New mental health option in Black Hawk, Grundy Counties

April 13--WATERLOO -- People suffering from serious mental illness in Black Hawk and Grundy counties now have a few new helping hands.

A statewide initiative by Magellan Health Services has created three teams of health care professionals in the two-county area to help patients navigate their various mental and physical health services.

They're called integrated health homes. Though the name might conjure images of a physical building or residential setting, integrated health homes aren't a place as much as they are a secondary tier of health care -- an additional support system designed to coordinate services for persons suffering from serious mental illnesses.

"We're the glue between the doctor's appointments and the hospital visits," said Christi Mason, director of the integrated health home at Black Hawk Grundy Mental Health Center.

Mason's program is one of three that started April 1. Pathways Behavioral Services and Lutheran Services in Iowa also started their own integrated health homes for Black Hawk and Grundy County residents at the beginning of the month.

According to Mason, individuals with serious mental illness die an average of 25 years earlier than the general population. The integrated health home will hopefully scale that back significantly with support teams 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"Many times our clients receive health recommendations that they don't follow up on, or not all the providers receive all the information they need to clarify the person's total health needs," Mason said.

The integrated health homes will help make sure a person follows through with their doctor's recommendations and keep their various healthcare service providers on the same page.

"By providing the care coordination among all the doctors, we can make sure everyone has all the information needed," Mason said.

Chris Hoffman, director of Pathways Behavioral Services, said he is excited about the services his organization will provide with its own integrated health home.

"I think it's one of the better things to come along," Hoffman said. "Care coordination was something that our organization has always wanted to do, and tried to do for a long time, but reimbursement structures were such that it was a really challenging thing to do."

The integrated health home team at Black Hawk Grundy Mental Health Center consists of a nurse manager, a care coordinator, and a peer or family support specialist, depending on whether the client is an adult or a child.

The peer of family support specialist is someone who has had severe mental health problems in the past, and can relate to the patients as they navigate various health services.

In order to be eligible to receive services through one of the three integrated health homes, a person must live in Black Hawk or Grundy Counties, be enrolled in Medicaid, and have a serious mental illness.

Examples of a serious mental illness are psychosis, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, major depression, biploar disorder, delusional disorder, or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The same requirements apply for children, though a child need only be diagnosed with a serious emotional disorder.

According to Mason, there are about 2,000 people -- 1,300 adults and 700 children -- who qualify in Black Hawk and Grundy counties. The challenge, Hoffman said, is finding them. Many have moved.

"So contact us if you know someone with (serious mental health) issues," Hoffman said.

Those interested in signing up can contact the Black Hawk Grundy Mental Health Center at 234-2893 ext. 301, Pathways at 235-6571, or Lutheran Services at 233-3579.

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