Lecture – Reversing Health Disparities in People With Mental Illness

Presented by Stephen Bartels, MD, MS, The Mongan Institute – The Edward P. Lawrence Quality Care Lecture

People with serious mental illness can expect to live between 11 and 30 years less than members of the general population. Among this group, the primary cause of early morality is cardiovascular disease and cancer. Related risk factors including obesity, tobacco dependence, high blood pressure, and diabetes also contribute to shorter life expectancy.

According to Bartels, this accounts for one of the greatest, but least recognized health disparities. He says that this disparity represents a “failure” on the part of psychiatrists and other mental health care workers.

Watch now to learn more about:

• Primary causes and potential solutions to early mortality experienced by people with serious mental illness
• Research and future models of integrated prevention and care management for those with mental illness at risk for early cardiovascular mortality
• A potential model for team-based population and health care delivery and implementation science to develop, test, and implement new methods of care delivery

During this lecture, Bartels explores the many issues surrounding health disparities in people with mental illness. He discusses the primary causes of early mortality experienced by people with mental health disorders. Also, he describes research on models of integrated prevention, care management, and use of technology for persons with serious mental illness at risk for early cardiovascular mortality.

Many researchers and organizations have proposed innovative solutions to address these issues. For example, The Mongan Institute, where Bartels serves as director, has developed a potential model to reverse health disparities using team-based population and health care delivery.

This approach involves implementation science. A scientific study of methods to promote the systematic uptake of research findings and other evidence-based practice into routine practice, implementation science can improve the quality and effectiveness of health services, Bartels says.

In this talk, Bartels details the work done at his institute. He demonstrates how data scientists, epidemiologists, and others are using real-time data to address the critical medical issues facing populations with mental health conditions. This work, he asserts, may lead to better approaches to treatment, which could help reduce health disparities.