A service system planning model for individuals with serious mental illness.
An institutional-based care system in mental health has been replaced by a network of community-based services with different levels of structure and support. This poses both an opportunity and a challenge to provide appropriate and effective care to persons with serious mental illnesses. This paper describes a simulation-based approach for mental health system planning, focused on hospital and residential service components that can be used as a decision support tool. A key feature of this approach is the ability to represent the current service configuration of psychiatric care and the client flow pattern within that framework. The strength of the simulation model is to help mental health service managers and planners visualize the interconnected nature of client flow in their mental health system and understand possible impacts of changes in arrival rates, service times, and bed capacity on overall system performance. The planning model will assist state mental health agencies to respond to requirements of the Olmstead decision to ensure that individuals with serious mental illness receive care in the least restrictive setting. Future plans for refining the model and its application to other service systems is discussed.
Kuno
Eri
E
Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. kuno@mail.med.upenn.edu
Koizumi
Naoru
N
Rothbard
Aileen B
AB
Greenwald
Joel
J
D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003659:Decision Making, Organizational; D003660:Decision Support Systems, Management; D006285:Health Planning / Q000379:methods*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D010414:Pennsylvania; D012114:Residential Treatment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index