HSM 373 Healthcare Policy and Government Relations

Context

Goals/options

Evaluation of options

Recommended solutions (be very specific here; recommend a policy solution that  a policymaker or legislator can actually do something about).

Introduction

The U.S. health care system has experienced significant changes with a great focus on making care affordable and accessible to the citizens. The Affordable Care Act has specifically changed the health care system by increasing the number of insured individuals. However, there has been less focus on childhood mental health disorders. The prevalence of childhood mental health conditions is increasing yet no policy has been implemented to address this issue. This paper will present a health care policy known as early childhood mental health screen legislator. The policy will help to address and diminish the incidence of mental conditions in children.  

Early childhood mental health screen legislator

For children to achieve developmental milestones, grow, learn and lead happy lives, it is fundamental that they be healthy. Excellent social-emotional and mental health is an important element of children’s health. Adoption of the early childhood mental health screen legislator will promote the healthy development of the children. Early identification and treatment of children at the risk of mental health are desirable. In most cases, mental health disorders can be detected at childhood which insinuates that interventions can be started in the early years to prevent adverse implications at later stages of development and adulthood.

Specific problem

The specific problem that requires the adoption and implementation of the early childhood mental health screen legislator is the prevalence of childhood mental disorders. Currently, no legislation that requires children to be screened for mental health disorders has been implemented. This section presents concrete support why a law is needed for this issue.

According to Brauner and Stephens (2006), about one in every five children has a mental health disorder. Their study estimates that 20 percent of children in the U.S. are suffering from a certain kind of mental illness. (Brauner & Stephens, 2006) The most popular types of mental conditions are anxiety disorders, behavioral disorders and mood disorders (Merikangas et. al., 2009). Most of these mental disorders are diagnosable and can be treated if identified early. This conclusion has been adopted because a mental disorder is just like any other disease. According to the CDC, approximately 6.4 million children have received an attention deficit hyperactivity disorders at one time in their lives. This population forms close to 11% of all children in the U.S. (PLOS Medicine, 2013).

Even with the high pervasiveness of mental health illnesses in the United States, most children do not get specialized treatment. This aspect is attributed to the shortage of pediatric subspecialist in the country (Di Guglielmo et. al., 2016). Some children even experience long wait times for new appointments. There might be instances of undetected mental health disorders among the children due to this long wait times. Anderson et. al. (2015), note that most children with mental illness in the United States are attended by Primary Care Providers (PCPs) rather than specialists. Their study found that PCPs attended 34.8 percent of the children with mental health disorders. Only 26.2 percent were attended by a psychiatric. Those who were attended by a psychologist were about 15.2 percent (Anderson et. al., 2015). This data shows that most of the children who suffer from mental health disorders do not receive better care.

Mental health disorders in children result in numerous adverse impacts to the children, their parents, and the health care system. Compared to elders, children experience unique stigmatization in the society due to mental health disorders (Mukolo et. al., 2010). The education of these children is also impacted since they cannot concentrate effectively in the class.  Parents get an increased burden of care when their children are diagnosed with mental health disorder at a later stage. Besides, the federal expenditure on health care continues to increase subsequently to manage mental health conditions that could have been diagnosed in the early years.

Review thought regarding the chosen health care policy issue

Context

The target population for this legislation will be children aged between two and six years. The early childhood mental health screen legislator fits in the current context effectively. Traditionally, only adults were diagnosed with mental health disorders. In fact, there is a vast literature that asserts that older people have higher chances of developing mental disorders. The trends are changing, and young people are increasingly being diagnosed with mental disorders. One study found a broad drop in the incidences of psychiatric disorders with an increase in age (Reynolds et. al., 2015). This study concluded that young people have a higher chance of suffering from mental disorders. Empirical evidence suggests that mental illness of the motor and emotional regulations are common in children aged two years (Von Klitzing et. al., 2015).

