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Tel. 740-375-5581 |
Buckeye Family |
827 North Main St. |
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Fax 740-375-5583 |
www.BuckeyeFamily.com |
Marion, Ohio 43302 |
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For the Chronically Mentally Ill, A Good Home Can Be Hard To Find. |
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A hospital based psychiatric unit is one resource with the which the mentally ill usually become quite familiar. These units are located in commuties and can specialize in different kinds of patients, such as children, teenagers, the elderly. Overall, a hospital psychiatric unit focuses on serving the mentally ill during those periods in which they are most disturbed. Typically, such an inidividual is psychotic and/or engaged in behavior that is dangerous to self or others. They usually offer short term care with goals of stabilizing the individual's condition and reducing any dangerous behavior. These facilities can usually tell you what resoures are locally available. Seek this information from the unit director, social worker, or case manager. If an individual qualifies financially, Medicaid can pay for such treatment. Another kind of psychiatric unit are those that are part of state hospitals, and they focus on those patients that need long term treatment and are refractory to short term treatment, or those who need a secure environment. Unfortunely, these units have a long term history of keeping patients longer then they need to be hospitalized or of providing less qualified care than in local psychiatric units. Fortunately, the State Hospital psychiatric units are now providing the best care that they have ever provided. They are much more accountable to the local caregivers, i.e., the local mental health boards and the local mental health systems. Use this. Medicaid does not pay for this level of care, but the local mental health board usually pays for such care. One last issue is whether or the individual in question has a guardian. Mental illness does effect an individual's judgment. In a society that emphasizes individual rights and allows individials to refuse essential treatment, it becomes essential to have a legal gueardian when a very disturbed (or psychotic) individual refuses obviously needed treatment. While most of the chronically mentally ill will receive appointment of a guardian sooner or later, it is an advantage to have it appointed sooner rather than later. |