Psychiatric Advance Directives: A Compelling Tool to Support Crisis Care-Lecture Presentation

Video Transcription
Video Summary
In this video, Amy Cohen, a member of the Clinical Expert Team with SMI Advisor and an Associate Research Professor in UCLA's Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Science, introduces a webinar on Psychiatric Advanced Directions (PADs) as a tool to support crisis care. SMI Advisor is an initiative aimed at helping clinicians implement evidence-based care for those with serious mental illness. The webinar is hosted in collaboration with the Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network, a group that supports research, training, and workforce development in mental health.<br /><br />The webinar features two faculty members: Phoebe Smith, Director of Mental Health and Project Coordinator for the Crisis Navigation Project at Southern Regional AHEC, and Dr. Marvin Schwartz, Professor and Head of the Division of Social and Community Psychiatry, and Director of the National Resource Center on Psychiatric Advance Directives.<br /><br />Phoebe Smith discusses the Crisis Navigation Project in North Carolina, which focuses on training facilitators to assist individuals in completing psychiatric advance directives. These directives are legal documents that allow individuals to give future consent or refusal for psychiatric treatment and appoint a healthcare agent to make decisions on their behalf when they are incapable. The goal of these directives is to ensure patients are treated according to their wishes, even when they are unable to communicate or make decisions for themselves.<br /><br />Smith highlights the importance of education and increasing awareness about psychiatric advance directives, as well as the need for guidance and support for healthcare providers in implementing these directives. She discusses various strategies used in the Crisis Navigation Project, including blended learning courses for facilitators, workshops for individuals interested in creating advance directives, and train-the-trainer programs to sustain the initiative.<br /><br />The video concludes by mentioning a guide to psychiatric advance directives created by Dr. Anita Everett, the director of the Center for Mental Health Services at SAMHSA, based on the experiences and input from the Crisis Navigation Project in North Carolina. The guide is available as a national resource.
Keywords
Amy Cohen
SMI Advisor
Psychiatric Advanced Directions
Crisis care
Phoebe Smith
Marvin Schwartz
Psychiatric advance directives