Introduction
To date, there are a number of problems hindering the development of the mental health industry. These include a lack of adequate level of coordination among practitioners, various disparate positions and qualifications that the patient does not understand, the cost of treatment, and a general lack of staff. However, the strategy to increase the number of physicians is obvious and long-term, so attention must be paid to the contributing factors. Several actions are suggested to optimize the industry, taking into account resource and financial issues that may arise in the process of increasing access to mental health care for patients.
Possible Financial and Resource Utilization Issues
Most of the challenges that arise in planning for industry improvement relate to the healthcare industry as a whole. These include compliance with new regulations and prohibitions, recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, lack of qualified staff, and lack of funding (“2022 healthcare finance trends,” 2022). For the mental health field specifically, one should note the poor development and prevalence of local support services, non-profit community-based organizations, and emergency and online care for those suffering from mental health disorders.
Resource utilization implies an assessment of the extent and quality of the current set of resources. Accordingly, problems in utilization arise from inefficient or unproductive allocation (Stenmark et al., 2022). Among such problems to consider in developing a nursing program proposal is the possible mismatch of priorities in the disposition of resources or inadequate planning for the volume and current capacity of those resources. In addition, there is the issue of correctness and completeness of information about available resources, which is essential because of the sparse and heterogeneous nature of the industry.
Types of Resources Available
There are several types of division of resources into types, depending on categorization features. Thus, resources can be divided into tangible and intangible by the fact of physical existence, financial and human by generalized orientation, potential, available, or developed by timing. In addition, available resources in the format of mental health care can include various types of assistance to patients, formats of interaction, and feedback, for example, support groups, emergency care, contact centers, and direct treating physicians (Stenmark et al., 2022). However, in this case, it is most appropriate to pay attention to the division by orientation.
Fiscal resources are part of the general concept of financial resources and relate more to the public distribution of money, reporting, financing, and taxation. General financial resources are undoubtedly an important factor that is considered in this paper because, without financial support and management, no industry can exist (AlegrÃa et al., 2018). On the other hand, human resources include the personnel and related factors directly: the number, training, and education of employees, performance management, control over the quality of treatment provided and compliance with standards, planning, and development of human resources in the industry.
The current resources available are medical personnel, private and public clinics, public assistance organizations, medical supplies, facilities, equipment, and allocated funding. The purpose of managing all this is to diagnose, eliminate or alleviate the symptoms, causes, and manifestations of mental health disorders in order to cure people or at least improve their health status. Accordingly, all these resources must be adequately evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively to offer the most precise options for their optimal allocation in order to develop a nursing program proposal.
Strategic Decisions to Consider
The proposal recommends three strategies that have the potential to improve industry performance and leverage all available resources. The first is the increased adoption of technological innovation in diagnosing, treating, and preventing mental illness. According to Sporinova et al. (2019), such methods are already widely used by professionals. However, the level of their prevalence and development does not match the growth rate of society’s digitalization rate. For example, the expansion of videoconferencing can help normalize the distribution of specific specialists and save time and resources. Making a diagnosis in most cases is possible with virtual contact, especially if software analysis of patient characteristics is connected, which is another development in the industry and should be implemented further.
The second possible strategy could be defined as empowering those who are not fully licensed psychiatrists. For example, psychiatric assistants or nursing leaders with some training in mental health or who have taken a short course could assist in lighter or more preventive cases. Undoubtedly, supervision and general supervision should be done by a professional, but the benefits of such a move are likely. It is temporary and parallels the increase in the training rate needed by professionals. In the short-term format, it can threaten to reduce the burden on the industry with little or no additional financial. However, it is necessary to consider the overall workload of medical units and not deprive additional employees of time and opportunities to perform their primary duties.
The third strategy could be reinforcing the collaborative care already practiced in some places. The term implies the involvement of staff members from other medical units who have the most contact with patients to note their potential need for psychiatric care (Moreno et al., 2020). Although such a strategy requires increasing the staff of professional psychiatrists or implementing a second strategy, its main goal is to overcome the barrier between the community and psychiatry. Since the primary goal of the industry is to care for the health of the nation, this factor must necessarily be evaluated. People can rarely diagnose mental deviations on their own, and the reputation of psychiatric clinics, combined with prejudice, reduces the number of patients coming forward (Moreno et al., 2020). Including mental health and attitude normalization materials in citizen education programs is likewise possible.
Methods and Tools to Track the Strategic Impact
In the context of reviewing the outcomes of strategies, one can distinguish methods of Failure modes and effects analysis, Plan-Do-Study-Act, and quality assessment, including patient surveys. However, quality assessment methods and tools can vary widely due to the differentiated nature of the medical field and various unpredictable factors in the treatment of mental illness. Consequences and types of failures track changes over time, determining the effectiveness of processes by using tools to detect new emerging problems, their outcomes, and their solutions (Stenmark et al., 2022). PDSA involves subsequent cyclical adjustment of changes to achieve the desired outcome. Tools exist to track monthly and annual effects in the form of comparisons of patient data, budget costs, and overall patient and employee recall rates.
Project tracking tools can be used to develop a program that allows greater access to care for mental health. These tools can help to organize and manage tasks, set deadlines, and track progress on the program’s development. They can also be used to collaborate with team members, share resources, and communicate effectively throughout the development process. Some popular project tracking tools include Asana, Trello, and Jira. By using these tools, a team can effectively plan and execute a program that improves access to mental health care for individuals in need.
Conclusion
Thus, the proposed strategies have the potential to further improve mental health care outcomes in addition to the overall mandatory trend toward the development of the field and increased funding. If all available resources, opportunities, and risks are taken into account, the implementation of these strategies can be evaluated by means of evaluation methods and corrected if necessary. Actions in the sphere of mental health towards improvement are necessary today since the stereotypical perception of people of psychiatry and their unwillingness to interact complicate the care for the health of the nation.
References
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Sporinova, B., Manns, B., Tonelli, M., Hemmelgarn, B., MacMaster, F., Mitchell, N., Au, F., Ma, Z., Weaver, R., & Quinn, A. (2019). Association of mental health disorders with health care utilization and costs among adults with chronic disease. JAMA Network Open, 2(8), e199910. Web.
Stenmark, R., Eberhard, J., Edman, G., Gaughran, F., & Jedenius, E. (2022). Resource utilization in mental illness: Evaluation of an instrument for measuring direct costs of treatment for patients with severe mental illness (SMI). Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 1–7. Web.