NOTE: This falls under health, but also under liberty and economy in the big picture.
For those most chronic with serious mental illness that seem to be “treatment resistant” in the current medical model, a new kind of care facility to divert from incarceration is the greatest need of all. Idea: use as a new paradigm model, the private, “gold standard” psychiatric facilities, listed on the American Residential Treatment Association (ARTAUSA) website to build a new kind of care facility for indigent. Combining different models with positive success outcomes is needed. Another model is the Soteria House. A review by PubMed Central (PMC: biomedical and life sciences journal) shows:
“Conclusions: The studies included in this review suggest that the Soteria paradigm yields equal, and in certain specific areas, better results in the treatment of people diagnosed with first- or second-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders (achieving this with considerably lower use of medication) when compared with conventional, medication-based approaches. Further research is urgently required to evaluate this approach more rigorously because it may offer an alternative treatment for people diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.”
Create long-term residential facilities for forty to fifty indigent with a diagnosis of SMI. By developing a new approach, this will not only bridge many gaps, it will provide permanent housing solutions and comprehensive care for the most chronic and suffering segment of society, currently woefully neglected and tossed aside.
For example: the Mental Health Association of Oklahoma said they could no longer offer housing at the level needed for the patient in our family. They said his needs were too great. A giant gap in the system when there are NO SOLUTIONS for millions of these people.
These would be Residential Care Facilities (RCF), but better. A description of services needed:
• Medication assistance, daily, including necessary taper/titration protocols, to prevent rebound psychosis. No more dangerous willy-nilly stopping/starting of psych meds.
• Option: offer residents’ laundry washed, dried, folded.
• Preparation of meals: Locally grown produce and clean meats from nearby farm.
• Transport assistance available for a small fee.
• Can serve as Social Security Rep-Payee to help manage disability income.
• Residency costs fit within the SSI/DIB income. It is the only affordable option.
• Not a locked facility. Residents can sign out and go on outings.
• Medical personnel, security and other skilled staff on sight and on-call 24/7/365.
• Residents transported to psychiatry treatment facilities ongoing, for one-on-one and group therapies, counseling, peer support 2-3 times/week, monthly doctor visits via telemedicine, activities, snacks, and more.
• Utilize the vital and integral role of pharmacogenomic DNA mouth swab test, which plays the only provable role in guiding appropriate treatment to avoid medications the patient’s body cannot metabolize. (A proven 5 year study by the Federal VA showed 28% improvement in treatment of depression using one such option, the GeneSight test.)
• Adheres to the mental health laws, and every state has a Patient’s Bill of Rights.
• Caregivers and staff communicate with the family (instead of gaslighting, which is all too common).
• Though there are nowhere near enough “beds” available for the numbers of SMI needing long-term care, just adding beds is not the answer, when current treatment protocols are failing tremendously.
• Implement metabolic psychiatry, as evidenced by Stanford and Harvard (ref Dr. Chris Palmer, Dr. Shebani Sethi, and Dr. Georgia Ede).
• First, rule out medical mimics, and test for Insulin Resistance, which is being proven in about half of those diagnosed with Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder.
• For those with Insulin Resistance, implement a metabolic ketogenic protocol, which has proven 100% improvement in symptoms with less psych meds, and about 43% clinical remission with adherence to this nutritional protocol. (ref: metabolicmind.org and Baszucki Group)
• These facilities are for the indigent SMI and should not cost more than the patient has available with their SSI/DIB benefits. This is the safety net our country needs to solve the dire homelessness and criminalization issues costing taxpayers billions of dollars.
• Activities of Daily Living (ADL) assistance, and “training” toward independence after recovery, including teaching residents’ life and living skills.
• Redefining treatment, adhering to and prioritizing the integration of physical and mental health, not just pharmacological interventions that many times cause more harm than good.
• Examples of Therapies:
o Individual and group, as needed per individual.
o Innovative approaches including: Music, art, family, companion animals, therapy birds, equine therapy, horticulture, exercise, yoga, tai chi, anti-anxiety such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Guided Meditation, Written Exposure Therapy (WET), and develop compensated vocational rehabilitation programs for SMI , and helpful items such as anxiety blankets, etc.
Quote from Harvard Health Publishing | Harvard Medical School:
“If your brain is deprived of good-quality nutrition, or if free radicals or damaging inflammatory cells are circulating within the brain’s enclosed space…consequences are to be expected. What’s interesting is that for many years, the medical field did not fully acknowledge the connection between mood and food. Today, fortunately, the burgeoning field of nutritional psychiatry is finding there are many consequences and correlations between not only what you eat, how you feel, and how you ultimately behave, but also the kinds of bacteria that live in your gut.”
Quote from Psychology Today:
“What if we targeted inflammation instead? It is now well-established that inflammation plays a significant role in psychiatric disorders.”
“To cool and quiet inflammation in your brain naturally, steer clear of refined carbohydrates and vegetable oils, which no human was ever meant to eat, and choose whole animal and plant foods that we are well-adapted to consuming. This means avoiding processed foods like baked goods, pasta, cereals, salad dressings, candy, chips, mayonnaise, soda, fried foods, and fruit juice and sticking to real whole foods like meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, fruits, and vegetables.”
Sugar causes inflammation. Flu causes inflammation. Inflammation has many causes.
o No table sugar on campus, specific probiotics, and other supplements beneficial to mental health, anti-inflammatory diets, appropriate supplements (guided by nutrigenomics test specific to each patient/resident), possibly CBD oil, all data-driven and dedicated to each individual patient’s unique needs, with a mission to carefully utilize the latest studies on holistic solutions.
Leading the way, integrating cutting edge remedies, such as:
• “Compassionate Care” which considers varied aspects of an individual instead of a concentration on diagnosis or deficits
• The Therapeutic Alliance, using Strengths-Based therapy, and Person-Centered care, catering to individual needs, values, preferences, to maximize responsiveness.
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) when appropriate.
• eCPR i.e., emotional CPR.
• “Healing Voices” network
• Vegetable gardens for residents to grow and harvest themselves, instilling a sense of pride, value, health, accomplishment, and self-care.
• Focus on finding the root cause of the behavior issues that deemed a mental illness diagnosis, various types of trauma. Trauma causes PTSD, delusions and cPTSD.
• PTSA and Complex PTSD therapies may include Written Exposure Therapy (WET), , Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and others, such as Aviary Therapy
• Reimagining community-centered solutions, community integration, employment and social programs for residents.
Etc.
Also, allow proven supplements like vitamin B, magnesium, potassium, and anti-inflammatory and other over the counter (OTC) items, and also ketogenic nutritional protocols to be covered by Medicaid, Medicare, and private health insurance companies.
Many out-of-pocket items are budgetarily out of reach for these patients.
This visionary facility will be a place for those diagnosed with chronic SMI to live and have productive work and activities – close to nature with interdisciplinary support, using exhaustive diagnostic procedures across all disciplines. This approach produces the most effective outcomes due to rigorous attention to the overall and holistic medical, psychological and experiential makeup of each person.
Then, they will be ready to enter social being productive, which is what they want, and which most of society takes for granted.
