Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer Laura Pancake contributed to a new study published in the journal Psychiatric Services titled “Service Use by Medicaid Recipients With Serious Mental Illness During an RCT of the Bridge Peer Health Navigator Intervention.” In the study, researchers formed a six-month, peer-led intervention program called Bridge designed to help participants set health and wellness goals, how to make appointments for routine or specialty care and coach them their stressful aspects of the process, then participants gradually, and ultimately, take over and manage all aspects of their health and health care.
Early mortality is higher in those who experience mental illness, often caused by undetected physical health conditions and illnesses or difficulty accessing health care.
Findings of this study reported a decrease in emergency room visits and an increase in routine health care visits.
Additional study contributors include former board member John S. Brekke, Erin L. Kelly, Benjamin Hong, Lei Duan and Heather Cohen.
