Schizophrenia is a major mental illness. Symptoms of schizophrenia can include hallucinations, delusions and disorganized thinking and behavior. Because schizophrenia is a chronic illness, it requires lifelong treatment, which can include the need for psychiatric hospitalization. By law, in Connecticut, as well as the rest of the United States, nursing homes are not permitted to admit people with a major mental illness, such as schizophrenia.
History
The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act or OBRA of 1987 was passed in order to prevent nursing facilities from admitting people with major mental illness. Because nursing homes cannot provide the level of care that many people with major mental illness requires, this law is meant to encourage more-rigorous screening of residents prior to admission to prevent people with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia from being admitted.
Significance
In order for many people with schizophrenia and other major mental illnesses to function in society, they need to be in a supportive, supervised setting. This type of care, however, is not always possible due to the cost. Because of the expense of providing outpatient community support, as well as the lack of inpatient institutions and programs for people with mental disabilities, nursing homes often become an alternative for care, according to an article in the Nov. 1, 2006, edition of "Nursing Homes."
Effects
In Connecticut, the use of nursing homes as mental health care has been a problem. In 2006 the state of Connecticut was taken to court, accused of using nursing homes specifically for this purpose, according to the "Nursing Homes" article. Since that time, Connecticut has been making efforts to provide more community-based services for people with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses.
Misconceptions
Although schizophrenia is a mental illness with severe symptoms, not all people with schizophrenia need to live in a supervised, inpatient or residential setting. Some may need occasional short-term hospitalization; however, with the use of anti-psychotic medications many people with schizophrenia are able to keep major symptoms under control and live in the community, so long as they have social and psychiatric support, according to MentalHelp.net.
Recommendations
Despite its record, Connecticut offers residential and inpatient psychiatric treatment programs for people with schizophrenia and other major mental illnesses. The Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services can help patients to locate inpatient treatment facilities for mental illness; there are four available across the state. Through DMHAS, the state of Connecticut offers outpatient mental health services as well as emergency care, day treatment, outreach services and community-based mental health treatment programs.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Schizophrenia
- Mental Illness in Nursing Homes: Variations Across States
- All Business: Placement of Mentally Ill Individuals in Nursing Homes: Today's Legal Warfare; Nursing Homes Shouldn't Serve as Mental Healthcare Institutions---But Do They Have a Choice?
- MentalHelp.net: Schizophrenia Treatment
- Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services: About DMHAS: Mental Health Services
