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.

Help improve the psychological health of people in SC today

Strategies

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.