Project: Telepsychiatry in the Delta (MHSI-TD)(Project #36)
Lead Agency: University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior
The Telepsychiatry in the Delta project has two goals:
- Reduce disparities in mental health treatment for those living in the rural Mississippi Delta region,
- Improve the quality of services delivered to those seeking mental health care at local Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC’s) in the Delta.
To accomplish these goals we began in 2008 with providing telehealth services between two Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC’s) located centrally in the Delta and specialists at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. We now have 12 CMHC’s in our network and are adding two more in early 2011. We also have a connection with MS State Hospital (Whitfield) that links their patients back to their communities for family visits and healthier discharge planning.
The service has provided needed mental health services for people of all ages who prior to this program had little access to specialty mental health services – especially children. Close to 100% of respondents reported the service was of high quality, had helped them and was as good as seeing a person in a private office. Wait times for psychiatric services have been cut in most places from months to weeks. In addition, by adding more sites we cut travel time (a major barrier to access) and thus, increased accessibility to most clients.
All respondents (100%) said they would recommend the service to others and use it again. Staff at the community mental health centers confirmed these self reports by noting clients had reported positive feelings about the program to them and staff believed the program had benefited clients clinically. Also, as a result of the program many clients are now receiving medical evaluations they had never received previously since a physician was not available to see them.
The Telepsychiatry project has helped to improve the quality of mental health services offered by providers in the local CMHC’s through implementation of training programs delivered by the telehealth system. This educational activity has already trained providers in motivational interviewing (MI) at two CMHC substance abuse clinics in the Delta. This evidence-based treatment for people with substance abuse disorders was not being used at any Delta CMHC prior to this training. Given the success of the program, we have been asked by other CMHC’s in the Delta to provide training to their staff. During the next year we will expand our training to incorporate these sites.
