Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health

The last four decades have seen unprecedented progress in the science of mental illness, yet we have seen little progress in outcomes for people with serious mental illness. At a population level, morbidity and mortality are increasing not decreasing for those with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and severe mood and anxiety disorders. How to explain this gap between science and social impact? This lecture will suggest we have a crisis of care, with five major problems contributing (capacity, engagement, quality, accountability, and equity). Remarkably, while there is no magic bullet (or molecular target), there are solutions for each of these problems. Technology will help. But we need high touch as well as high tech. Most of all, we need to shift our model from a narrow medical “sick care” approach to a broader recovery “health care” approach, addressing the 3 P’s: people, place, and purpose. The problem of serious mental illness is indeed medical, but the solutions will need to include social, environmental, and political efforts if we are to bend the curves for morbidity and mortality.

Course Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Recognize that progress in research has not translated to progress in outcomes for people with serious mental illness (SMI).
2. Identify the reasons for lack of progress in outcomes for people with SMI.
3. Define the critical elements (the three P’s) of recovery.
4. Understand that health is about more than healthcare.

Instructional Level

Licensed mental health professionals employed through Kaiser Permanente and psychological assistants performing under supervision of a licensed psychologist.

This CE program is free to Kaiser Permanente employees.
Instructional Methodology
Lecture
Audio/Visual
On-line Presentation