Pennsylvania Code › Title 55 - HUMAN SERVICES › Part VII - Mental Health Manual › Subpart C - Administration and Fiscal Management › Chapter 5100 - MENTAL HEALTH PROCEDURES › GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 5100.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter,
						shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
						otherwise:
Act
-The Mental Health Procedures Act
						(50
						P. S. §§
												7101-7503).
Administrator
-The person appointed to
						carry out the duties specified in section 305 of the Mental Health and Mental
						Retardation Act of 1966 (50 P. S. §
												4305).
Agency
-An instrumentality of the United
						States, its departments and agencies, including the Veterans'
						Administration.
Approved facility
-A facility as defined
						by section 103 of the act (50 P. S. §
												7103) which meets the standards of this
						chapter and other applicable Department regulations or obtains an exemption in
						writing from the Department under section 105 of the act (50 P. S. §
												7105).
Behavorial consent
-A demonstrated
						willingness by the patient to remain voluntarily in the facility based upon a
						general understanding of the nature of the usual treatment, possible restraints
						upon free activity, and daily life within the facility. A general understanding
						may be shown by a finding that a person in treatment has participated in
						scheduled activities and does not protest continued participation.
County of residence
-The county wherein
						the person had a legal residence prior to being admitted or committed to an
						approved facility for treatment.
Designated facility
-The approved
						facility named by the county administrator as a provider of one or more
						specific services. A facility so designated, either on a general basis or on a
						case by case basis must be identified in the county annual plan. The
						administrator shall address the public's need to know where and how they can
						obtain services under the act.
Director
-The administrative head of a
						facility, including a superintendent or his designee.
Director of treatment team
-A physician
						or licensed clinical psychologist designated by the facility director to assure
						that each patient receives treatment under the act and this chapter and that
						the facility's treatment responsibility to the patient, as defined in this
						chapter, the Mental Health/Mental Retardation Act of 1966 and the act, are
						discharged. The director of the treatment team is responsible for implementing
						and reviewing the individualized treatment plan, for participating in the
						coordination of service delivery between other service providers, and for
						insuring that the unique skills and knowledge of each team member are utilized.
						The director of the treatment team is responsible for encouraging the person in
						treatment to become increasingly involved in decisions regarding the treatment
						planning process.
Expert in the field of mental health
-A
						mental health professional whose training, experience and demonstrated
						achievements clearly exceed the minimum standards required for recognition as a
						professional in his discipline, and whose broad-based skills and knowledge in
						his specific areas of specialty are recognized by the members of his profession
						to be at the highest level.
Health professional in mental health
-A
						person who by years of education, training, and experience in mental health
						settings has achieved professional recognition and standing as defined by their
						respective discipline, including, but not limited to medicine, social work,
						psychology, nursing, occupational therapy, recreational therapy, and vocational
						rehabilitation; and who has obtained if applicable, licensure, registration, or
						certification.
Inpatient treatment
-All treatment that
						requires full-time or part-time residence in a facility as defined in section
						103 of the act (50 P. S. §
												7103).
Involuntary emergency examination
-The
						physical and mental evaluation by a physician of an individual taken to a
						facility under section 302 of the act (50 P. S. §
												7302).
Involutary emergency treatment
-The
						treatment provided to an individual taken to a facility under section 302 of
						the act (50 P. S. §
												7302). Such
						treatment in the absence of the individual's consent, shall be limited to that
						treatment which is necessary to protect the life or health, or both, of the
						individual or to control behavior by the individual which is likely to result
						in physical injury to others.
Least restrictive alternate
-The least
						restrictive placement or status available and appropriate to meet the needs of
						the patient and includes both restrictions on personal liberty and the
						proximity of the treatment facility to the person's natural environment. This
						concept stresses the importance of helping each person in need of services to
						seek those services voluntarily. The degree of restriction or the degree of
						separation from the natural environment is dependent upon both the severity of
						the person's dysfunction and his strengths and resources to function in that
						environment. The range of treatment alternatives, stemming from the patient's
						natural environment, through supportive services to 24-hour hospitalization,
						must be considered in light of the person's capability of handling daily tasks
						and stress and the need, if any, for varying degrees of support or
						supervision.
Licensed clinical psychologist
-A
						psychologist licensed under the act of March 23, 1972 (P. L. 136, No. 52)
						(63
						P. S. §§
												1201-1215) who holds a
						doctoral degree from an accredited university and is duly trained and
						experienced in the delivery of direct preventive assessment and therapeutic
						intervention services to individuals whose growth, adjustment, or functioning
						is actually impaired or is demonstrably at risk of impairment.
Mental illness
-Those disorders listed in
						the applicable APA Diagnostic and Statistical Manual; provided however, that
						mental retardation, alcoholism, drug dependence and senility do not, in and of
						themselves, constitute mental illness. The presence of these conditions
						however, does not preclude mental illness.
Mental Health and Mental Retardation Act of
						1966
-The act of October 20, 1966 (P. L. 96, No. 3) (50 P. S.
						§§
												4101-4704).
Peace officer
-Any person who by virtue
						of his office of public employment is vested by law with a duty to maintain
						public order, to make arrests for offenses, whether that duty extends to all
						offenses or is limited to specific offenses, or any person on active State duty
						under section 311 of The Military Code of 1949 (51 P. S. §
												1-311). Prison wardens and guards shall be
						considered peace officers for purposes of the act.
Physician
-A person licensed to practice
						medicine or osteopathy in this Commonwealth.
Preliminary evaluation
-The initial
						assessment or evaluation of the physical and mental condition of an individual;
						it may be conducted without substantiation by formal testing procedures. The
						evaluation includes an assessment of the person's specific physical,
						psychological, developmental, familial, educational or vocational, social, and
						environmental needs in order to determine the adequacy, of the person's logic,
						judgment, insight, and self control to responsibly meet his needs.
Qualified mental health personnel
-A
						person employed in the fields of mental health care, treatment or
						rehabilitation whose experience, training, and supervision is commensurate with
						his assigned tasks and who has not yet met the criteria of his own profession
						for recognition as a health professional. Such persons shall work in programs
						which are under the direction of mental health professionals.
Treatment plan
-An individualized plan of
						treatment as defined in section 107 of the act (50 P. S. §
												7107), which imposes the least restrictive
						alternative consistent with affording the person adequate and appropriate
						treatment for his condition.
Treatment team
-An interdisciplinary team
						of at least three persons appointed by the facility director, composed of
						mental health professionals, health professionals and other persons who may be
						relevant to the patient's treatment. At least one member of the team shall be a
						physician. The treatment team shall formulate and review an individualized
						treatment plan for every person who is in treatment under the act. The
						treatment team shall consult with appropriate professionals regarding the
						inclusion in the treatment plan of specific modalities not within the training
						or experience of the members of the treatment team.
This section cited in 55 Pa. Code §
													5100.71 (relating to voluntary
						  examination and treatment).