
Collaborating with Mental Health Practitioners It's clear that depression can have a significant negative impact on hepatitis C patients. Unfortunately, many clinicians providing hepatitis C care may not feel entirely confident in their ability to address depression. In fact, I used to feel that way!
To maximize your ability to treat the broadest spectrum of hepatitis C patients, you should develop a partnership with a mental health practitioner who is interested in hepatitis C. Why? First, partnership with a mental health professional will provide you with a person knowledgeable in hepatitis C to whom you can refer patients that could not otherwise be treated in the hepatitis C clinic. Second, the mental health practitioner can help you develop policies and procedures to help you treat patients who do not require special mental health care.
|