MetroHealth International

MetroHealth International

Metro Health International (MHI) is a dedicated integrated service that combines primary care and mental health and addiction treatment programs for all ages.

Mission statement

MHI offers a full continuum of well-coordinated prevention, in-depth evaluations & evidence based treatments for a broad range of physical, psychiatric, psychological & addiction disorders for all ages ranging from infants, young people and adults.

Our mission is fourfold and includes the following:

  • To deliver state of art evidence based, comprehensive and integrated treatment across a well-coordinated continuum of holistic care for those impacted by psychiatric & addiction disorders
  • To lead in providing advanced education, delivering training together with creating awareness on issues of mental health & addiction disorders
  • To Establish & Strengthen MHI as a Centre of Excellence recognized in conducting innovative Research
  • To remove the barriers and social perceptions that create stigma around mental health

Our Goals

  • To provide outstanding & comprehensive patient care to relieve the suffering of clients with mental illness/ substance related disorder
  • To employ evidence based models of care through comprehensive disease management system that incorporated Primary Care
  • We strive to create pathways which promote & illuminate the reality that mental health is normal part of everyday life, and that likewise mental illness is a treatable and management condition
  • To strengthen research in basic and clinical aspects of mental health and substance addiction

The comprehensive clinical services located within Primary Care setting include Outpatient, Inpatient and Outreach programs are provided by a dedicated multi-disciplinary team of professionals including psychiatrists, physicians, nurses, social workers, nutritionists, psychologists, addiction specialist, fitness instructors, teachers etc.

MHI combines excellence in Patient Care, Education provision, Health promotion, together with Research as central tenets transforming the lives of those affected by mental health and addiction issues.

We provide a fully integrated system of patient centred care including:

  • Psychiatric and Addiction evaluation and treatment programs
  • Inpatient and Outpatient specialty programs
  • Patient Centred Primary care
  • Trauma Support Services
  • Outreach services including provision of MHPSS, school programs etc.
  • Education and Training
  • Research and Resource Centre
  • Wellness Programs
  • Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

At MHI, Clients can get clinical and support services for a range of issues including, but not limited to:

  • Depression
  • Anxiety and stress
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Eating disorders
  • Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
  • Autism spectrum disorders
  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder
  • Substance use disorder
  • Sleep problems

Summary of relevant work

MHI Integrated Treatment Model

The abysmal lack of coordination in patient care informs our integrated model. Our centralized approach involves the merger of general psychiatry and substance abuse with comprehensive Primary Care. As patients suffering from substance abuse often neglect their general mental and physical health, we offer collaborating and co-located physicians that will address such issues while remaining cognizant of the effects of substance abuse.

Likewise patients suffering from NCD or chronic illness often present with mental and substance use problems. These conditions seldom occur in isolation; intact they frequently accompany each other necessitating the need for effective coordination since they are frequently intertwined.

Integrated model offers the following:

  • stigma reduction
  • better treatment of co-morbid disorders
  • improved prevention and decline of mental disorder
  • improved treatment and follow up
  • better health outcomes and utilization of limited human resources
  • more accurate and better understanding of mental health

MaxREACH: A Modern Platform & Innovation for Mental Health in Africa

The chronic nature of mental health and addiction disorders calls for technologies that enable clinicians to stay connected with patients over extended periods of time. This notwithstanding many other of these challenges involving healthcare capacity, lack of facilities, equipment, limited resources and expertise within healthcare professionals etc.

MHI together with partners’ through MaxReach project is currently developing a Tele-psychiatry platform that would use technology to increase availability and reach in providing mental health care to patients in remote underserved areas. The program incorporates digital data collection devices such as BP monitors, sp02 sensors etc. to facilitate secure collection of Triage patient Data such as temperature, weight, blood pressure, oxygen saturation etc. as well as any notes provided by qualified medical personal from our remote information centres. This data is is the relayed in real time to different remote healthcare experts prior to or while conducting live consultations with patients.

MaxReach model helps meet patients’ needs for convenient, affordable and readily-accessible mental health services in a number of ways, including:

Improved access to mental health specialty care that might not otherwise be available (e.g., in rural areas)

  • Bringing care to the patient’s location
  • Helping integrate behavioural health care and primary care, leading to better outcomes
  • Reducing the need for trips to the emergency room
  • Reduced delays in care
  • Improved continuity of care and follow-up
  • Reduced the need for time off work, childcare etc. to access appointments far away
  • Reduced potential transportation barriers, such as lack of transportation or the need for long commutes
  • Reducing the barrier of stigma

Key partners

  • Government of Uganda (Ministry of Health)
  • Kampala City Council Authority
  • Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council
  • Butabika National Referral Hospital
  • School of Psychology Makerere University

Seeking collaboration with

Experts by experience/service users
Other organizations
Policy makers
Researchers

Details

Approach(es)
Advocacy
Detection and diagnosis
Empowerment and service user involvement
Prevention and promotion
Task sharing
Technology
Training, education and capacity building
Treatment, care and rehabilitation
Disorder(s)
All mental health conditions
Region(s)
Africa
Population(s)
Adults
Children and adolescents
Communicable diseases (e.g. HIV/AIDS, TB)
Families and carers
Humanitarian and conflict health
Non-communicable diseases (e.g. cancer, diabetes, stroke)
Older adults
Setting(s)
Community
Primary care
School
Specialist care
Workplace
Country(s)
Uganda