According to a report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid prepared for The Associated Press, the number of people with mental illnesses living in Missouri nursing home is growing at the third-fastest clip in the country.

 

To be more specific, more than 4,400 people with mental illnesses stayed in Missouri nursing homes last year. In fact, Missouri’s nursing home population of mentally ill adults between the ages of 22 and 64 is the eighth highest in the country, increasing by 76 percent since 2002.

 

Nationwide, 125,000 young and middle-aged adults with serious mental illness lived in US nursing homes last year, meaning a 41 percent increase from 2002, when nursing homes housed nearly 89,000 mentally ill people ages 22 to 64. Utah, Nevada (77.6 percent), Missouri, Alabama (72 percent) and Texas (70 percent) showed the steepest climbs.

 

The report showed the younger, stronger residents with schizophrenia, depression or bipolar disorder are living beside frail senior citizens.

 

“Sadly, we’re seeing the tragic results of the failure of federal and state governments to provide appropriate treatment and housing for those with mental illnesses and to provide a safe environment for the frail elderly,” said Janet Wells, director of public policy for the National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Home Reform.

 

Younger mentally ill people now make up more than 9 percent of the nation’s nearly 1.4 million nursing home residents, up from 6 percent in 2002.

 

There are several factors leading to this situation, namely the closing of state mental institutions and a shortage of hospital psychiatric beds. In addition to that, nursing homes have beds to fill because today’s elderly are healthier than the generation before them and are more independent and more likely to stay in their homes.

 

One way to reduce the number of mentally ill people in nursing homes is to move those who can live more independently into their own apartments. State officials hope to move nearly 700 mentally ill people out of nursing homes during a federal demonstration project called “Money Follows the Person.”

 

Brenda Hampton, who oversees the program for the state Division of Mental Health said federal Medicaid money now going to nursing homes will pay for support services to help the mentally ill succeed in their own apartments.

 

The numbers of mentally ill people in nursing homes were obtained through the Freedom of Information and prepared exclusively for the AP by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

 

Mental illnesses, as behavioral patterns that cause distress or disabilities, include disorders such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder. Mental illness sufferers are affected by high stress levels attributable to school, work, relationships they are involved in and pecuniary problems. They have a limited ability to live, work, study and even participate in daily activities. The disorders affect the way individuals think and their behaviors. However, they may currently recover due to improved science, enhanced community supports and diminished stigma.