By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Pathways to Nursing
Pathways to Nursing was initiated by the Chief Community Relations Officer and the Kansas City Public School Assistant Superintendent of Innovation & Special Projects. The initial goal was to pair Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) students with nurse mentors, leading to a program where CNAs shadow their mentor and attend education sessions at the hospital on a weekly basis. Upon satisfactory completion of the program and their clinical requirements, the students are issued a letter of intent to hire. