Preparing for a Referral to Inpatient/Residential Mental Health or Substance Use Disorder Treatment
People with bleeding disorders (BD) have been able to overcome barriers and get access to the inpatient or residential treatment they need. Unfortunately, like with other aspects of your BD care, you may need to advocate for yourself to get the care you need. Use the strategies and tools in this toolkit to educate and empower yourself. Remember, you deserve equal access to the care you need.
Action Items
1) If possible, have a non-BD provider (such as your primary care physician, mental health clinician, or emergency department provider) make the initial referral rather than your BD treatment team.
2) Contact your BD treatment team to let them know that inpatient or residential treatment has been recommended.
3) Ask your BD treatment team to support you as you advocate for access to treatment.
Your provider may be unaware of the difficulties that people with BD have accessing inpatient and residential treatment. Therefore, it is important to educate them by telling them where and how to access the BD SUMHAC Provider Toolkit. It contains important information that may increase your likelihood of admission.
Resource Alert: For Your Providers!
Share these materials with your referring provider and your BD treatment team:
Background on people with BD being denied access to behavioral health facilities: Start here if your provider is unfamiliar with the issue of people with BD being denied access to BD facilities.
The BD SUMHAC Provider Toolkit: This toolkit is a comprehensive guide to assist providers in referring people with BD to behavioral health facilities and can help them to facilitate admission on your behalf.