Editorial: Seize chance to transform vital service

Thursday, Jan. 29, 2004 | 8:55 a.m.

Nevada is uniquely situated to begin changing the way mental health services are delivered in its cities and rural areas. For more than a year Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, served on a national commission created in 2002 by President Bush. The mission of its 22 members was to study the system states and the federal government use for delivering mental health services and recommend a whole new approach. Townsend was the only state legislator to serve on the commission and he is energized by what he learned.

Over the past four or five decades, the commission found, the system has become fragmented and parochial to the point of being largely ineffective. At the same time, medical research has advanced rapidly, offering great promise if only there was an efficient way to deliver on the findings. The report says that if the administration of mental health programs could be transformed, there would be every chance for most patients to permanently recover -- as opposed to encountering barriers that severely limit their chances. They could lead full lives, holding jobs and enjoying family life and social opportunities.

For the past six months, Townsend has chaired a state legislative committee charged with determining how the commission's findings can be put to work here in Nevada. Essentially, the commission found that, while mental illness strikes all ages and all levels of society, services are compartmentalized. Mental health professionals are skilled, but their effectiveness is impaired because of the system under which they work. Townsend's committee has prepared a report emphasizing a new system, one where all who work in any area of mental health services would be communicating and working more closely together. Patients would find access to treatment and other services, such as housing, greatly improved. The lingering stigma of mental illness would be diminished through public education programs. Professional training would be a priority.

We hope Nevada seizes this opportunity to set an example for the nation. It wouldn't require a lot of money. It would, however, need something even harder to come by -- a willingness to change an age-old system that has made "not my department" a familiar phrase to people seeking help.