Community
Living Reality
by
Jeni Mundl
The statistics according
to Rita Mae Brown show one in four Americans are suffering from
some sort of mental illness. Mental illness is a large category
ranging from depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar, multiple
personalities and much more. The undiagnosed population is substantial
since many individuals with mental illness do not seek out medical
care due to stigma associated with the disease. Recently, a friend
of mine went through a horrific event where her brother committed
suicide after a long battle with mental illness. The devastation
caused by this event affected all members of the family in their
own way and will continue for some time. Suicide rates are greatly
rising in American society as a result of this category of disabilities.
The statistics are troubling but with increases in better medical
services and different types of assistive technology, there is
new hope on the horizon.
This article begins to explore technology beneficial to individuals,
and caregivers, of persons with mental illness. To achieve the promise
of community living for everyone, new service delivery patterns and
incentives must ensure that every American had easy and continuous
access to the most current treatments and best support. Advances
in research, technology, and our understanding of how to treat mental
illness provide powerful means to transform the system. In a transformed
society, consumers and family members will have access to timely
and accurate information promoting learning, self monitoring and
accountability to allow for maximum independence.
Technology to Access Mental Health Care and Information
The delivery of services is crucial to someone with mental illness.
Continuity of care and monitoring of the current status of a person
provides independence and healthy living. In a transformed medical
health system, advanced communication and information technology
will empower consumers and family members and will be a tool for
providers to deliver the best care. Information regarding illness,
effective treatments, and services in the community will be readily
available to consumers and families. Already, the Internet is providing
extensive data on a variety of topics. One particular web site to
investigate is NAMI. This web site is massive, providing information
regarding different diagnoses, updates on mental illness and support
systems, along with many other areas to explore. For medication information,
try www.MayoClinic.com, as understanding the side affects of medicine
is important.
Electronic records can improve health quality by promoting adherence
to evidence-based service delivery in practices through inclusion
of clinical reminders, clinical practice guidelines, tool for clinical
decision support, computer order entry, and patient safety alert
systems. For example, prescription medications being taken or specific
drug allergies would be known. This could prevent serious injury
or death resulting from an interaction, excessive dosage, or allergic
reactions. Many individuals with mental illness are on multiple medications,
which potentially are harmful when used in combination. Some clinics
and hospitals have started to computerize an enormous amount of data
on patients. This trend will continue in the years to come, improving
medical services to all individuals.
The privacy of personal health information, especially in a case
of mental illness, will be strongly protected and controlled. Already
HIPPA is making information more private. The privacy act allows
individuals to specify who can and who cannot gain access to essential
information on someone. Again, computers in the health system are
making this easier to track and keep out of prying eyes.
Technology & Medication
Medications are prescribed to maintain or improve symptoms. Many
individuals are not compliant with the dosing schedule. The challenge
for some individuals is keeping the time schedule and medications
straight. There are medical reminders such as the CompuMed, which
will dispense setup medications at the correct time and sound an
alarm for the individual to hear as a reminder to take the medication.
If the medication is not picked up on the scale after a certain amount
of time, a second alarm will sound. Finally, if the individual still
is not picking up their medications from the device, an emergency
number will be called.
For the individual who is out and about during the day, there are
medicine pillboxes that will sound an alarm when medications are
to be taken. Another simple adaptation for medical reminders is a
programmable watch with multiple alarms. These watches can be purchased
at local stores without having to go through a medical supply company.
A PDA is another method of setting up reoccurring reminders throughout
the day on any subject. It could include appointment times along
with a medication schedule.
Research has shown for some individuals with anxiety or similar
diagnoses that music can calm a person down. Music therapy is a form
of assistive technology because it provides compensatory strategies,
which are considered accommodations. The use of a headset or CD player
may be beneficial to many. Similarly, art therapy can provide an
outlet to different feelings.
Self hypnosis and positive self-talk are other forms of accommodations
to dealing with certain types of mental illness. Although these forms
of treatment have been around, it has recently resurged into psychotherapy.
Proper training is important to the success of these forms of assistive
technology.
Conclusion
It is interesting to consider the vastness of assistive technology.
Many people believe that assistive technology is only a device. Assistive
technology as seen above is much more. It can be a system, compensatory
technique, or a service provided to expand opportunities and possibilities
to individuals. The number of individuals with mental illness is
astounding. There are many more technological devices to assist with
memory or other issues secondary to the primary diagnoses. Exploration
is a key factor in finding out what will work best. It is exciting
to see results as individuals begin to assimilate technology into
their daily routine.
