Former state mental health patients not getting good care

[lucas80]

Now, of course Teflon Terry spins this as the fault of the family members for not being engaged enough. I'm of the opinion that one of the duties of a state government is to provide for the most vulnerable residents of that state.
This is a short article, but you can find many more on line. The DMR had a good piece this weekend that you can access.
http://www.kcci.com/news/state-inspectors-nursing-home-mistreated-3-patients/35253050

 

[Huey Grey]

If you close down mental health facilities and cut spending on it, it's not really a surprise that things go down the tubes.

 

[LuteHawk]

Back in the 1970's states like Minnesota and Illinois
closed their state mental hospitals. The result was
an increase in homelessness and city vagrants.
One of the problems is that these hospitals were old
buildings that needed to be torn down and replaced.
Another problem was that individual states did not
have the income to improve the type of care needed

Bottom Line: Basically, mental health patients fall through
the cracks of society today because nobody cares..

 

[theIowaHawk]

It isn't that nobody cares, lots of people care, in fact the majority of people care.

That doesn't mean they are willing to spend any money on it, especially not once they realize how much and in relation to all other spending.

Oh, and to the OP:

 

[joelbc1]

Back in the 1970's states like Minnesota and Illinois
closed their state mental hospitals. The result was
an increase in homelessness and city vagrants.
One of the problems is that these hospitals were old
buildings that needed to be torn down and replaced.
Another problem was that individual states did not
have the income to improve the type of care needed

Bottom Line: Basically, mental health patients fall through
the cracks of society today because nobody cares..

"Are there no prisons? Are there no work houses?
Quit your sniveling........Terry is keeping our taxes low...and he's using the MedicAid money to reward his election supporters. Terry has your best interests at heart. Anyway....don't you own a gun?

 

[CadeHawk]

I am shocked... They go to some apartment in some city they may never have lived in before or have any relatives in. Because that is where the agency that serves them is in. They live with two or three roommates they may not have known at all. Then you pay someone who has to work nights and weekends and makes $9 per hour to look after them.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

I am shocked... They go to some apartment in some city they may never have lived in before or have any relatives in. Because that is where the agency that serves them is in. They live with two or three roommates they may not have known at all. Then you pay someone who has to work nights and weekends and makes $9 per hour to look after them.

This. . . my wife works part time in a group home for people with developmental disabilities although I suspect they are much higher functioning then the people described here as most would not fit into a mental hospital.

The organization is run separately from the state government but the state provides it funding. Problem is that that job can be undesirable and many of the staff underpaid. Turnover is really high because people quickly realize that they can go work at Wal-Mart for basically the same pay and not have to deal with a lot of stuff that they have to deal with in the group homes. The inexperience, understaffing, and turnover quite frankly can lead to problems. Not necessarily abuse but not knowing the right medications and procedures etc.

Only reason my wife is sticking with this is because before we had our second kid she had worked her way up to manager of a group home and most likely when she goes back to work full time she can easily pick up a higher level position once one becomes available.

 

[joelbc1]

I am shocked... They go to some apartment in some city they may never have lived in before or have any relatives in. Because that is where the agency that serves them is in. They live with two or three roommates they may not have known at all. Then you pay someone who has to work nights and weekends and makes $9 per hour to look after them.

Most of these folks described, do very very well in this envirenment. It has proven to be much superior to "living at home with family" or being institutionalized.
What sucks for these Iowans is that much of their services are funded by MedicAid and with "managed care" coming in, the pool of money for these folks will be shrunk significantly because of INCREASED administration fees (15% by contract, as compared to 4-6% run by the Sate).
These $9/hr. employees will see fewer opportunities to see any pay increases as "managed care administrators" keep more and more of the MedicAid money....and pay bonuses to themselves for the "savings (which will be in the form of reduction of services) to its clients.

 

[theIowaHawk]

Most of these folks described, do very very well in this envirenment. It has proven to be much superior to "living at home with family" or being institutionalized.
.

That is bullshit and you are talking about something very different. This is not simply about medicaid. We are talking about MHI patients, patients who had nowhere else to go, that had the training/services necessary to care for them. Once they were shut down it was an obvious conclusion that their care would drastically diminish.........its why they were in MHIs.

 

[theIowaHawk]

This. . . my wife works part time in a group home for people with developmental disabilities although I suspect they are much higher functioning then the people described here as most would not fit into a mental hospital.

The organization is run separately from the state government but the state provides it funding. Problem is that that job can be undesirable and many of the staff underpaid. Turnover is really high because people quickly realize that they can go work at Wal-Mart for basically the same pay and not have to deal with a lot of stuff that they have to deal with in the group homes. The inexperience, understaffing, and turnover quite frankly can lead to problems. Not necessarily abuse but not knowing the right medications and procedures etc.

Only reason my wife is sticking with this is because before we had our second kid she had worked her way up to manager of a group home and most likely when she goes back to work full time she can easily pick up a higher level position once one becomes available.

I know you are out of state, so you get a pass. These state facilities were not "group homes", they were for the people that required that highest level of care that no one else would/could do, often because of criminality, such as sex offense.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

I know you are out of state, so you get a pass. These state facilities were not "group homes", they were for the people that required that highest level of care that no one else would/could do, often because of criminality, such as sex offense.

Oh wasn't aware of that.

 

[lucas80]

One of the patients that went to the home in Perry was extremely dehydrated. That signals neglect. That patient later died after hospitalization.

 

[joelbc1]

I know you are out of state, so you get a pass. These state facilities were not "group homes", they were for the people that required that highest level of care that no one else would/could do, often because of criminality, such as sex offense.

For the most part, you are correct. I will also go further and say there are not enough beds in Iowa to care for the chronically, profound mentally ill. They can live "at home" but sooner or late, mom and dad will pass. Then what?
What I was referring to were the moderate MI who a couple of decades were "institutionalized"...when in fact they could (and do) function well within the community by living in group homes. Their moving away from a "state" facility to a group home setting saved the State tons of expense.
This mental illness thing in Iowa is going to reach new proportions with the lack of funding from the state plus now, the loss of MedicAid funds due to managed care. There just are not enough beds. For the past several years, it was not uncommon for an acutely ill mental patient to spend a couple of days in the local ER and then be shipped to another city...or state, for 3-4 of acute MH care.