Comments on: Mentally ill strain Georgia prisons http://www.patriciaebauer.com/2008/03/26/mentally-ill-strain-georgia-prisons/ Disability News | PatriciaEBauer.com Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:59:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Richard Bott http://www.patriciaebauer.com/2008/03/26/mentally-ill-strain-georgia-prisons/#comment-1124 Richard Bott Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:36:57 +0000 http://www.patriciaebauer.com/2008/03/26/mentally-ill-strain-georgia-prisons/#comment-1124 Has anyone thought to check out the mentally ill placed in Georgia nursing homes? Especially in rural Medicaid based nursing homes? The state's PASRR program (Preadmission Screening/Resident Review) is a good program but in some cases overloaded. There are also mentally ill nursing home residents that should have PASRR but were given a diagnosis that made it easier to enter long term care without state psychiatric assistance. By placing a primary diagnosis of a severe medical problem or any form of dementia, hospitals can hide the patient's true mental illness (MI) until placed in a nursing home. Then it is left to the nursing home to seek the mental health support for the resident. You would be surprised as to how many MI residents are in nursing homes that cannot be placed in communities and have been forced out of hospitals such as the 7 Georgia Regional State psychiatric hospitals. Other hospitals throughout the state have been known to do this form of placement also. Has anyone thought to check out the mentally ill placed in Georgia nursing homes? Especially in rural Medicaid based nursing homes? The state’s PASRR program (Preadmission Screening/Resident Review) is a good program but in some cases overloaded. There are also mentally ill nursing home residents that should have PASRR but were given a diagnosis that made it easier to enter long term care without state psychiatric assistance. By placing a primary diagnosis of a severe medical problem or any form of dementia, hospitals can hide the patient’s true mental illness (MI) until placed in a nursing home. Then it is left to the nursing home to seek the mental health support for the resident.

You would be surprised as to how many MI residents are in nursing homes that cannot be placed in communities and have been forced out of hospitals such as the 7 Georgia Regional State psychiatric hospitals. Other hospitals throughout the state have been known to do this form of placement also.

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