Follow Up Missing

 It's all very well to toss money at a problem and call it fixed. But where is the follow-up to see that the money worked or is working? We read and watch and hear, every day, how government funding and donations are given and how thrilled everyone is about the large amounts. Where is the follow up? Reporters who, these days are usually amateurs called "contributors" to the media and have little actual training in the field of journalism, aren't able or don't bother with a follow up reports on what occurred after the donations were distributed. Especially heart-rending is a story about a mentally ill person who had a history of violence and was treated but who sadly killed his family. There are too many stories like this. The mentally ill need more than a few appointments paid for by a health plan with a mental health worker and prescriptions to take and who go off with promises that all will be well. The mentally ill may not be equipped to continue taking the medications faithfully since when things feel better, they could consider it no longer necessary.That's when relapses occur and the results are disturbing and dangerous. Where was the follow-up? "We can't keep an eye on them every minute; they are free to live their lives" is the answer. The "free" life style of someone with mental illness depends on stability and monitoring.  Follow up needs to be on-going, not at the will of the patient. Nor do we  need to put people into institutions as follow-up. We need people who care. The medical world is telling us they are exhausted. Who isn't? Putting more money into hospitals and institution buildings doesn't make more people who can help. We need to put back inexpensive training for those who cannot afford to attend universities at their horrendous costs and time. There are countless individuals who would love to become nurses and other professions that require people who care. Yapping about it at meetings does not put our youth into places to receive the training they need to do the work they want to do. What about more money toward learning institutions like the old nursing residences for students, ones that are located at hospitals and ones that are free, as once they were. Student nurses were paid to train and they trained on site. Let's follow up on that idea and revive it?