The art of public service is doing what is best for your clients while being as efficient as possible. Transportation staff at the Oregon State Hospital's Portland (POSH) campus have taken this art to the next level. After years of transporting patients back and forth from Portland to Salem for medical appointments, staff came up with a common sense solution to increase efficiency and, most importantly, improve patient care.

For patients at Oregon State Hospital, changing the way they respond to certain situations is often a key component to their recovery. Most come to the hospital with deeply ingrained negative behavior patterns and, while many want to make changes in their lives, most need help finding the motivation.

In an effort to help patients find that motivation and work toward positive behavioral goals, OSH introduced the REACH program earlier this year. Recovery Environments Actively Creating Hope, or REACH, is a token economy program, which uses positive reinforcement to help patients learn to replace negative behaviors with more constructive ones.

A team of Oregon State Hospital psychologists and mental health specialists, assigned to work with the hospital's most challenging patients, is helping unit staff learn to address behavioral issues before, rather than after, they occur.

"Our program is all about being proactive," said psychologist Dr. Amy Smith. "This leads to fewer crises and reactivity, which frees up staffs' time and creates a safer, more therapeutic environment."

It's said laughter is the best medicine. For a group of patients at Oregon State Hospital, there is truth to this old adage.

"Let's face it, life is not always a bowl of cherries, and we need to be able to laugh," says patient Craig Haberman. "It's helpful, it's healthy and it gives you a whole different attitude on life in general. I think it's extremely important to use humor in your life every day."

As he sat quietly, eyes to the floor, Thomas Berry, a patient at Oregon State Hospital, listened as his fellow patients offered support and encouragement. Berry had just shared with them a problem he's been dealing with recently — one that could have potentially derailed his progress toward recovery. In the past, he said this type of issue would have sent him spiraling into depression; now, with the help of some simple coping tools, he was able to work through and overcome his problem.

Oregon State Hospital may not be your traditional school setting, but for some patients, formal education plays a key role in their treatment and recovery from mental illness.

"Supported education is a major influence in my recovery. The teachers have shown a great deal of care, and the education I've received so far has helped me to better communicate with the psychiatric professionals helping me to recover," said Phillip Hawkins, an OSH patient. "If this program wasn't here, I don't think I would be able to recover at all."