How long-acting injectables support schizophrenia care

Welcome back to our news conversation here on Fox Local. I'm Jasmine Cornell. Let's get into this topic here. So World Mental Health Day may have passed, but the conversation about access to mental health care is needed year round for people living with conditions like schizophrenia, especially in rural and underserved communities. Finding consistent care can be a challenge, so today we're looking at treatment options that may help make managing the condition more accessible. Let's go ahead and bring in mental health care expert and Dr. Madeline Tuning. Thanks so much for joining us. Thank you for having me. And you are a nurse practitioner, excuse me, but let's get into this. Sorry about that. But let's get into this topic here because it's very important. First, talk about why access to mental health care is still such a challenge, especially for those living with schizophrenia and those rural and underserved communities. Well, this is right up my forte. So I'm a board certified psychiatric mental health practitioner and my forte is in rural and underserved communities and what makes this a challenge still is that we still have these pockets in our in our community and in our country where there's just not enough mental health providers we are at a decline seeing psychiatrists and for nurse practitioners we're kind of taking up that call and and becoming more in the rural areas to get service to those people it is such a underserved an underserved population Thanks so much for sharing, Madeline. And what are some of the biggest barriers that people living with schizophrenia face when it comes to consistent treatment and care? Well, the disease itself can be very difficult to manage. First off, the number one thing to get the quality of care and the quality of their life to a high standard is for them to be diagnosed early and to seek treatment early. and sometimes that's just not possible. It doesn't happen. Another thing that can be a barrier is that with schizophrenia, their reality is just really skewed, and they're not quite sure how to differentiate between what's real and what's not. So seeking quality care and seeking care that is actually the right thing for them can be difficult. Also, too, lack of transportation, lack of funding, especially in rural areas. I know in my small community, there is not a bus system. So for someone with schizophrenia or with any other mental health illness that is hard to differentiate and navigate through a system, they just can't do it. The resources are not available for them. Understand. Let's get into this treatment option. It's the long-acting injectable treatment. How does that support those living with schizophrenia and other mental health concerns? Well, I use long-acting injectables quite a bit in my practice. number one, because I am rural, but number two, because I've seen results with them, really, really good results. So what a long-acting injectable medication does, it's an antipsychotic and we inject it. It can be anywhere from two weeks to a month to six weeks to, I mean, they even have six-month injections. The ones that I usually use are monthly because then I get to have a little bit more hands-on and eyes on the client to make sure they're doing well. What that long-acting injectable medication does is it raises the blood serum levels of that medication to a therapeutic level quickly. And then because it goes into the muscle, it stays and it keeps a steady state of medication, which what that looks like in symptoms is that it makes sure that those symptoms stay low and that they have a steady state of medication throughout that month or whatever the time frame is. And we don't have a lot of exacerbations, meaning they're not hospitalized or not having psychotic breaks. I love using them in practice. It makes it really easy for me as well because I know that they're taking their medication when they may not be taking an oral medication. So their medications go like this. So I know for a fact that their medications are steady. And who might benefit from this treatment option? I think that really any patient could benefit from this treatment option. I have patients that have a really wonderful support system. So they're able to get to their appointments. They're able to get their medications, and this is still a good option for them. For our lower-income, very poor, very rural, very underserved communities, this is a fabulous option because it cuts down on the amount of times you have to see a provider. It cuts down on the amount of times that they're in and out of the hospital because their medications are steady, and so hopefully their symptoms are being steady. So I really think this is an option for anyone that is suffering from schizophrenia. And how can patients and providers work together here to find a treatment plan that fits someone's everyday life? Let's say if that specific option doesn't work for a person. I would say the best thing to do as a provider and also as a patient is just advocate for yourselves and really be open and honest with your clients and the clients need to be open and honest with us. Like tell us about your life. Tell us about the challenges that you're having. Is it an everyday issue? Are you unable to have a job? I mean, we just have to look at the person as a person versus a disease process. I think that's what nurse practitioners do very well, is we look at the person and say, okay, how can we adapt our treatment plan to meet you where you're at so that you are feeling the best and that we give you the best quality of life? And what do you want people living with schizophrenia and their families to know about these options available to them and the resources that are out there? Of course. I want people to know that there are affordable options and there are options that will decrease those amount of times that symptoms can get to the point of hospitalization. Just because you get diagnosed with something like schizophrenia or another chronic long-term mental health disorder does not mean that your life is over. You can live a very full and productive and positive life. Just keep advocating for yourself. If something doesn't work, tell the provider. Don't think that we're the end-all, be-all because we're not. But we do have a lot of very innovative treatment plans, and there's a lot of different companies that work with your money situation and where you're at. And there's a lot of providers that are out here, and they're willing to help. You could live a very, very productive life. Madeline, thanks so much for joining us to talk about this. And thank you for all the work that you do in the community to care for those who are living with schizophrenia or other mental health conditions. So thank you for your time today. Yes, thank you so much for having me.