Tri-County: Treating the Body and the Mind

Although Tri-County Mental Health Services was founded with an obvious focus on mental health, signficant connections to physical wellbeing are gaining importance through efforts that are among the first in Missouri.

Nurse Liaison Luz Alfonsi joined Tri-County two years ago to help increase proactive patient health care prevention and education. One of the most dramatic areas includes diabetes screening and efforts to reduce the disease through diet and exercise.

Heidi, a participant in Tri-County’s Skylander Day Program in Excelsior Springs, is a good example. After learning she was diabetic, Heidi worked with Alfonsi to reduce high-sugar food and drink from her diet. She’s even added once-unknown foods like cauliflower—and learned to make them tasty. Heidi has also become a regular on Skylander’s exercise equipment and has taken up other exercise on her own as well.

“I’m watching what I eat now,” she said. “I wasn’t before.”

These steps can be difficult, however. Since mental health consumers are already dealing with one chronic condition, trying to manage another chronic condition can be especially tough. “It can be a real challenge,” Kathie Wicker, mental health worker at Skylander, said. “They may not understand why making their health better can also help their future. Heidi has done very well. It’s really fun to see her progress.”

Alfonsi said a key to combating diabetes is a Diabetes Conversation Maps program, which provides basic education about managing diabetes and reducing the risk of diabetes if they are having warning signs such as elevated blood sugars. More than a simple list of dos and don’ts, the program also includes personal advice and direction to help individuals eliminate challenges they don’t need.

“It’s not just me lecturing,” Alfonsi said. “It’s problem solving and practical information—like learning that sugar-free food can taste good, too, or breaking a cycle of snacking.”

Heidi can see the results. “I feel much better now than I did before. I can wear different clothes and I’m really excited about my hard work.”

At Tri-County’s day program at the Northland Human Services Center on the campus of Maple Woods College, Bob and Janice have seen similar effects since starting in October. Janice, a Kansas City, North resident, knew she was borderline diabetic but was surprised when testing through Tri-County showed a more serious problem. “I also didn’t realize how many foods have sugar and are bad for me,” she said. “Luz has taught us how to read the package labels and avoid some of that.”

A Liberty resident, Bob said he also learned that while diabetes is serious, it can be managed. “If you take care of it, it’s no big deal,” he said. “It’s not a death sentence.”

While these efforts also fit well with day-program lessons such as life skills, Alfonsi said the added emphasis helps in other ways. “These physical issues can affect all of us in so many ways,” she said. “And they can be really proud of what they’ve accomplished. They can see the results and that’s important.”

Tom Cranshaw, CEO of Tri-County, observed, “When one considers that our consumers die 25 years before the general population, anything we can do to help our consumers focus on co-occurring disorders of mental illness and chronic physical conditions, the better their lifestyle potential will be.”

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