Kennedy Forum updates mental health
On February 3, the Kennedy Forum presented a live webcast in collaboration with the Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) to announce the launch of the Kennedy Center for Mental Health Policy and Research at MSM’s Satcher Health Leadership Institute.
The webcast featured former U.S. Representative Patrick J. Kennedy and former Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., who released new public opinion research on the state of mental health across the nation and also reported how the Center plans to advance an agenda for “real, achievable change.”
Care for physical and mental health continues to operate in silos in spite of the parity law for which Satcher set the stage when he issued his landmark report 19 years ago. “The parity law is the vehicle for us to get this message out there,” Kennedy said and emphasized that it’s time to translate what we know into practice. He reported approximately 38,000 suicides occur every year and the number continues to rise; six million children suffer with emotional, behavioral and developmental problems; and the nation’s prisons house two million people with mental illness.
The direct and indirect financial impact of these mental health issues is $444 billion. There are enormous possibilities if treatment for both physical and mental health is combined, according to Kennedy. He predicted that integration would produce a more effective system with dramatically reduced health care costs.
However, stigma continues to be a major barrier, according to Satcher, affecting the individual and the willingness to get treatment; the family; and the greater community. Since many people with a mental health diagnosis also have a physical condition and a shortened life expectation, providers need to treat the whole person, including the brain, which he said is the most critical organ in the body.
Technology also has an important role to play in the treatment of mental health care, Satcher noted, indicating that several populations would benefit from its use. Telehealth can provide access to care for veterans who have to travel long distances as well as for those in prison. New technologically advanced platforms and apps can deliver cognitive behavioral therapy and other therapies to individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues. “These devices can channel care,” said Kennedy.
Mental health care of the future is focused on two objectives: payor accountability and provider accountability. Insurers need to adhere to parity laws and providers need to adopt proven scientific methods, Kennedy said. To achieve these goals, Satcher cited the critical need for more neuroscience research. The country needs to invest in more brain research to attain and maintain a competitive edge and the president’s commitment is important, he added.
To help families to navigate the system when they have been denied care, the Center has posted an advocacy toolkit on its Web site (www.thekennedyforum.org), as well as 14 other resources.
Kennedy ended the webcast by reiterating the need to be “more holistic in our thinking.” He cited a collective goal of working together, moving urgently and emphasizing the importance for Congress to act on an issue that affects all families in America.