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July 24, 1991—7 he Portland Observer*- Page 7
HEALTH CARE 1991
7
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New Program Helps Patients Hang On By Keeping Them Involved
Joe* was teetering precariously on
the scaffolding o f life, stressed and
shakened by the pressures o f jobless
ness and a family in turmoil. He was
one step away from losing his danger
ous balancing act and falling into a
hospital bed, perhaps even a jail cell.
Instead, he found the stability of
the adult psychiatric day hospital, a
new com ponent o f Portland Adventist
M edical C enter’s behavioral medicine
division.
The program offers intensive psy
chiatric services to help people to re
turn to or enhance their functioning at
home, on the jo b and w ithin the com
munity. Patients spend their days par
ticipating in a w ide range o f therapeu
tic program s, then return home in the
evening to practice their new skills.
A lthough many patients in the
program are form er inpatients seeking
a transitional setting to help them ease
their return to the com m unity, one o f
the program ’s primary benefits may be
keeping patients from needing hospi
talization at all. Besides being signifi
cantly less costly than inpatient care,
the day hospital is often a more appro-
priate therapeutic environm ent for many
patients.
“ The day hospital program rein
forces the research that says patients
make belter progress when it’s possible
to keep them in their natural environ
m ent,’’ says Barbara Brady, the pro
gram ’s coordinator.
“ Normal daily functioning skills
tend to atrophy if you rem ove people
from w hat they m ight perceive at pres-
su res-th in g s like work and p a re n tin g -
but which are actually more like invita
tions to norm alcy,” says Brady.
A normal life was all Joe ever asked
for. Then, in a serious industrial acci
dent, he fell o ff a ladder and w atched his
life tumble dow n around him.
At the tim e he connected with Port
land Adventist, Joe had been out o f work
for a year and a half, and his fam ily was
on the verge o f falling apart. He was
severely depressed (a trait he shared
with m ost patients in the program ), and
his explosive disorder sym ptom s had
caused several run-ins with the police.
“ He cam e here in a pretty bad
em otional state,” Brady says. “ He had
incredible family stress; he was tense
and hostile. He w asn’t sleeping and he
was drinking 14 to 15 cups o f coffee a
day. T here’s no way he ever would have
agreed to hospitalization. He felt that
was just too great a loss o f freedom .”
Joe is a typical representative o f the
group o f patients best suited for the
environm ent o f the day hospital pro
gram , Brady says.
“ Our typical patient is the person
you run into in the grocery store,” says
Brady. “ Som e of our patients are suf
fering from a disorder that they’ve had
for life. But m ost o f them are dealing
with something that is more acute. They
may have been functioning okay for a
long time, but then som e situation hap-
p en s-fam ily stress, a job loss, the death
o f a loved o n e -th a t for the first time
puts them in the position o f being un
able to cope.”
It was a com bination o f those situ
ations that brought Joe to Portland
Adventist. O nce accepted into the day
hospital program, Joe entered into a
contract with the staff and set goals for
w hat he w anted to achieve.
“ Its really important that our pa
tients feel they have a contractual rela-
Women’s HealthSource
The W om en’s HealthSource at
Good Sam aritan Hospital & Medical
Center offers sessions on W om en’s
Health issues.
The “ New M om ” Discussion
Group m eets once a week to provide an
opportunity to obtain information and
share with other new mothers. Offered
at Good Sam aritan and Tigard, this is a
free program and babies are welcome!
A support group for women who
have delivered babies by cesarean sec
tion meets monthly at G ood Sam aritan.
This group helps women deal with the
wide range o f em otions following a
cesarean birth. There is no fee but pre
registration is required.
The “ PMS Information Night” will
be held Septem ber 18, 7 p.m. at Good
Samaritan Hospital & M edical Center,
1015 NW 22nd Avenue. This program
will help participants identify sym p
toms and focus on self-help strategics.
C ost for the class is $5 and pre-registra
tion is required.
For more information on these or
oilier programs, or to pre-register, please
call the W omen’s HealthSource at Good
Sam aritan, (503) 229-8081.
Holladay Park Medical Center
1225 Northeast 2nd Avenue
(503) 233-4567
trcA cv
Mrwtth
Committed to Carter Opportunity Tor &[[ Americans
Cholesterol
Screening
Cholesterol screenings will be
offered by St. Vincent Hospital and
Medical Center in July.
The screening will be held on
W ednesday, July 31 from 8:30 to 10:00
A.M. at the H ospital’s Health and Life
style Center, located in the Tanasboume
Medical Plaza, 1885 NW 185th Ave.,
Aloha.
Participants can learn their total
cholesterol level, their ideal level, and
ways to lower cholesterol through diet
and exercise. C ost is $7.
