Defining Community Mental Health

Source and ACK: https://onlinedegrees.und.edu/blog/what-is-community-mental-health/

The American Psychological Association defines community mental health as activities that promote mental health that are performed in the community instead of in institutional settings.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the concept of community mental health originated with the Community Mental Health Act of 1963. Prior to the passage of that act, individuals with mental illness in the U.S. were frequently institutionalized, and the quality of the treatment they received varied significantly.

SAMHSA information on the history of community mental health indicates that, after 1963, the focus of mental health treatment shifted from institutionalization to treating individuals where they live, and communities across the country began establishing their own mental health centres. The premise of the shift was the theory that communities would best establish mental health facilities that fit their unique needs.

Community Mental Health Centers

According to the American Psychological Association, a community mental health centre is a facility or facilities that are community-based and provide mental health services, sometimes as an alternative to the care that mental hospitals provide.

SAMHSA reported that, as of 2019, approximately 2,700 community mental health centres were in operation. They are supported by sources such as county and state funding programs, federal funding through programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, private insurance and cash payments. The centres treat both children and adults, including individuals who are chronically mentally ill or have been discharged from an inpatient mental health facility.

The Mental Health Professionals Who Work at Community Mental Health Centers

Social workers, psychiatrists, counsellors, psychologists and peer support specialists are some of the professionals who provide services at community mental health centres. In addition, community mental health centres frequently contract with other providers in the community for their services; they also refer clients to other types of providers such as residential treatment centres.

Community Mental Health Centers That Participate in Assertive Community Treatment Teams

Community mental health centres can choose to be part of a team that provides assertive community treatment (ACT). Under the ACT model, providers with a variety of expertise form a team to assist individuals in the community who have persistent and severe mental illnesses. The teams provide individuals with a variety of services to help them function independently. These services include:

• Housing assistance
• Financial management
• Mental health services
• Employment services

Services That Community Mental Health Centers Provide

Understanding the type of services that community mental health centres provide can help clarify what community mental health is within the mental health care landscape.

Community mental health centres primarily offer outpatient mental health services, but they are not limited to that. Examples of the specific services they may offer to individuals with mental illness include:

• Diagnostic evaluation
• Screening for possible admission to a mental health facility
• Emergency care
• Crisis intervention services
• Psychotherapy
• Partial hospitalization or day treatment
• Psychosocial rehabilitation
• Medication management
• Substance abuse treatment

Moving Beyond Traditional Services

Some community mental health centres have branched into offering other nontraditional services such as:

• Mobile crisis units
• Vocational and educational services
• Consultation services through which they coordinate with people and entities such as clergy members, schools and social service agencies
• Training services for mental health staff

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