Community Assessment and Analysis Interview
Grand Canyon University: NRS-427-0501
September 11, 2015
Professor Rhonda Tanner
Concepts in Community and Public Health
Sheila Erickson RN

When assessing the Mental Health community, I consider the two individuals that participated in the interview, the best of the best in the Midwest. Cari Allen RN MSN is also an instructor at a local nursing school as well as the manager of the Adolescent and Star Units at Research Psychiatric Hospital. (RPC). Her outlook on this community starts with the very young and she is quite candid about the future for these youngsters and teens. The STAR program is for our active duty military, most with the diagnosis of PTSD. They come to us from all over the Midwest and the military bases located within that parameter. Shelley Zimmerman RN BSN MPA, MHSM is the Vice President of Operations and Assistant Chief Nursing Officer with Research Psychiatric Hospital. Here is the result of the interview.

Cari Allen RN MSN
Cari has an office that is on the STAR unit adjacent to the Adolescent Unit at RPC. Our interview occurred in her office.
What is the Median age of Your Populations? “Within the Adolescent Unit, our median age is 15. We have children from age 12 to 18 (if they are still in school). On our STAR Unit, we see mostly young men, age 25”.
Median Household Incomes of your Patients? “Adolescent unit would be $0-30,000.00 and mostly covered under the umbrella of the parental unit. State health care sources and Medicaid cover some. The STAR population median income is $40,000.00 a year”.
What are the Differentiation of Issues That Appear Ongoing with These Different Units? “With the Adolescent Unit and STAR Unit combined racial difference is not a real subsequence: Caucasian – 50%, African American – 40%, other- 10%”. Percentage of insured on the Adolescent Unit equaled 20% vs. the 100% on the STAR Unit. This demonstrates the vast difference between the two units. Low income parents that had children with ongoing mental health issues had most of them placed within the Medicaid system When it comes to education, most of our STAR Unit patients are still getting education and some already have achieved a degree and most are attending online classes. The Adolescent Unit has 99% still attending school or some kind of schooling to obtain a high school degree. Parents are often frustrated with the mental health system and many times the children find themselves placed in foster care and are already in alternative living systems. Children come from broken homes, been molested, or are the Perpetrators themselves. We have children who have committed heinous crimes and are at the mercy of society. Fifty percent are homeless and are fine when placed in a protective system. Common mental illness that we see with children are Depressive Disorder NOS, Schizoaffective disorder, Bipolar disorder, and extreme anxiety disorder. We are seeing a trend at this time that really unites the two units, PTSD in children. The children who come in experiencing so much emotional pain dealing with their life circumstances that they have attempted suicide or feel the only way to cope is to engage in self –injurious behaviors are the most heartbreaking. It is often unsettling to know that once the acute crisis is over they will be placed back into less than ideal circumstances”. “The STAR Unit is composed of our veterans of combat and some that have witnessed outrageous and unbearable trauma. This unit of courageous individuals have breakdowns that not only involve their own life but the lives of all of the citizens of the United States of America, foreign and domestic. The main mental illness we focus on in this group is PTSD; some have never battled any type of mental illness or had any family history concerning mental illness”. “Pharmacology plays an important factor in both groups once the balance and compliance is generated. Medication management is a