No appointm ent is necessary. For
more inform ation, contact St. Vincent
Health and Lifestyle Center 645-4864.
A D V E R T IS E
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An Equal Opportunity Employer
tionship with us, that this is not a place
where you com e to just have your day
structured and to examine what hap
pened when you were a child,” Brady
says. “ W hile patients do deepen their
understanding o f childhood events, that
isn’t in itself a direct and effective way
of getting you back to being a contribut
ing, functioning m em ber o f society.”
Joe’s goals were to repair his family
life and get back to w ork, and the day
hospital staff set to work designing a
plan of therapy.
Joe’s psychiatrist provided medical
care and supervision, and vt*rked with
the therapy team to develop a treatment
plan for Joe. The multidisciplinary
m em bersof Jo e ’s therapy team included
a clinical social w orker as clinical care
coordinator (this can also be a clinical
nurse specialist).
The coordinator m et with Joe indi
vidually and with his family, and coordi
nated the services of nurses, mental health
therapists, occupation therapists, psy
chologist, clergy and the many other
professionals and resources available to
him.
W hile m edications helped control
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Joe’s anxiety and depression, the day
hospital team began to address Joe’s
problems related to a learning disability
that had been uncovered during an in-
depth psychological assessm ent
“ H e’d had it for probably 30 years
and no one had picked it up,” says
Brady. “ He was having some auditory
and com m unication problems related to
most of his life. But no one had found it
before and said, ‘Y ou’re not stupid or
crazy, you have a learning disorder.’”
Joe attended the program five days
a week early in his therapy. In individ
ual and group sessions he learned cop
ing and assertiveness skills and relaxa
tion techniques. As his progress contin
ued, his visits were gradually decreased.
Jo e ’s wife and daughter actively
participated in his therapy. Family in
volvem ent in therapy is strongly en
couraged, Brady says.
“ Besides their participation in ther
apy, the family becom es a sort o f hospi
tal in the hom e,” she says. “ They work
as partners with our staff to observe how
the patient is functioning and progress
ing when at hom e.”
W hile therapy plans are individual-
a
■ri
ized, some common tenets underscore
each patient’s treatment. * ‘O ne o f them
is ‘No man is an island,’ ’ ’ Bradys says.
“ We have no desire to work with a
patient in isolation, without having
contact with society. T h at’s why the
day hospital concept is so effective.
“ A second tenet is ‘W ork is ther
apy.’ Everyone needs a sense o f worth
and a feeling that he or she is produc
tive. Much o f what we do is centered on
getting patients back into their work
setting or involved in other productive
activities.”
Day hospital staff worked with
W orker’s Compensation personnel to
assist Joe in his vocational rehabilita
tion. A rehabilitation counselor helped
him address the psycho-social im plica
tions o f being unable to work.
Joe has made significant progress
toward fulfilling his goal o f returning to
work, and the fam ily’s relationship is
well on the way to recovery. Joe may
have stum bled and fallen into the day
hospital program. But when he stepped
out for the last time, it was onto solid
ground.
* “ Joe” is a pseudonym.
Gentle Dental Day...Everyday
G entle Dental has expanded their
annual G entle Dental Day program to
better serve needy individuals who care
about their dental health, but lack the fi
nancial means to afford dental treat
ments.
Gentle Dental is pleased to offer
Gentle Dental Day...Everyday, a pro
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for delivering consistent and com pre
hensive care to persons with limited
financial resources.
W ith G entle Dental Day...Every
day, needy patients may now receive
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G entle Dental will credit 1% o f the
gross amount of any Gentle Dental “ paid”
receipt and/or original insurance pay
m ent evidence toward the cost o f any
dental procedure incurred by persons
with limited financial resources.
Controlling the cost o f dental health
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they continually strive to give patients
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cause their offices are open longer hours,
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tient which saves you time as well as
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treatm ent estim ates for you at no charge.
They ask for payment in full for each
visit unless other arrangements have been
made. Their fees are accepted as reason
able, usual and customary by Oregon
and W ashington dental insurance pro
viders. They will gladly process your
insurance claim s for you, and, naturally,
you are responsible for any portion not
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Emergency services are available
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on call staff in HOUSEKEEPING.
Includes all shifts plus some week
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end work. Require prior experi
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Interested qualified candidates
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Human Resources Dept.
8721 NE 5th St.
PO Box 1600
Vancouver, WA 98668
206-256-2269
Equal Opportunity Employer
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You Deserve The Best
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Jantzen Beach Center
289-7762 Clackamas Town Center
6|3-9870
East Portland M l 122nd Ave
257-8787
Milwaukie Marketplace
653-8320
Near Washington Square
684-7868
Beaverton 158th and Cornell
629-5300
Hillsboro
693-1217 Also three locations in Vancouver
Sunset Esplanade
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