University SPMI Report: Characteristics, Treatment, and Challenges

This report provides an analysis of Severe Persistent Mental Illness (SPMI), focusing on the characteristics of the affected population. The study highlights that SPMI affects a significant percentage of the population and can impact individuals irrespective of age, gender, and culture, often leading to co-occurring health problems such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. It also explores social and economic challenges faced by these patients, including stigma, isolation, and unemployment, and examines various treatment approaches, including community-based programs and behavioral therapies. The report also discusses the challenges in treatment, such as non-adherence to medication and the importance of caregiver support. The report concludes by emphasizing the need for addressing barriers to quality healthcare for individuals with SPMI and the role of various service providers.

Running head: SEVERE PERSISTENT MENTAL ILLNESS
CHARACTERISTICS OF POPULATION OF SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1SEVERE PERSISTENT MENTAL ILLNESS
Severe Persistent Mental Illness (SPMI) is a set of mental illness affecting more than 5 to
7 percent of population of the United States of America (Samhsa.gov, 2017) Nebraska compared
it by surveying the different age groups, type of disorders they acquire and type of intervention
they are going through. they put those results in a graphical manner to find out the percentage.
Such illness can affect people irrespective of their gender, culture, age, location, health
condition. However, affected people can be divided into two groups; first group includes elderly
patients having experience of healthcare interventions and the second group having younger
people with no experience of healthcare treatment regarding mental illness.
SMI affected person are always at the risk of acquiring other healthcare problems. These
co-occurring illnesses consists of hypertension, cardio-vascular disease, obesity, and diabetes.
These people cannot fulfill their own health needs and become addicted. Higher smoking rates,
poor nutrition and lack of care leads to such physical conditions (Twamley et al., 2012).
Depression can also lead to suicidal tendencies, as they feel disconnected from their former life.
Different social and economic problems are there that make the health condition of those patients
worst. These problems are stigma, isolation from society and loneliness, victimization due to
their health imparities, unemployment and poverty, housing instability and disrupted housing
with family (Moorhead et al., 2014). Treatment of these patients are not certain, as the rate of
non-adherence to the treatment is more than 50 percent. There are several medical services
provided to the SMI patient such as comprehensive community treatment, Community service
and program, group and individual psychotherapy, community outreach programs to help the
people affected with SMI. However, for effective treatment of these patients behavioral therapy
should be used. Living with SMI inconsistently requires more determination and emotional

2SEVERE PERSISTENT MENTAL ILLNESS
means from persons less able to cope with such demands (Samhsa.gov, 2017). Typical
medication that are given to patients with SMI are antipsychotics and these drugs have major risk
factors associated with it such as risk of diabetes, dystonia and so on. There are different
treatment settings that are applied to treat SMI patients traditionally. These are – comprehensive
community treatment settings, assertive community treatment settings and crisis intervention
settings. Some of these traditional treatment settings are useful to increase the rate of daily living
activity rates in the patients of SMI. These programs offer the patient with different daily
activities, social skill trainings to improve the condition of the patient. The service providers
enhance the social contact and peer connections. These providers are the staff of the care home
and monitors the patient’s throughout the activity. These different service providers are- day
program services, social contact enhancers. However, the functional problems in treatments are
non-adherence attitude of patient towards the treatment. About half of the patient suffering from
SMI quit the treatment process in halfway. Hence, the treatment cannot become functionally
successful. Hence, the role of the caregiver should make the patient believe in the care and help
them to overcome the barriers to avail quality treatment. However, there are several barriers to
attain this. They are not been able to cope with the challenges during the care giving process and
feel unable to shoulder the burden. Hence, removal of these burdens are necessary to let the
patients avail quality healthcare.

3SEVERE PERSISTENT MENTAL ILLNESS
References
Halter, M. J., & Varcarolis, E. M. (2013). Varcarolis' Foundations of Psychiatric Mental Health
Nursing. Elsevier Health Sciences. 7th ed.
Samhsa.gov. (2017). SAMHSA - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration. Samhsa.gov. Retrieved 12 October 2017, from https://www.samhsa.gov/