Persons with serious mental illness die approximately 25 years younger than the general population, largely due to treatable medical conditions such as heart disease or diabetes. These mortality rates can be reduced using some very practical strategies of cooperative care between primary care and behavioral health. This integration of care carries many other benefits as well, such as reducing over-medicating, better understanding of service utilization, and a broader tracking of compliance.

Objectives

be able to describe the premature mortality associated with mental illness
be able to list three factors contributing to excess mortality and morbidity in persons with mental illness
be able to list the three approaches to improving the integration of primary care in behavioral healthcare services
be able to describe three cultural differences between primary care settings and mental health treatment settings

Joseph Parks, MD, serves as the Chief Clinical Officer for the Missouri Department of Mental Health in Jefferson City. He also holds the position of Distinguished Research Professor of Science at the University of Missouri -- St. Louis and Director of the Missouri Institute of Mental Health. He also serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Missouri, Department of Psychiatry in Columbia. He serves as President of the Medical Director's Council of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. He practices psychiatry on an outpatient basis at Family Health Center, a federally funded community health center established to expand services to uninsured and underinsured patients in the Columbia area. He recently served as the Division Director for the Division of Comprehensive Psychiatric Services for the Missouri Department of Mental Health.

Dr. Parks has authored or coauthored a number of original articles, monographs, technical papers, and reviews on implementation of Evidence Based Medicine and Pharmacy Utilization Management and behavioral treatment programs. His work has appeared in several journals (Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Psychiatric Practices, Psychiatry Quarterly, Manual of Clinical Emergency Psychiatry, Behavioral Interviews, Hospital and Community Psychiatry, and Advanced Studies in Nursing.

He was awarded the 2006 American Psychiatric Association Bronze Achievement Award for a program controlling pharmacy costs by improving prescribing practices.

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