ECHO-Chicago: Serious Mental Illness

An estimated 526,000 adults in Illinois (5.4% of the adult population) had a serious mental illness (SMI) in 2012, which is higher than the national rate of 4%. For people with SMI, it carries significant rates of morbidity and mortality. It is estimated that people with SMI die about 25 years earlier than the general population and that 60% of this excess mortality is due to chronic conditions. Individuals with SMI experience significantly higher prevalence rates for chronic conditions including metabolic disorders, cardiovascular disease, chronic pulmonary disease, gastrointestinal disorders, chronic viral infections, and obesity. The goal of this curriculum is to provide community-based primary care providers with advanced training, skills, and knowledge to screen, diagnose, and manage serious mental illness (SMI) to improve overall well-being for patients living in the U.S. who otherwise may have trouble accessing care for serious mental illness.

After this activity, participatants will be able to:

• Identify challenges faced by SMI patients in primary care;
• Outline screening procedures for SMI in a primary care setting and indicate use of quality improvement process to improve screenings; 
• State registry components of population health management and how it can be used to track SMI patients;
• Define how screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) can be used to treat SMI patients;
• State the best practices for behavioral management including treating comorbid problems like pain and other substance use disorders;
• Summarize how to use motivational interviewing for self-management support of SMI patients;
• Discuss how the recovery model can be used in the treatment of SMI patients;
• State the best practices for treating psychotic disorders;
• Examine the primary care challenges faced when treating affective disorder and appropriate psychological interventions.