By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Social Needs Screening and Interventions
The Promotora and African American Health Conductor programs were initially birthed at our Bay Point Family Health Center in 2002 and 2005. The initial goal of these programs was to create more effective cultural bridges between Contra Costa Health Services, a county-run health system, and the Latino and African American communities through the utilization of indigenous community representatives in order to assist the populations in better utilizing and navigating the Contra Costa Health Services system of care. The core functions of these two programs included: assisting patients with health navigation, community health education, assisting with group medical visits and conducting community outreach. In July 2016 through a collaboration with Health Leads (a nationally recognized resource linkage organization) some of these staff were trained on the Health Leads REACH tool – a very sophisticated resource linkage software tool which allowed these staff to screen patients for social needs, input patient demographic data, link patients to appropriate resources and agencies, track actions and follow up on each patient assisted, and measure impact.
Contra Costa Health Services partners with a community non -profit, the Center for Human Development to employ and oversee these staff. However, the staff receive direct supervision from two Health Services staff. The contract with the non-profit is primarily funded through the Health Services budget with supplementation from Medicaid revenue generated by the staff, as well as occasional grants. The two programs are housed in five of the 11 Contra Costa Health Services health centers. They work closely with health center administrative leadership, with medical providers, with our Health Leads advocate partners and with many community based organizations.
From July 11, 2016 – April 14, 2017, The West County Health Center Health Leads pilot program has served over 750 patients with a 86-91% linkage connection success rate – according to Health leads one of the highest in the country. The Promotoras and Health Conductors have assisted over 2,000 households with health navigation, and conducted over 7,791 community outreach encounters.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Mobile Palliative Care Homeless Outreach Program
Harborview Medical Center joined with the Seattle/King County Health Care for the Homeless Network to pilot the Mobile Palliative Care Homeless Outreach Program beginning in 2014, to address the needs of homeless people with life-limiting illnesses. The program’s primary goals are: 1) provide end-of-life care and pain management to a population that is poorly served by traditional palliative care programs; 2) empower people who are homeless by giving them more control to make decisions about life management and dying as their illness progresses; 3) prevent unnecessary emergency department visits and prolonged hospital admissions; and 4) eliminate barriers to accessing healthcare by traveling to patients and meeting them on the streets, in shelters, at meal programs or wherever they are living.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Healthy Youth Transitions
Memorial Healthcare System in Hollywood Florida started the Healthy Youth Transitions (HYT) Program 7 years ago as a result of an investigation of the child welfare system which identified gaps in services when youth unsuccessfully transitioned to adulthood with little support, skills or preparation. HYT helps youth and young adults age 15 to 22 who are aging out of foster care make the transition to independent living.
The program structure is provided by Memorial Life Coaches, who develop rapport and engage youth in an open, honest professional relationship in order to assist them with successful transition to an acceptable, responsible, productive adulthood. Typically, the youth distrust the very systems they have relied on as they have been disappointed frequently by foster care agency staff turnover, lack of services, frequent group home relocations (several youth served have been in over 20 homes in the 10-12 years they have been in foster care) and being separated with the siblings. By building a safe and nurturing relationship, HYT youth being to realize that the Memorial staff are here to help them grow, mature and develop into the adults they desire to become but did not have the role models or consistent caring adults in their lives. The Life Coach aims to help each participant gain skills and self-sufficiency to navigate the logistics of daily living, health management, social relationships, education, employment and money management, and other aspects of young adulthood.
All of Memorial Healthcare System’s Community programs and initiatives are rooted in collaborative partnerships that work to strengthen families and communities. HYT involves internal collaboration, with partnership from the primary care, specialty services, and behavioral health departments. External community partners include local universities, food banks, legal service providers, and the sheriff’s office.
Current outcome measures of the program found that 96% of the females have had no new pregnancies, 98% of all youth have had no new law violations, 98% demonstrated proficiency in employability and/or job retention skills, 86% made progress in school, were promoted, graduated, or obtained a GED, and 89% have obtained stable housing.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Guns Down, Life Up
Gun violence is a serious public health crisis in New York City. Not only are thousands of lives lost to gun violence every year, but it is also the leading cause of death among young people between the ages of 13-24 in NYC. To address this issue, NYC Health + Hospitals implemented Guns Down, Life Up (GDLU). The goal of GDLU is to reduce violent injuries among young people, ages 11-18, so they never end up as trauma patients in hospital facilities. To achieve this, the program has three main components.
Prevention: engaging youth early in long-term mentorship and developmental activities to divert them from involvement with violent peer groups and behaviors.
Community Mobilization: engaging with concerned organizations and neighborhood residents to build community strategies to reduce neighborhood violence.
Intervention: immediately engaging with people who have been violently injured to prevent retaliation and provide counsel and support.
NYC H+H works with many partners on GDLU, including local schools, Cure Violence programs across the city, the Bronx Documentary Center, and other local vendors and community-based organizations to share resources and activities.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Road to Better Health
The Road to Better Health Coalition (RTBH) was formed in 2008 following a community health assessment that identified serious needs in the areas of teen pregnancy, access to care, obesity and other health-related issues. It also confirmed that the community faced significant health disparities related to race, income and education. Leaders took action and formed RTBH, a coalition of over 70 partners and stakeholders, to identify health priorities for Spartanburg County and improve health outcomes through data-driven decision-making. The current priority areas are access to care, adult oral health, behavioral health, birth outcomes, health equity, obesity prevention and tobacco cessation.
The RTBH Coalition is guided by an Advisory Board that includes key leaders from 18 organizations. The Advisory Board provides leadership and strategic input on the operations and activities of RTBH and serves as the collective decision-making body. RTBH taskforces have been formed to establish goals and monitor progress across each of the priority areas. The hospital and participating organizations leverage partnerships and resources and equally share the expenses of the coalition. Although the RTBH focuses on all residents of Spartanburg County, particular emphasis is placed on disparate populations.
The RTBH Coalition strives to connect and mobilize partners who are working to improve local health outcomes. The hospital along with representatives from academia, non-profits, government, philanthropy, and the business community offer their skills, expertise, and resources to the coalition and are committed to bringing about positive change as engaged members of RTBH taskforces and initiatives.
RTBH stakeholders come together every three years to review and prioritize the critical health issues identified in the Spartanburg Community Indicators Public Health Report. They also convene annually to assess progress toward collective goals. The following initiatives serve as select examples of successful efforts to address community health concerns and reduce healthcare costs.
AccessHealth Spartanburg (AHS) connects uninsured residents to a network of donated care, a medical home, and other services including behavioral health care. The success of AHS has contributed to the decrease in charity costs at Spartanburg Medical Center from $116 million (2008) to $64 million (2016). For every $1.00 invested in AHS, there is $12.62 returned in benefits.
Collaborative efforts among local institutions and multiple community partners have led to a remarkable reduction in teen birth rates. The overall teen birth rate for 15-19 year olds in Spartanburg County decreased by 50% from 2010 – 2016. The most substantial decline occurred among African American females; decreasing by 68% from 2010 to 2016.
Spartanburg County’s County Health Ranking improved from 21st in 2010, to 18th in 2014, to 14th in 2017.
