Healthy Minds
As an Alliance, we want to make sure that every person in our state has the best chance to be psychologically well (i.e. controlled mental and substance use disorders), and we have selected three indicators to track success: depression medication adherence; primary care preventable length of stay at acute care hospitals for people with behavioral health conditions; and number of days feeling mentally unwell in the past month for people with low household incomes.
Scroll down to find information about these indicators, potential partners, and resources for improvement.
*Disparity Gap: The gap is higher for the disadvantaged group
Help improve the psychological health of people in South Carolina today
Aligning Efforts
The Alliance endorses fully the State Plan to Prevent and Treat Prescription Drug Abuse and the Behavioral Health Taskforce Recommendations (described below) and encourages Alliance members to align with as many as possible.
To maximize impact, the Advocacy Team prioritized the following 6 recommendations as the main opportunities for collective alignment of Alliance members during 2015-2016:
- Support use of SCRIPTs (South Carolina Reporting & Identification Prescription Tracking System) by providers.
- Support use of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opioid addiction, especially during pregnancy.
- Support expansion of prescription drug take-back sites. To find one near you, use this map.
- Create short-stay crisis-stabilization facilities across the state for patients experiencing a behavioral health emergency.
- Support the expansion of access to outpatient behavioral health services across the state.
- Develop a network of Mobile Crisis Units.
Strategy Recommendations
Behavioral Health Taskforce Recommendations
The Behavioral Health Taskforce has produced a set of 20 recommendations to improve behavioral health in South Carolina. They are grouped in six focal areas:
- Access to clinical services
- Integrated care
- Housing
- School-based services
- Services for justice-involved individuals
- Workforce development
Access the full report here
Contact Maya Pack for additional information on strategy implementation.
State Plan to Prevent and Treat Prescription Drug Abuse
The Governor’s Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Council has developed a set of recommendations to reduce the misuse of prescription drugs.
The report includes recommendations in the following categories:
- Prescribers
- South Carolina Prescription Monitoring Program (SCRIPTS)
- Pharmacy
- Third-Party Payers
- Law Enforcement
- Treatment
- Education and Advocacy
- Data and Analysis
Access the full report here.
Contact Sara Goldsby for additional information and strategy implementation.
Local Efforts
IMPH Inventory of SC Behavioral Health Agencies and Initiatives
This document includes information about the following agencies/programs:
- Hospital Behavioral Health Council
- Faces and Voices of Recovery SC
- Federation of Families
- Joint Citizens and Legislative Committee on Children
- Joint Council on Children and Adolescents
- Mental Health America (MHA)
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
- Palmetto Coordinated System of Care
- Partners in Crisis
- Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities
- South Carolina Continuum of Care
- South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services
- South Carolina Department of Corrections
- South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
- South Carolina Department of Mental Health
- South Carolina Division of Veterans’ Affairs
- SC SHARE
- Statewide Housing Taskforce
Other Programs in the State:
Virtual behavioral health/primary care integration pilot at USC
South Carolina Telepsychiatry program
Mental Health First Aid Training for Community Members
Databases and Tools:
Find your local mental health center
Find your local alcohol and other drug abuse treatment center
Tele-health sites – Choose the options related to behavioral health in “Filter Results by”