Specialized Rehabilitation Services (SRS)

What are Specialized Rehabilitation Services (SRS)?

At Valley Behavioral Health, we are committed to finding new ways to support the health and wellness of our community. Our Specialized Recovery Services (SRS) program is available through Medicaid for those diagnosed with severe and persistent mental illnesses.

Specialized Rehabilitation Services help clients in a number of ways, from medication management to group and individual therapy for clients living in nursing homes or extended-care facilities.

This program aims to improve and promote the overall health of clients dealing with mental illnesses while working side-by-side with primary care providers and extended care facility personnel to enhance our clients’ overall quality of life.

SRS is one of the only programs (if not the only) that provides therapeutic and pharmacological services to clients residing in Skilled Nursing Facilities in the Salt Lake Valley. As such, it satisfies an essential niche by caring for a vulnerable, often forgotten about, geriatric population.

The Specialized Rehabilitation Services program at Valley Behavioral Health was designed to help clients who have serious and persistent mental illnesses and who currently spend down their income to be eligible for Medicaid and keep their coverage.

What is Rehabilitation?

Rehabilitation is care that is intended to help clients get back, keep, or improve abilities needed for daily life. These abilities range from physical to mental and cognitive. Rehabilitation seeks to improve a client’s daily life and functioning.

People from all backgrounds, education levels, and financial statuses may need rehab at some point in their lives due to declining functioning that comes with age.

Benefits of Specialized Rehabilitation Services

At Valley Behavioral Health, we focus on providing a comprehensive, client-centered approach in our SRS Program. Each of our SRS clients receives monthly-quarterly visits by a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Social Service Worker (SSW), and Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN).

They receive therapy, pharmacological management, and behavioral management of various types. This high-level, specialized care has many benefits for the client, including:

• Help to learn about and manage their medication, which makes them much more likely to understand the importance of their medications, and to take them as directed.
• Management of their mental health conditions via multiple forms of therapy. Valley Behavioral Health offers countless therapy options, from individual therapy to family therapy and even music and art therapy. This is especially important because no single treatment works for everyone.
• Clients learn healthy coping skills that are reinforced in peer groups, family therapy, and other forms of therapy, where they are also able to form connections, bonds, and friendships that lead to a more supportive environment.
• Clients are able to regain the independence that often leads to employment and other purpose-based activities that create a sense of accomplishment and pride.
• Clients have access to around-the-clock health and mental health care.
• Structure, which has long been considered one of the main benefits of attending rehabilitation programs. Treatment programs emphasize daily routines that are jam-packed with productive and engaging activities and therapy sessions. Routine is the key to helping clients overcome destructive habits and thoughts, and instead, replace them with productive ones.
• All SRS services are offered in a safe and supportive environment while the client is surrounded by people who understand exactly what they are going through — and often, how to overcome it. SRS provides ample opportunities for clients to connect with other people in recovery via support groups and group therapy to further establish their support network.
• This companionship is extremely important for senior patients who are particularly prone to isolation and loneliness.

All of the above-mentioned services, benefits, and therapies lead to an overall improvement in the client’s quality of life — which is especially important for our senior clients who may be at the end of their lives. Our program allows them to finally find peace and comfort.

SRS Curriculum at Valley Behavioral Health

Because the facility provides direct care to our clients, including activities, we play a supportive role by advocating for clients, visiting with them, teaching them various coping strategies, holding them accountable if needed, and working with them to reduce their number of psych-related hospitalizations and alleviate some of the stress/anxiety they feel day to day.

Our SRS program uses the Role Recovery Model to treat the signs of mental illness while focusing on all service planning and delivery involved with helping clients develop the stability, knowledge, skills, confidence, and support needed to successfully execute daily tasks.

We deploy the following options to help clients meet their goals while boosting their quality of life:

• Behavioral Management
• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
• Group therapy
• Individual therapy
• Medication Education and Management
• Mindfulness
• Motivational Interviewed
• Psychiatric and nursing assessments and treatment
• Psychosocial Rehabilitation
• Relationship Skill-Building

The SRS treatment team is often made up of a number of providers and therapists who work with the client to figure out their unique needs, goals, and treatment plan. Providers will go to a client’s long-term nursing facility where they are residing.

The types of treatment can include:

• Cognitive rehabilitation therapy to help clients relearn or improve skills, including thinking, learning, planning, memory, and decision making.
• Mental health counseling
• Music or art therapy to help clients express their feelings, improve their thinking, and develop social connections
• Physical therapy to help clients regain their strength, mobility, and fitness.

SRS at Valley Behavioral Health Enrollment Information

Each client works with facility social workers to complete Valley’s admission application. Then, they submit the application along with their face-sheet (containing demographic and identifying info) and PASSR Level II. If they qualify for long-term Medicaid, they will be admitted to our program.

What is PASSR Level II?

PASSR stands for Pre Admission Screening and Resident Review (PASSR). The program is guided by federal regulations requiring all individuals who are being considered for admission to Medicaid-certified nursing facilities (NF) to be screened before admission in order to determine if the applicant has or is suspected of having a mental illness, intellectual disability, or related condition.

The purpose of PASSR is to help ensure clients are not inappropriately put in nursing homes for long-term care. PASSR requires that:

• All people applying to a Medicaid-certified nursing facility are evaluated for mental illness and/or intellectual disability.
• All applicants are offered the most appropriate setting to best treat their condition (For example, a nursing facility vs. independently living in the community).
• All applicants receive the services they need in the most appropriate settings, including specialized services.

Level II of the PASRR is specifically designed to determine whether the needs of the client’s condition would be best met in a nursing facility or other long-term care facility and whether they require specialized services.

Valley Behavioral Health SRS Program Requirements

In order to qualify for SRS, a client must:

• Meet Medicaid eligibility
• Be at least 21 years old
• Have a PASSR Level II
• Demonstrate needs related to the management of their diagnosed behavioral health or chronic medical condition

Goals of SRS at Valley Behavioral Health

At Valley Behavioral Health, we have one goal for our SRS program: to help our clients live the best lives possible. A large percentage of our clients are preparing for end-of-life, which often leads to them not taking the required steps to improve their conditions or otherwise make significant progress.

We strive to help our clients improve their quality of life by assisting them to set goals for daily tasks, including getting out of bed, interacting with others, improving their relationships, utilizing coping strategies, finding meaning in their situation, and working through various regrets and heartaches from their past.

This helps them live out their final days with purpose and peace and makes the situation easier on all parties involved — caregiver, client, and family.

Our Specialized Rehabilitation Services program (SRS) provides a breadth of behavioral health services tailored to patients living in skilled nursing or assisted living facilities. The goal for this dynamic team is to improve the overall health of people with severe mental health conditions, working side-by-side with primary care providers, facility social workers, and extended facility personnel.

Specialized Rehabilitation Services at Valley Behavioral Health

For more than 30 years, Valley Behavioral Health has successfully worked to help thousands of adults, children, and families by providing individualized therapy, other mental health resources, and personalized treatment methods to fit each client’s unique needs.

Our Specialized Rehabilitation Services program is the top program of its kind in the state of Utah. Our team is dedicated to creating personalized treatment plans and goals that meet each clients’ unique needs. Our compassionate staff puts the client at the center of all treatment plans, and our priority is working with patients to improve their quality of life.

At Valley Behavioral Health, we are convinced that the best treatment takes place in a relaxed environment, with help from family, peers, and community members alike. If you or a loved one are in need of Specialized Rehabilitation Services.