With a growing number of mental health issues in Utah and nationwide, along with an on-going shortage of professionals to treat mental health-related issues, Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMUoHP) is determined to turn-the-tide on these issues by providing programs to train mental healthcare professionals.
For all of its merits, Utah continues to rank very low in enacting measures to help mental health.
A report issued by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute and the Utah Hospital Association in 2019, as reported in the Salt Lake Tribune, indicates more than a third of adults in Utah communities suffer from depression, and less than half of adults with mental illness have received any treatment or counseling.
Kelly Conway, DNP, CNS, Nursing Programs Assistant Chair and former interim program director of the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) Certificate program at RMUoHP, said, “A lack of access to psychiatric services across the healthcare service delivery field (specifically, outpatient clinical settings, emergency departments, referrals for primary care clinicians, and inpatient psychiatric beds) had been a reality for decades.”
Conway cites a 2017 report by the National Council for Behavioral Health that shows 55 percent of US counties have no psychiatric providers, 77 percent have severe shortages of psychiatric providers, and 86 percent have severe shortages of child and adolescent psychiatric providers.
Verl Pope, EdD, LCMHC, LPC, CCMHC, ACS, Program Director for the counseling programs at RMUoHP, agrees with Conway’s assessment. “According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one in five people in the US lives with mental illness,” he said. “Even more people than that will struggle at some point in their lives with some degree of emotional struggles. Our level of resilience and capacity to cope help, but the loss of a loved one, a job, an illness, or other times of stress can tax our ability to handle difficult situations. The current COVID-19 situation certainly can contribute to loss and anxiety.”
To address the issue, RMUoHP has specific programs designed to help train professionals to provide mental healthcare.
According to Pope, trained counselors can help a person develop and grow, gain insight, and enhance their ability to cope. Counseling can be a great asset to the mental health of individuals, families, and communities. They can also help children and adolescents who are often at even greater risk for struggles in that they are susceptible to their families’ financial difficulties. At times, they have not been able to develop the necessary skills to address new challenges.
Conway said, “Our students train for in-person and telepsychiatry, which provides necessary and effective care in far-reaching areas including rural settings and during critical times such as our current pandemic situation when face-to-face care may be limited.”
Both Conway and Pope are optimistic about the future of mental health as they see their students move out into the community to provide vital mental health services.
“PMHNPs who graduate from RMUoHP will be located nationwide practicing in their home communities and helping provide critical services of prescribing and counseling while helping decrease the nationwide shortage of providers,” said Conway. “The PMHNP certificate program will educate highly-skilled and expert clinicians across the lifespans of people. These providers will treat patients from the cradle to the grave, encompassing care for individuals, groups, and families.”
Pope adds, “I hope RMUoHP students gain a foundation of experience, understanding, science, and opportunity in counseling to make sure services to clients are helpful and effective in providing a life-enhancing experience that will improve their lives and the community as a whole.”
“My goal is that they will have the knowledge and skill to address the difficulties and yet have the vision to rise beyond abuse and mental illness and help individuals and families work toward mental health and resilience,” said Pope.
RMUoHP provides both a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Master of Science in School Counseling, allowing graduates to become licensed clinical mental health counselors. The University also offers a post-graduate Psychiatric Mental Healthcare Nurse Practitioner Certificate for registered nurses with a master’s degree or higher who wish to expand into psychiatric-mental health advanced practice. In addition, the Doctor of Medical Science program has a Psychiatry track for practicing physician assistants who want to develop skills to help patients with psychiatric disorders.
By A. Cory Maloy, Public Relations Contributor
