THE CHALLENGE Bowen Center of northern and central Indiana specialized in mental health and addiction recovery services, including inpatient psychiatric care, for more than 60 years. In 2015, a long-term client passed away at age 60; her death certificate read that she died of “natural causes.” “In the US, a death certificate for a woman should not read ‘died of natural causes’ when she’s 60,” said Robert Ryan, PhD, EdS, LMHC, senior vice president of operations at Bowen Center. The incident got him thinking about how mental illness should not contribute to early death—how Bowen Center can intervene early with people so they can live a full life, and what the plan to get there might look like.

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