This project provides evidence-based treatments to Arkansans with serious mental illness (SMI), substance use disorders (SUDs), co-occurring SMI & SUDs, healthcare personnel, & persons with less severe mental health problems. The AR Division of Aging, Adult & Behavioral Health Services submitted this project with the UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute (PRI), as the primary contractor.
Although the number of Arkansans whose symptoms have worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic is unknown, mental health and substance use disorders are a serious problem. Arkansas is in the top 10% of states with opioid use disorder, approximately 150,000 Arkansans suffer from serious mental illness, with roughly 9% of Arkansans suffering from depression. Limited resources are available to help these individuals during this pandemic crisis – particularly providers who are on the front lines of combatting this pandemic.
This project will utilize the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and its Psychiatric Research Institute (PRI) as its prime contractor. UAMS is Arkansas’ only academic health sciences center and serves the needs of the entire state of 3 million people. Along with the Governor’s office and the Arkansas Department of Health, UAMS is leading the state’s COVID-19 response and has been in full-scale preparation for the pandemic for about 7 weeks as of the submission date of this proposal.
This project established Arkansas COVID-19 Mental Health/Substance Use Disorder (ACMH/SUD) program. The ACMH/SUD will be a combination of an emergency tele-video/telephone (T/T) urgent response center with screening, substantive T/T assessment and treatment, and referral to available local treatment programs and providers. If no appropriate local providers are available or acceptable to the patient, the ACMH/SUD will continue to treatment via T/T. In Arkansas, approximately half of our citizens have access to residential internet whereas almost all have access to telephones. Thus, to begin access and treatment, as well as follow up, the project will rely on use of either or both T/T. Evidenced-based treatment, for which PRI has a 25 plus year history of investigating and providing, will be used for all conditions. Patient assessment follow-ups will be by T/T, as per patient choice, and occur at one month and six months after initial intake. The needs of these populations will be met by offering statewide full access to tele-video and telephone-based (T/T) emergency stabilization and mental health/substance use disorder (MH/SUD) services.