One common challenge in treating mental illness is that patients sometimes fail to take their prescribed medications as directed, due to unpleasant side effects or other reasons. But the twice-weekly psych rehab visits for adult consumers have been shown to improve medication compliance. Brown's job also includes helping consumers with some of the nuts and bolts of independent living: applying for health insurance, food stamps or other public assistance, help nding employment and job training, and other matters. He assists consumers in nding housing, connecting those with a mental health disability to public housing or privately-owned rental housing in the Baltimore area. Although the program was originally developed to provide services to ABA consumers on-site at ABA and in their homes, it also serves consumers who are homeless. Meet-ups with consumers are held in the of ce at ABA or their residences, or at gathering places like public libraries, fast-food restaurants, coffee shops, and consumers’ workplaces. The essence of psychiatric rehab is to reduce cost for the system by preventing hospitalization, preventing consumers from losing their placements, and from losing their jobs. The ultimate goal is integrating consumers back into the community. Brown says: “They're not being institutionalized, not in a group home; they're living at home with family members and friends, getting socialized again, with the understanding that they can survive on their own with a little help.” Community-based psych rehab is also a way to counteract negative stereotypes about mental illness, Brown says: “just to show that they are like you and me and everybody else, they just have a mental health condition that can be controlled by medication.” Counselors, therapists and some of the other ABA staff are able to spend more time with consumers than their physicians, so they play valuable roles in keeping medical staff informed on their consumers’ progress and how they are responding to treatment.
“A LOT OF THE THINGS I DO FOR CLIENTS ARE NOT ON THE PLAN; THEY'RE JUST WHAT THEY NEED TO GET THROUGH LIFE.” – Mike Brown
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