The Oakwood Center of the Palm Beaches, Inc. announces the award of $15,000 from the Quantum Foundation for a series of specialized training sessions on the implementation of an approach to primary care and behavioral healthcare integration. The grant supplies funds for Oakwood Center CEO Dr. Linda DePiano and the healthcare center CL Brumback's Executive Director Jaqueline Lobban-Marsan to participate in, between November 2009 and August 2010, four special sessions presented by the Mental Health Corporation of America.

Upon completion, both CL Brumback and the Oakwood Center of the Palm Beaches will work together to choose the best integrated approach of treating individuals with mental illness to insure their primary medical care is addressed alongside their mental illness.

"Individuals with serious mental illness die, on average, 25 years earlier than the general population," says Dr. DePiano. Approximately 60% of premature deaths in the mentally ill occur from medical conditions such as cardiovascular, pulmonary and infections diseases. "Medical needs of the mentally ill are less likely to fall through the cracks when psychiatrists and primary care doctors practice in a more collaborative fashion," says Dr. DePiano. "The outcome of the learning community will enable our agencies to overcome the common barriers to providing general medical services and expand our ability to collaborate effectively to provide integrated health and behavioral healthcare. We are truly grateful to the Quantum Foundation for their support of this initiative."

Additional benefits to the training participation include conferences/webinars on related topics, access to the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare's National Integrated Health Resource Center, an on-line forum , two hours of consultation for the Palm Beach County community, assistance with data collection and more.

About the Oakwood Center:

The Oakwood Center is a community mental center that provides treatment for adults and children with behavioral disorders to help them restore and maintain their productive lives in the community. Its mission is to help clients build resiliency, facilitate recovery and achieve reintegration into the community by designing and delivering behavioral health care services that meet their needs and expectations. For more information on Oakwood Center and its services please contact (561) 383-5725 or www.oakwoodcenter.org.