Pennyroyal Comprehensive Health Care

Pennyroyal Regional Mental Health, Mental Retardation Board (Pennyroyal Center) will provide a holistic, evidence-based, culturally appropriate program that offers integrated primary health care, mental health and/or substance abuse treatment, case management and wraparound services, prevention and wellness education, and follow up to meet the emerging and underserved needs of the targeted population of seriously mentally ill adults in the public mental health system in Caldwell, Christian, Crittenden, Hopkins, Lyon, Muhlenberg, Todd and Trigg Counties in Western Kentucky. Pennyroyal Center will provide services for 275 seriously mentally ill adults annually and 1,100 over the four-year grant period. The targeted region has numerous primary care needs with its high poverty, high unemployment, high rate of persons with disabilities and high rates of obesity, smoking, cardiovascular death, and low physician to population ratio. Moreover, the number of SMI cases is increasing. Based on prior experience the Pennyroyal Center anticipates that 20% of its clients will be appropriate for services of which 39% are anticipated to be men, 61% women and 98% between the ages of 18 and 64. In terms of race, 83% are anticipated to be White, 15% Black and 2% representing all other races. While clients will be served from all counties, Christian County is anticipated to represent the largest number of clients served (48%). Pennyroyal Center aligns it integrated primary care and behavioral health care integration approach most closely with the Partnership Model while also incorporating best practice approaches from the IMPACT Model which includes a person-centered approach, integrated treatment plan, and stepped care. The Center will also incorporate elements from the Chronic Care Model. Within this coordinated approach, specific client interactions will utilize Medication Management Approaches in Psychiatry, Illness Management and Recovery as well as Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Cognitive-Based Therapy (CBT). The University of Kentucky Center on Drug and Alcohol Research will conduct the project performance assessment, including conducting GPRA interviews and entering GPRA data. The performance assessment will focus on project implementation, achievement of project objectives, fidelity to treatment models, assessment of cultural competence, assessment of client satisfaction with services, and continuous quality improvement. Outcomes of the program include: improving access to primary care services for SMI adults who have chronic health conditions; improving prevention, early identification and intervention through development of wellness programming to avoid serious health issues including chronic diseases; enhancing the program's capacity to holistically service those with mental and/or substance abuse disorders through thorough screening techniques and services; thus ultimately improving the overall health status of the targeted population of seriously mentally ill adults.