 | UCSF SCHOOL OF NURSING FACULTY PRACTICE
- THE PROGRESS FOUNDATION |
Health Care for the Mentally Ill:
The UCSF Nursing Faculty Practice at the Progress Foundation
The Progress Foundation provides innovative community-based residential treatment options to seriously mentally disabled individuals in San Francisco and Napa Counties.
From 1977, the non-profit (private) Progress Foundation has pioneered alternatives to institutional (hospital-based) care for public mental health systems, both urban and rural. Progress provides a variety of residential treatment and supported housing services designed to promote rehabilitation and to encourage the highest possible level of self-sufficiency for individuals who are considered severely disabled due to mental illness and co-occurring substance abuse.
Culture and Values of the Progress Foundation
- Personal responsibility & accountability
- Nontraditional practice
- Innovation and creativity
- Integration of care
- Nonhierarchical structure
- Vehicle for social policy change
Causes of Health Problems in Severely Mentally Ill Adults
- Lifestyle and environmental risk factors
- Iatrogenic effects of psychiatric treatment
- Aging
- Co-occurring substance use disorders
Traditional medical care can frustrate
the ordinary individual.
It can totally overwhelm the mentally ill. |
Barriers to Effective Care for Mentally Ill Adults
- Mistrust of health care settings
- Denial of health problems
- Pressure of competing demands (food, shelter)
UCSF Nurse Practitioner Practice at Progress Foundation
- Began in 1994 with one residential program (four hours per week)
- Now eleven programs involved
- Monthly volume: 200 - 250 visits
- Integrated Services include:
- Assessment, urgent care, chronic disease management in the context of mental disorders
- Health promotion and psycho-education adapted to the risk profile of mentally ill adults
- Staff education and consultation to promote health in aggregate living
Revised: Apr. 2006 ◊ Contact:
info@nursing.ucsf.edu
© Copyright 2006 University of California Regents, All Rights Reserved.
