Any medical involvement used to alleviate, manage, or cure the symptoms of a diagnosed disease is referred to as a treatment. However, there are some health conditions that can be treated but not cured. For such conditions, a treatment plan is required. What is a treatment plan and what does it contain? Let’s find out.
Used to treat the specific health problems of an individual patient, a treatment plan can be created for a number of purposes including medications, psychotherapy, and surgery. Depending on what it’s used for, a treatment plane may include a detailed meal plan, daily schedule for rest and sleep, and short term and long-term goals. Also, physical activity is introduced in the treatment plan when the patient starts to make progress.
Treatment Plan Samples
With guidance from their physician or therapist, each patient determines the short term and long-terms goals to be included in the treatment plan him/herself. It is important to keep in mind that not all treatment plans are created the same. For instance, the treatment for a substance abuse disorder can be very complex so you may need an integrated and comprehensive approach to create a treatment plan for this condition. This means that the treatment plan should be able to treat the patient psychologically, physically, intellectually and spiritually.
The aforementioned treatment plan may require the involvement of several health care specialists including doctors, physical trainers, nurses, therapists, nutritionists, and even social workers. Before creating a treatment plan for an individual, the aforementioned health care specialists should consider factors such the individual’s medical history, mental health issues, legal difficulties, living situation and family history. Also, some treatment plans may include follow up care. To get a better idea of what to include in a treatment plan, take a look at a treatment plan template. Now that we know what a treatment plan is, it’s time to look at the importance of a treatment plan.
The importance of a treatment plan
A document that details the current health problems of an individual, a treatment plan is used to outline the strategies and goals that’ll help the individual to overcome his/her health issues. The information required to create a treatment plan can be obtained by interviewing the concerned individual. To find out what information is required to complete a treatment plan, refer to a treatment plan template. Taking about templates, you can find templates of many different forms online including medical release form template and a patient registration form template.
Why are treatment plans important? First of all, the implementation of well-rounded health care is not possible without an individualized treatment plan. This simply means that treating the specific health problems of a person is not possible without a treatment plan created specifically for his/her health conditions. In order to treat the health problems of an individual, a treatment plan defines areas of concern, assesses information, and establishes concrete treatment goals.
By providing them purpose, direction and focus, a treatment plan helps patients to bring a positive change into their lives. At a basic level, treatment plans allow individuals to develop opportunities for change and growth and more importantly, manage their health problems. Additionally, a treatment plan ensures the safety of the patient by proving proper care and treatment. However, to be effective, treatment plans need to be sound and a key part of the physician’s practice. In short, a treatment plan is a map to take the patient to a healthy and happy place. Now that we’ve discussed the importance of a treatment plan, it’s time to take a look at the types of treatment plans used today. We’ll start with a mental health treatment plan.
Mental health treatment plan
Mental health treatment plans are used for people who suffer from mental health difficulties and challenges. Additionally, it can be used for people with a mental illness. Looking at a mental health treatment plan template is a good way to find out what’s included in a mental health treatment plan. Versatile, multi-faceted documents, treatment plans all physiotherapists and other mental health care practitioners to find suitable treatment for their patients. Generally, the mental health treatment plans are used by therapists, professional counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers.
Collaborative and strength based treatment plans, mental health treatment plans aim to help the patient in the best possible manner. Extremely effective in treating mental health problems, mental health treatment plans outline an approach towards empowerment and problem solving. A number of things are included in a mental health treatment plan. A good way to find out about the things included in a mental health treatment plan is taking a look at a mental health treatment template. Nonetheless, here are some of the basic things included in a mental health treatment plan.
Treatment Plan Templates
History, demographics, and assessment
An important part of the treatment plan, this section include the treatment history, past and present diagnoses, onset of symptoms, psychosocial history and demographic information relevant to the person being treated.
Current mental health issues and concerns
Another important part of the treatment plan, this section gives details of the current mental health issues and concerns of the person being treated. Moreover, this part of the plan reveals why the patient seeks treatment.
Treatment contract
This section of the treatment plans includes a summary of the goals required for change. Generally, the treatment contract is completed after the patient and the person treating him/her mutually agree to what needs to be worked on. Usually, the treatment plan gives details of who is responsible for what and what treatment method will be used. If you want know exactly what’s included in the treatment plan then take a look at mental health treatment plan template. In addition to the mental health treatment plan template, you can also find templates of medical forms such as the medical consent form and the emergency form.
