Current Issues in the Behavioral Healthcare System

In the course project assignments of the past four weeks, you have written on various topics dealing with trends and issues in the behavioral healthcare system. Those weekly project assignments can be used as references for writing your final research paper.

In addition, read and incorporate the following articles from the EBSCO host database into your paper:

• Deakin, A. (2004, November). Finding your organization’s hidden        treasure. Behavioral Health Management, 24(6), 27-29.
• Droppa, D., & Luczak, R. (2004, January). Collaboration, technology,
          and outcomes—A recipe to improve service delivery.
                 Behavioral Health Management, 24(1), 41-44.

To complete the research paper, you will need to include an introduction and conclusion section as well as a title page and reference section. The title of the research paper will be the Current Issues in the Behavioral Healthcare System.

Your final paper is due for submission. The paper should adhere to the following guidelines:

• The length of the paper should be eight to ten double-spaced pages (not including the title and reference pages).
• The main sections should have a:
  • Title page
  • Introduction
  • Body of the paper (with subheadings)
  • Conclusion
  • Reference page(s)
• The paper must use the APA format for citing sources and references.

Your final paper introduction (one page) should include the following points:

• An overview of the research paper
• The purpose or objective of the research paper

The body of the paper (five pages) should address each of the following topics using information learned in the course, in combination with outside references:

• Based on your previous assignments and review of the literature, what are some of the major issues faced by today’s behavioral healthcare system? How have the current and future trends that are evolving in the industry addressed some of those issues?
• Do you think there is a difference between the changing trends taking place in the private sector and that of public behavioral healthcare inpatient facilities? Based on your understanding about behavioral health services and the populations being served by them, do you agree that both private and public organizations are able to provide the necessary clinical services? Provide a rationale in support of your response.
• In behavioral healthcare, outcomes are the established norm for measuring the success or lack of services. What are some of the major challenges in collecting the data needed to support and report behavioral health outcomes? Provide a rationale for your response.
• Quality of care and services is an important part of an outcome-based strategy. The objective behind maintaining and improving quality is to provide competent and efficient services to consumers. In your opinion, do the current regulatory and accreditation standards for the behavioral health industry help to meet that objective? How?

Your conclusion (one pages) should include the following points:

• What conclusions can you draw from your research that would demonstrate the role played by behavioral health in the healthcare industry?
• What changes would you like to bring to today’s behavioral healthcare system in order to resolve the current issues identified?
• Based on your literature review, if you were asked to conduct a formal research project on any of the topics discussed in the research paper, what would your choice be and why?