Serious Mental Illness

An estimated 526,000 adults in Illinois (5.4% of the adult population) had a serious mental illness (SMI) in 2012, much higher than the national rate of 4%. In addition to emotional pain, SMI carries significant rates of morbidity and mortality, including premature mortality of about 25 years compared to the general population. There is a current dearth of close to 2,800 psychiatrists nationally to meet current mental health needs, which necessitates focusing on solutions and treatment access within the primary care setting. Access to specialty care can be even more challenging for minority populations, where many patients are un-or-underinsured. This series will engage community-based primary care providers in advanced training that builds skills to screen, diagnose, and manage SMI; we cover a variety of topics from behavioral management to community partnerships, Motivational Interviewing, and other brief intervention models. Our ECHO-Chicago SMI curriculum aims to build capacity at the primary care level to help providers become more competent and comfortable delivering care to patients living with SMI and reducing the burden on specialty mental health care and is appropriate for all primary care providers.

Topics for Case-Based Learning and Discussion Include:

• Primary Care Challenges for the SMI patients
• Screening for SMI in the primary care setting
• Use of a registry for tracking patients with SMI
• Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) for SMI
• Partnership with community services supporting patients living with SMI
• Behavioral management of SMI in primary care settings
• Motivational Interviewing for self-management support
• The Recovery Model in SMI
• Severe character pathology in SMI
• Psychotic Disorders
• Affective Disorders