Educational Awareness to be held at Allegiance Specialty Hospital in Kilgore
Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) takes place October 7-13. It is an opportunity to learn more about serious mental illnesses such as major depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Mental illnesses are medical illnesses. One in four adults experiences a mental health problem in any given year. “Many people in our community are directly affected by mental illness,” said Kim Brown, Director of Outreach and Community Relations. “The good news is that treatment does work and recovery is possible.”
Here are some interesting facts:
On average, people living with serious mental illness live 25 years less than the rest of the population. One reason is that less than one-third of adults and less than one-half of all children with a diagnosed illness receive treatment.
One in four Americans will experience a serious mental disorder in his or her lifetime, including major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and severe anxiety disorders.
Mental illnesses are no-fault, biologically based brain disorders which cause disturbances in thinking, feeling and/or relating. Persons living with these disorders deserve the dignity of medical treatment and a wide range of supportive services from mental health care providers and caring congregations. Though the majority of individuals living with mental illness can successfully be treated, stigma and misinformation continue to be significant barriers to treatment.
“The U.S. Surgeon General has reported that stigma is a major barrier to people seeking help when they need it,” Brown said. “That’s why Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) is so important. We want people to understand mental illness and join a dialogue in ourcommunity. The more people know, the better they can help themselves or help their loved ones get the help andsupportthey need.”
With that, Allegiance Specialty Hospital of Kilgore would like to host an informational health fair on various mental health related topics in the lobby of our facility on Tuesday, October 9 and again on Thursday, October 11, 2012 from 10:00am – 2:00pm, so we can better educate the people our community. Allegiance Specialty Hospital is located at1612 S. Henderson Blvd.,Kilgore,TX, (in the old Laird Hospital).
About Allegiance Specialty Hospital:
Allegiance Specialty Hospital is a licensed 60 bed hospital with two specialties: Medical Acute Care and Behavioral Health Care. The hospital, formerly known as Laird Memorial Hospital, changed ownership after Allegiance bought the hospital license. Since that time, Allegiance has focused on providing medical and behavioral health services exclusively for older adults. Allegiance worked with Good Shepherd Medical Center (GSMC) in bringing emergency services back to the Kilgore community. The GSMC Emergency Center is now open 24 hours a day.
Allegiance currently has 118 employees with a financial impact to the city of Kilgore of 3.6 million in annual payroll. The progress of Allegiance Hospital over the last year includes partnering with the nursing programs of Kilgore College,UT Tyler, Panola Junior College and UT Arlington whose nursing students rotate through Allegiance Hospital as part of their training. Over the last year, Allegiance received over 1200 referrals from 26 counties throughout East Texas and treated over 100 patients daily in its outpatient programs. In addition to providing ongoing community education about mental health,Allegiance Hospital is nationally recognized and accredited by DNV for meeting high standards in healthcare.
Learn more about our services please visit our website at www.ashkilgore.com. To learn more about mental illness support, education and advocacy visit NAMI at www.nami.org
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