Rachael Barry, ARNP is a psychiatric nurse practitioner for the Multicare Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team. ACT is a multidisciplinary evidence-based treatment model that provides outreach-based care to clients with severe and persistent mental illness. This work involves seeing clients where they live or where they are at for the moment (shelter, hospital, McDonalds).
Ms. Barry’s interest in this program was sparked by the transdisciplinary nature of the program she works in right now. She sees first-hand how effective it can be when multiple disciplines work together towards the single goal of assisting clients live better lives. Her interest is also spurred on by frustration that she is not more effective in her collaborative efforts with primary care providers.
Ms. Barry’s hope for this program is that she will gain the skills and expertise needed to work more effectively with primary care providers to ensure clients receive the care they need as they become ready to move on from the intensive nature of ACT. She also hopes to gain insight into new and better ways she can leverage her skill set to serve clients.
Ms. Barry believes her participation in this program can positively affect the level of integrated care in her current practice and is excited to find new ways to build on her current practice model and think outside the box for how psychiatric care is delivered.
Ms. Barry hopes that in 5 years collaborative/integrated care will have expanded to the point where clients have meaningful access to psychiatric care before they have reached a crisis point with their symptoms. She also hopes that she will not have to argue for delay of transition to a lower level of care for clients served by her team because there is no one willing to continue prescribing the clients psychiatric medications.