Q4400

America is struggling with an opioid crisis that has infected all parts of the country. A surge in mental illness has occurred at the same time, taxing acute care hospitals as never before.

One teaching facility conducted a brief study two years ago to determine how many of their inpatients who had an elective surgery demonstrated an immediate need to talk with a mental health professional.

The hospital was shocked to learn that over 25% of these patients had an immediate need for mental health services, that’s when the hospital realized it did not have adequate staff to handle the need.

Behavioral Health deals directly with consumers who have a Substance Abuse Disorder SUD) or a mental illness sufficient to result in an inpatient stay in a Behavioral Health Unit (BHU). This typically results from a break from reality, an episode or life-changing event that disables the consumer’s ability to cope.

Professional peer services involve those who have been diagnosed with a mental illness and have recovered by learning how to stop an escalation, avoid things that can trigger a relapse, and pursue their personalized Wellness Recovery Action Plan (A WRAP).

These are the brave who have been on the inside of a BHU and welcome the chance to give back by helping others who experience a break from reality.

Most states now recognize the value of peer-based services to consumers who have a mental illness or SUD. Peers are trained in consumer engagement tactics and strategies, enabling them to establish an easy rapport with consumers who have just been admitted to a BHU or are struggling with a SUD.

Peers learn how to use reflective listening techniques with consumers to help them come to terms with their new reality and choose to embrace a pathway forward to wellness.

Peers are never judgmental and do not approach consumers who have a mental illness of SUD as a clinician. Also, peers always set-up boundaries between themselves and the consumer.

Peers specifically trained to work in a clinical setting in a BHU do not replace social workers, but instead work within the clinical setting to provide counseling, coaching, modeling, mentoring, and advocacy to consumers.

Peers work with consumers to create a short-term WRAP before discharge that will serve as a guide for their transition back to family and community.

Peers collaborate with social workers to develop a custom Discharge Plan for a consumer who will transition back to family and community.

Clinicians attest to the efficacy of professional per program in a BHU or walk-in clinic, saying they are “the sauce that makes recovery possible”.

Data confirms that consumers make a successful transition back to family and community when peer services are used. Peers know that consumer success begins with making sure the consumer keeps his initial appointment with his psychiatrist and gets his medications.

Peers work within the available social net to ensure the consumer has safe and secure housing, food, some spending money, access to transportation, and gets occupational counseling.

Peer-bridgers provide a warm handoff of the consumer to peers who work in a walk-in clinic to follow-up with the consumer on a regular basis.

Those who have experienced addiction and are living a wellness recovery life are uniquely qualified to provide effective peer support to consumers struggling with an opioid addiction.

Addiction peers offer expert coaching, counseling, mentoring, and support to those struggling with a SUD.

The key difference between peers with experiential knowledge and those who are trained clinicians or counselors is the ability of peers to engage consumers successfully and coach them to pursue wellness recovery.

Peer diversion specialists work in an ED to help divert those who do not need to be admitted to a BHU to an appropriate alternative setting. This protects the integrity of the triage process from disruptive episodes caused by a consumer who has a mental illness or an addiction.

Diversion specialists also are often deployed with an EMT team in the community. A team of professional peers and one social worker has been proven to be as effective at community mental illness diversion as a team of social workers and an EMT.

Peers receive one year of OJT training under the close supervision of a professional and must pass a state-mandated test on peer proficiency to be licensed. Peers support each other in their work setting to minimize the risk of peer escalation and a relapse.

Supervisors talk with their peers on a daily basis and hold regular team-building meetings. This connection is vital to the success of a peer-based program for the mentally ill or those with an addiction.

We partner with a New York State NFP leader in providing effective peer professional programs. They are expert at setting-up a new peer professional program for a BHU and walk-in clinics for continuing peer-based supports for those who have a mental illness or addiction.

In addition, our partner provides peer training programs at its Home Office in Newburgh, New York. They have created twenty-five years of successful peer-based programs that improve consumer lives, reduce recidivism, and bend the cost curve of behavioral health, the Triple Aim of Behavioral health.

An effective peer-based program of peer diversion supports will eliminate disruptive episodes in the ED that interrupt the Triage Process. And, our partner can set-up a peer diversion community health team.

Behavioral Health is said to be the last frontier of health care. We know joyful wellness is a conscious choice that flows naturally when a consumer embraces hope. There is a greater need for trained peers now than at any time since state-run institutions for the mentally ill emptied in the 1960’s.

We are data-driven problem solvers and conceptualizers.

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