One in 35 Lane County adults has a severe or persistent mental illness. That’s according to a community mental health programauditreleased this month.
Performance Auditor Shanda Miller looked at best practices, crunched data and interviewed mental health staff and patients. She focused on Lane County Behavioral Health.
Shanda Miller: “That can include schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, even PTSD and what I found was that the most effective way to treat individuals with severe and persistent mental illness is through intensive case management.”
Miller says case management is considered the best way to avoid hospitalization or incarceration. But there’s limited capacity in Lane County. Clinics sometimes have to prioritize patients and some never access the treatment they need. The report notes several recent improvements to Lane County mental health services. That includes a new 24-hour crisis center, a new mental health court, and expanded mental health care services in the Lane County Jail.