Strengths
Throughout the treatment plan, you’ll find information related to the perceived strengths of the person being treated. The purpose of this information is empowering the patients to tap into their strengths areas to achieve their goals.
Targets, frequency, and methods
Throughout the treatment plan, you find information about the method to be used to achieve a particular treatment plan goal. Often, the part of the mental health treatment plan includes the target dates for completion and the frequency of sessions.
Treatment goals
The building blocks of the treatment plan, the treatment goals are realistic, specific and fashioned to meet the needs of the person being treated. Also, it is important that the language used for the goals is easily understandable to the patient. Also, the goals set must be measurable and achievable.
Objectives
In order to support the person being treated, the goals of the treatment plan are often separated into objectives. This means the bigger goals are broken down into smaller, achievable steps so that the patient can easily work towards the achievement of the former.
Interventions and techniques
This part of the mental health treatment plan is often overlooked by the health care specialists. So, what does this section of the mental health treatment plan include? In order to support the patient to achieve the larger goals, the health care specialists treating the patient will mention the various techniques and interventions required to meet the different objectives.
Progress/ outcomes
One of the most crucial aspects of a mental health treatment plan, documenting progress towards goals is something the specialist performing the treatment must do. Generally, the work outcomes and progress are documented under each goal. The progress/ outcome section of the mental health treatment plan provides a summary of how things are going in and out of session when the treatment plan is reviewed. In short, this section of the treatment plan allows the specialists to monitor the health/ progress of the person being treated.
There you have it—what a mental health treatment plan is and what it contains. Now that we’ve discussed in detail the mental health treatment plan, it’s time to take a brief look at another type of a treatment plan called a depression treatment plan.
Depression treatment plan
The ways to deal with depression include a lot more than just finding the right medications. A number of factors cause depression including emotional, physical, and social problems. For this reason, a comprehensive treatment plan is required to deal with depression and overcome it. Also, no two people are the same. So, a treatment for depression that works for one person might be completely ineffective for another. This is the reason having an individualized treatment plan for depression is important. A treatment plan that includes a combination of lifestyle changes, self-help, and professional help is what works for most people. However, the treatment plan for depression may vary based on the person being treated. Usually, a treatment plan for depression is used for people with the following types of depression:
Depression caused by an underlying disease
Often, depression is caused by an underlying disease such as thyroid disease, diabetes, heart disease, or Parkinson’s disease. To treat the people with the aforementioned depression, a depression treatment plan is generally required. But, before treating the person suffering from this condition, the health care specialist will thoroughly evaluate him/her. In case the depression in the person isn’t due to an underlying disease, the health care specialist will use a depression treatment plan different from the treatment plan used specifically to treat the depression cause by an underlying disease.
Depression caused by medications
You may or may not know this but medications such as sleep aids, sedatives, oral contraceptives, beta-blockers, and even antibiotics can cause depression in a person. In case the depression in a person is caused by the aforementioned medications, a depression treatment plan that specifically treats the depression caused by medications may be required.
As depression treatment plan is extremely useful as it can help a person to overcome his/her depression. To find out about all the things included in a treatment plan for depression, take a look at a depression treatment plan template. In addition to the aforementioned treatment plans, a counseling treatment plan is another treatment plan used today. Take a look at a counseling treatment plan template to find out what this treatment plan contains.
Final word
A treatment plan is a great way for you to overcome your physical/mental health problems and concerns. A comprehensive document, a treatment plan contains information gathered from various sources including:
- The patient
- The doctor/therapist/ psychologists
- Other people who’ve previously been in the same situation
- Information sources such as the internet and medical libraries
Treatment plans are like maps and guides to take the patient to a healthy and happy place. A treatment plan must have realistic and measurable goals. Also, it is important that the goals are broken down into small, achievable objective so that it becomes easy for the patient to works towards the larger goal. After creating the treatment plan, it is important for the doctor/therapists/psychologists to assess and review the physical condition and/or psychiatric state of the patient every six weeks. After assessing and reviewing the patient, the doctor can adjust and re-evaluate the treatment plan if necessary.
Whether it is a mental health treatment plan, a depression treatment plan, or a general health treatment plan, a treatment plan can help a person to overcome his/her health problems and concerns. You can find out everything that you want to know about the treatment plan by looking at a treatment plan template.
