Mental Health: Pilot Program Aims To Raise Iowa's Level Of Care

DES MOINES, IA — Iowa ranks 48th in the country for the number of psychiatrists per capita, and 89 of the state's 99 counties face a shortage of mental health professionals. Even worse, state figures showed Iowa placed last in the nation with only two state psychiatric inpatient beds per 100,000 residents in 2016.

A pilot program announced recently by Des Moines University aims to make headway toward improving the availability of mental health providers. It will launch in June, thanks in part to a $50,000 contribution by the Mid-Iowa Health Foundation.

The pilot project will bring a provider education program by the National Alliance on Mental Illness to the Des Moines school's third-year osteopathic medical students. DMU officials said in a news release they will initially accept 40 to 50 students who have expressed an interest in staying in Iowa upon completion of their education. Those students will work with NAMI to receive experiential training designed to increase their comfort level and compassion when working with people who have mental illness.

NAMI will provide program facilitators, materials and certification; DMU will provide the physicians, space and research in the program implementation, according to the news release. The school also will share research findings with other states and medical institutions.

The program is used at the Menninger Clinic in Houstin, a leading psychiatric hospital, and it fosters a clinical empathy for patients and their families while countering stigmas, Mid-Iowa Health Foundation officials said.

“We are pleased to support this critical work for our community and state and believe this is an essential and meaningful step to providing responsive and informed mental health care and reducing stigma,” Suzanne Mineck, president of the Mid-Iowa Health Foundation, said in the news release. “This aligns with our system-level change work around the most critical care needs.”

"We are all so appreciative of this support, which allows us to move forward with the pilot," DMU President Angela Walker Franklin added. "Mid-Iowa Health Foundation shows its commitment to transformative and innovative approaches to healthcare and workforce issues with this award.”

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