Goals

The early childhood mental health screen legislator will have three specific goals. First, the law will have a goal of determining the number of children aged between two and six years who are suffering from mental disorders. The second goal will be introducing a treatment plan for all the children who test positive for the mental illness. The treatment plan will aim at improving the health condition of the children and helping them to lead a normal life. Finally, the policy will have an objective of equipping the children and their parents with self-management skills. These parties will get self-management skills through continuous training.  

Evaluation of options

There are several potential options for the adoption and implementation of this health care policy. The first solution is implementing mental disorder testing systems in schools. Health care providers including subspecialist pediatrics will then examine and initiate treatment plans for the children at the school level. Another option is employing healthcare providers who would examine children from door to door. Lastly, all caregivers and mothers can be requested to take their children to the nearest health care facility for examination.

Recommended solutions

Based on these options, there are two viable solutions. The policy can be implemented at school level where children will be examined and guided to start treatment. Additionally, all children aged between two and six years who have not been examined at school should be taken to a health care facility for screening.

How to find out the current status of this issue

The current status of childhood mental health disorders can be gotten from the CDC website. The website’s URL is https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/data.html. Apart from offering information on the status of childhood mental health status, the CDC even classifies the information based on age groups and demographics (CDC, 2017). The information can also be gotten from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The website of NIMH is https://www.nimh.nih.gov. The NIMH offers information on childhood disorders and classifies its information based on demographics (NIMH, 2017).

Level of the government that my issue involves

My issue involves the state governments because of their close association with the health care system. The state governments should adopt the early childhood mental health screen legislator. The federal government disperses health funds to the states for supporting the health care system. Hence, the states can adopt a strategy that focuses on improving children health and well-being.

Conclusion

The children represent a fundamental part of the United States population. Their health should thus be given priority. As evident in this paper, the prevalence of mental illnesses in children is increasing dramatically. Adoption of the early childhood mental health screen legislator by states will be a major milestone toward improving the health of the children. This healthcare policy will further enhance the quality of life for the children. The most significant impact of adopting this policy is relieving the federal the burden of healthcare. This paper has recommended the introduction of screening and management centers in selected schools. Also, it suggests the screening of non-school going children at various health care facilities.

References

Anderson, L. E., Chen, M. L., Perrin, J. M., & Van Cleave, J. (2015). Outpatient visits and medication prescribing for US children with mental health conditions. Pediatrics, 136(5), e1178-e1185.

Brauner, C. B., & Stephens, C. B. (2006). Estimating the prevalence of early childhood serious emotional/behavioral disorders: challenges and recommendations. Public health reports, 121(3), 303-31

Children’s mental health. Retrieved 19 July 2017, from: https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/data.html

Di Guglielmo, M. D., Greenspan, J. S., & Abatemarco, D. J. (2016). Pediatrician preferences, local resources, and economic factors influence referral to a subspecialty access clinic. Primary health care research & development, 17(6), 628-635.

Merikangas, K. R., Nakamura, E. F., & Kessler, R. C. (2009). Epidemiology of mental disorders in children and adolescents. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 11(1), 7.

Mukolo, A., Heflinger, C. A., & Wallston, K. A. (2010). The stigma of childhood mental disorders: A conceptual framework. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 49(2), 92-103.

NIMH. (2017). Any disorder among children. Retrieved 19 July 2017, from: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/any-disorder-among-children.shtml

PLOS Medicine Editors. (2013). The paradox of mental health: over-treatment and under-recognition. PLoS medicine, 10(5), e1001456.

Reynolds, K., Pietrzak, R. H., El-Gabalawy, R., Mackenzie, C. S., & Sareen, J. (2015). Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in US older adults: findings from a nationally representative survey. World Psychiatry, 14(1), 74-81.

von Klitzing, K., Döhnert, M., Kroll, M., & Grube, M. (2015). Mental disorders in early childhood. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, 112(21-22), 375.