xxAACP Newsletter, Volume 15, Number 1, Winter2001
Integrating Primary Care and Psychiatry Found to be Key to Physician Retention in Distressed and Marginalized Communities
The Region III Physician Retention Project Workgroup of the Public Health Service met in December 1999 with members of the AACP (Annelle Primm and Ken Thompson), the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved, and the Clinical Regional Advisory Network (CRAN) to discuss the next steps in setting priorities to address the retention issues, as reported to the Regional Health Administrator**. The workgroup focused its discussion on the following areas in need of development:
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Physician Involvement in Decision-Making•
Education on Burnout and Support Services, including mental health resources•
Having a Voice in a Larger System•
Help with things that cannot be changed Those present suggested that continuing professional education must provide for on-going assistance from experts to master new competency areas, while also allowing for opportunities for networking with clinicians knowledgeable about their work and patient populations. Anita Batman, MD, Special Advisor in the Office of the Surgeon General, reminded the group that the first steps in clinician leadership are the ability to address issues of burnout and isolation, as well as to identify professional resources to assist others with these problems.The Region III Workgroup has an opportunity to develop a pilot project that addresses the mental health needs of the clinicians as well as those of their patients in underserved areas. Consideration was given to the recommendations in the Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health and the on-going effort to address the National Initiative to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health. More primary care clinicians are to identify the mental health problems of high risk, culturally diverse and/or chronically ill patients and provide mental health services with limited or no community and professional resources. The inability of clinicians to see improvement in the physical and mental health of their patients contributes to burnout and a sense of isolation. A pilot professional development program, including peer to peer assistance, has been suggested to address this need. This pilot project would look at:
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the role of psychiatry and other mental health disciplines in the care of patients in primary care practices, with an additional important focus on the mental health needs/concerns of clinicians and their families living and working in impoverished/isolated communities;•
the connection of community mental health services to efforts to decrease racial/ethnic/social disparities in health status and health care; and•
the expanding use of Internet and technology to meet the training/resource needs of health professionals The ACU and CRAN are excited about this focus and have begun to discuss this concept with potential partners including the American Association of Community Psychiatrists, the American Ortho-Psychiatric Association and the National Mental Health Association. As a result of these efforts, Region III (DE, PA, MD, VA, WV, DC) of the Public Health Service Retention Project recently established an email list linking primary care clinicians in the community-based practice public health service with community psychiatrists. Additional members are welcome. For more information, contact Ken Thompson at JakeTomson@aol.com.**An executive summary of the Region III Report, prepared by Laurie Anne Pearlman, PhD, is available on the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved homepage http://www.clinicians.org/infodir. html.
Board membe/webmaster, AACP
Assoc. Director, Assoc. of Clinicians for the Underserved
kathiew@clinicians.org; www.clinicians.org
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