The COVID-19 pandemic considerably impacted the psychological well being and well-being of individuals all over the world, but it surely has additionally empowered folks to prioritize their psychological well being and well-being greater than they might have up to now.

As folks search assist, they want a trusted supply for psychological and behavioral well being providers. With a give attention to equitable, whole-person well being, Independence Blue Cross (Independence) now has its personal behavioral well being case administration providers accessible to make it simpler for members to get the assistance they want. This system helps members with psychological well being and substance use problems, life stressors and crises, and stress-related bodily signs. This enables members to have interaction with our personal clinicians, together with nurses, for behavioral well being assist, in addition to entry enhanced providers and ongoing assist to allow them to keep on observe with their care plan.

As a part of our Have a good time Caring marketing campaign to honor excellent nurses in our area, we’re shining a lightweight on two of Independence’s behavioral well being case managers to find out how they’re utilizing their nursing expertise and backgrounds to assist members handle their well being and well-being.

Meet Our Behavioral Well being Case Managers

Rene Dillon and Barbara Leone joined Independence in 2022 after spending most of their careers in conventional nursing settings. Rene has spent most of her 17-year profession working with inpatient psychiatric hospital sufferers (primarily adolescent women), whereas Barbara has greater than 30 years of expertise as a behavioral well being nurse, most of it in a hospital setting.

Rene was impressed to enter nursing a few years in the past when three shut relations went into hospice care in a single yr. She was impressed by the nurses’ care and compassion and realized she wished to supply that very same expertise for different households. Quickly after, she enrolled in nursing faculty. When it got here time to resolve what sort of nurse she wished to be, she knew immediately that she wished to enter behavioral well being. She recalled her aunt’s battle with psychological well being and knew that she may make a distinction serving to others in an analogous state of affairs.

For Barbara, caring for others was in her genes. She grew up in a medical household (her dad was a physician and her mother was a social employee who later grew to become a nurse), so she at all times knew she wished to work within the medical area. Since she cherished speaking to others and knew she didn’t need to be a physician, she pursued behavioral well being nursing.

Advancing Psychological Well being for Our Members

Whereas their inspiration for going into nursing was completely different, Rene and Barbara do have one factor in widespread: their ardour for serving to folks enhance their psychological well being.

“There are a number of challenges with psychological well being at the moment. Sadly, there aren’t sufficient suppliers or beds in remedy amenities. We’re right here as an additional useful resource for members.” stated Rene. “Generally, folks need assist however don’t comply with via immediately. We’re right here to encourage them.”

“I like speaking to members and serving to them determine their strengths to allow them to create a more healthy future,” stated Barbara. “Generally, members are simply caught. I assist them determine boundaries and supply compassion to assist them understand why they want a therapist.”

Day within the Life

Members can name to speak to our behavioral well being case managers at any time. Usually although, the case managers are those making outreach to members who might profit from the behavioral well being case administration program. This contains members who’ve been admitted to the hospital for a psychiatric concern or have been newly identified with a psychological sickness.

“After we attain out to a member, we clarify our program and supply them with assets, educate them on their prognosis, clarify their drugs, and assist them discover suppliers,” stated Rene. “For instance, one member was not too long ago identified with bipolar dysfunction and had no thought what that meant. I helped clarify it to her.”

Comply with up can also be an essential a part of this system.

“We test in frequently with our members on this system to be sure that they’re engaging in their targets (comparable to speaking to a therapist), taking their drugs, and growing and using coping expertise,” stated Barbara. “We additionally remind them to maintain themselves and do pleasurable actions, comparable to going for a stroll.”

As soon as a member demonstrates that they’re doing properly (going to their therapist, taking their drugs, and having a disaster plan in place), all assets have been supplied, and if the member doesn’t have further wants, they “graduate” from this system.

The Rewards of Nursing

Barbara and Rene have discovered that managing an individual’s behavioral well being care over the cellphone will be difficult since you may’t see facial expressions or mannerisms. As a substitute, they must take heed to the member rigorously to grasp their feelings. Regardless of the challenges, it’s a really rewarding job for each Barbara and Rene.

“I take pleasure in seeing folks pull themselves out of a gap and reach life,” stated Barbara. “I had a member in his 90s that didn’t know take care of the truth that he was in his closing years. He was not joyful about it. We determined a therapist could be useful, however he didn’t have a pc. I made a referral via Quartet Well being and was capable of finding somebody who was keen to work with him by way of the phone.”

“It feels good to know that I’ve been a giant assist to another person,” stated Rene. “I had one member who informed me that she was struggling on the hospital. I helped get her into remedy. She was very appreciative and thanked me for treating her with dignity.”

The IBX Distinction

As psychological well being points proceed to develop as a public well being disaster, Barbara is proud to work for Independence.

“Psychological well being is essential to everybody. So, it’s superior that Independence does extra than simply pay the payments. They’re supporting members in so some ways, together with psychological and behavioral well being,” she stated.

Thanks to Rene and Barbara and all our behavioral well being case managers for the whole lot you do to assist our members’ well being!

Behavioral well being case managers can be found 24/7. To speak to a case supervisor, IBX members ought to name 1-800-ASK-BLUE.

Quartet is a separate and unbiased firm that facilitates and coordinates well timed entry to behavioral well being providers for Independence Blue Cross members.