Individuals with developmental disabilities are at significantly higher risk of having a mental health or psychiatric disorder. In fact, current studies show that 35-50% of individuals with developmental disabilities also have a co-occurring mental health issue.
Unfortunately, people dealing with both of these types of issues typically require multiple providers to get the services that they need. The result is fragmented care, without communication between providers. This lack of communication and understanding often results in individuals not being able to achieve the goals.
Empowering Integrated Care Solutions provides an alternative:
Often times, individuals with developmental disabilities have mental health symptoms that are inappropriately attributed to behaviors related to their developmental delay. This phenomenon is called “overshadowing.” Our clinicians are trained to recognize the unique symptom presentation of individuals with developmental disabilities. Service and treatment recommendations are identified during the Mental Health Assessment that best address each individual’s needs.
These confidential services are available to individuals, caregivers, and family members, to support the unique challenges faced by our clients. Skilled counselors and social workers that are part of our team of professionals provide these services. We use evidence-based practices to work towards positive change. This service addresses issues such as:
Clients are seen by our Psychiatrist or Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner to provide a mental health/psychiatric evaluation to determine if medication may be helpful to reduce their mental health symptoms. All medical staff are part of our team of professionals that meet regularly to promote positive treatment outcomes.
Mental Health Case Management (or “Community Psychiatric Supportive Treatment”) is a critical service that assists clients with skill building and accessing resources. This empowers them to increase their level of independent functioning, community inclusion, and overall quality of life.
Case Management includes a wide range of interventions designed to meet the individual needs of the consumer. This service includes their families, caregivers, and other service systems in order to comprehensively support the optimal success of the client. During this process, consumer needs and challenges specific to them are best addressed. These can include safety needs related to epilepsy and seizures, mobility needs related to cerebral palsy, or potential communication needs related to hearing, vision, and learning issues. Assistance may include:
Medicaid waivers provide individuals with disabilities and chronic conditions with care in their homes and communities, rather than in long-term care facilities, hospitals, or intermediate care facilities. Eligibility for these waivers is determined by the local Developmental Disability (DD) boards.
We offer Home and Community-Based Waiver Services that support our clients in their home environment, with the goal of improving skills to increase their level of independent functioning. We provide the following services on the Individual Options and Level One Waivers:
These services are essential to personal growth and development, and include assistance with daily living activities like cooking, cleaning, and laundry, personal hygiene, ambulatory needs, skills development, money management, and shopping.
The frequency, duration, and types of Homemaker/Personal Care services needed are discussed at the time of the person-centered planning process, and this information is used to develop the Individual Service Plan. The amount of time our staff are in the home providing this service can vary greatly, based on the needs of the client. We collaborate with the local DD boards to ensure comprehensive services that best address the needs of our clients.
Social Work is provided within the Individual Options Waiver to help individuals address their social or emotional needs and help them to live more effectively in the community. This can include:
Transportation is provided to individuals enrolled in the Homemaker/Personal Care service to access community services, activities, resources, and other service-related needs. Services may extend to those times when the individual is not physically present and transportation is provided on behalf of the individual.