My son is set to be release on today after 2 weeks in the hospital. We are relieved and happen he’s coming home. I talked with him on yesterday and today and he sound great. He still a little delusional , but we can handle that. I am having a hard time with resources and services for him. How can I get him a case manager in GA?
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In my experience, that type of information should be given to you at the exit interview. Your son should be assigned a doctor who he visits regularly and you should be given a contact number to call and make an appointment. I made ours within days of his release. My son was also assigned a therapist - if this is the case, be sure to ask if the therapist has experience with schizophrenia. Not all do and mental health staff won’t always make sure they do as not everyone in these hospitals suffers with schizophrenia.
Not sure about a case manager unless he gets assigned to a specialized outpatient program which can happen with those diagnosed in “severe” cases - my son was one, but he wouldn’t comply with medication once he left and was dropped ( more to the story, but maybe later). I associate case managers with mandated situations. Will your son be involved with a mandated AOT (Assisted Outpatient Treatment)? Has anything been mandated for him? I’m thinking not since he’s leaving after two weeks.
Glad your boy is coming home and that he sounds so good. The delusions can subside with decreased stress levels. Hospitals are about as stressful as they come. I hope you see continued improvement. You’ve done good…
hugs
Case managers are not covered by regular health insurance in our state.
Hospitals here do discharge planning based on resources (state commitment to ACT team or Medicaid are two resources that pay for case managers), so they will sign people up for unsuitable programs or counselors if their insurance covers it, but avoid resources that are covered by the state if benefits are not in place. Ask the discharge planner (a social worker usually) how to get a case manager.
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One other thing to think about - is planning in case he relapses. Something that would be very helpful in this scenario is a psychiatric advanced directive. Here is more about these:
https://www.nami.org/Find-Support/Family-Members-and-Caregivers/Being-Prepared-for-a-Crisis
and
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Hit that nail on the head.
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By my son’s third hospitalization, we had him on Medicaid which was the coverage of choice by the highest rated treatment center in our city. Granted they also take what was previously his primary insurance, but patients with Medicaid were given preference ( not sure the legalities of that one ). Once on Medicaid, all kinds of doors opened, but my son’s lack of compliance closed them quite quickly. I am in a slow process of guardianship and plan not to make similar mistakes should he be hospitalized again at some point.
Thanks everyone for replying! My son was discharged on today. The hospital made his follow up appointment for 4/21. I talked with his social worker about the ACT program on last week and she tried to get him into the community healthcare program here where we live , but they denied him because he didn’t have Medicaid. That’s some bullcrap!!
We have BCBS Insurance. The social worker told me and my husband that BCBS was hindering my son instead of helping. She said in order for us to get him on ACT then we would have to drop our insurance. I am so confused. Where do I go to apply for Medicaid? What is AOT? How can I apply for those things when he doesn’t think he needs them because he’s not sick.
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Welcome to the world of trying to help someone with serious mental illness receive treatment.
It is not a fun or logical place.
Assisted Outpatient Treatment (usually court ordered as a step down from court ordered involuntary inpatient commitment)
Assertive Community Treatment (also not available to people with private insurance where we live)
Both of the above mean someone professional shows up and helps your son with treatment. There would also be a case manager and a few other members of the treatment team in an ideal world.
You can’t apply for these things unless an adult agrees in writing or you have some other legal way of doing so. And even when you do all that, it’s up to your son and his decisions. Only a court with an involuntary commitment order can force someone into inpatient or outpatient treatment.
BCBS does not pay for any needed treatments beyond certain meds and maybe counseling, even though it is proven that a person with serious mental illness requires evidence-based care involving vastly more. You can’t even get a psych evaluation from private insurance.
I’m sorry you are going through this.
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Call your local service providers (do a search on AOT and your city name on google). Or call your local NAMI office and they may be able to help you.
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@Hereandhere Thank you for breaking it down for me. It is very sad that we have to go through this with our love one to get them the proper care, but even if we get the help for our love one… They’ll have to be willing to receive treatment…I will keep everyone updated on my son. He was discharged on yesterday. Today was a good day, so we will take it because we know bad days are to come. He’s not complaining of any side effects from the Invega shot. He has a follow up appointment on tmw with a therapist and an appointment with a Psychiatrist on May 4th. @SzAdmin Thank you very much for the info… You guys are very supportive and helpful… God bless all of you
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Hello Holly, Were you able to get guardianship for your son? If so, how did it go?
@myson If I was in Georgia I would probably start with the link below, but I would also ask the hospital for a case management referral and ask them if they have the name and number of the mental health ombudsman-most states have one, although not everyone is aware of who they are, the one we have here in Ohio is an absolute wealth of resources and connections for all things mental health-I wish you and your son the best! https://dbhdd.georgia.gov/
Thank you very much Catherine for the info! My son is stable! Thank God… I will keep everyone update. Be blessed!
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