Psychiatric Research Institute (PRI)

Child Diagnostic Center (CDU) (5S)

The CDC 10-beds unit treats children ages 2 to 12 and represents a new approach to treatment for children with mental illness. The unit takes a multidisciplinary approach, relying on specialists in psychiatry, psychology, nursing, social work and education as well as speech, language and occupational therapy. The staff uses a unique approach involving Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) while working with the children to identify their individual needs based on how they interact with others. Once the patient is discharged, the institute staff will continue to follow the child to integrate the treatment plan with community-based caregivers.

Mature Adult (5N)

The MA 10 beds unit cares for patients who are at least 50 year of age and older.  The MA focus is on the psychiatric needs of our elderly population – situational and chronic depression, long standing mental illnesses of all types, and varying degrees of dementia. Some of the patients on this unit also require significant medical attention for illnesses typically found in the elderly population. We utilize geriatric psychiatry, nursing, social work, and recreational, occupational, and nutritional therapies to help our patients to function at the highest and most independent level possible prior to their to discharge back home to independent living, assisted living, or to an inpatient nursing facility. Acute

Medical Psych  (6S and 6N)

The AMP 20 bed unit cares for adult patients ranging in age from 18 to 50 years, who have a primary psychiatric diagnosis. Those patients might  have exacerbations of previously diagnosed problems such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizo-affective disorder and schizophrenia, among others. We also assess first onset psychiatric disorders and admit patients who are experiencing suicidal or homicidal thoughts, hallucinations and delusions. Many of these patients are also treated for substance abuse, which can complicate, or at times, mimic a mental illness. Those patients might also have a physical diagnosis that warrants continued hospitalization. This is a very unique feature for a psychiatric facility, and fills a great need for the patients at UAMS and across the state of Arkansas. As a result, patients do not have to wait until they are completely healed of a medical problem before they can begin to receive intensive, and comprehensive mental health treatment. The patients are treated by a multidisciplinary team that addresses all aspects of a patient’s life, formulating a treatment plan to meet the individual needs of each patient.

A multidisciplinary approach is used to treat our patients, and the team of specialists is comprised of psychiatry, nursing, social work, and recreational, occupational and physical therapies, as well as dietary counseling and education. We also involve all medical specialties necessary to provide optimum care for each of our patient’s individual medical problems, thereby recognizing each patient as an integrated bio-psycho-social and spiritual being, as we provide care for them in the most time and cost effective manner possible. Electro-Convulsive Therapy is available as a treatment modality for intractable depression and various other conditions, which have not responded to medication or other psychiatric therapies, for both our inpatients and outpatients (NA child unit).