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Saturday, January 24, 2009

Hope Realized

Today this article from White Coat Notes showed up in my Google alerts. MGH is going to provide a TON of funding for the Department of Mental Health to work more closely with BHCHP.

This is great great news for BHCHP.

Because I believe firmly in holistic approaches to healing, I don't think that health care for anyone is truly complete without a mental health component. Even in the absence of a DSM-IV diagnosis, every one of us has the potential to have spiritual, mental, and emotional disturbances in response to a physical ailment. When these are ignored, well being suffers.

It is especially important in the homeless population to have mental health care due to the fact that mental illness can cause and/or perpetuate homelessness. The prevalence is outstanding, and without proper programming the most we can do in many cases comes down to short term fixes or harm reduction.

Bob Taube is quoted in the above blurb as saying that this move by MGH is going to "revolutionize the way we practice medicine," and I couldn't agree more.

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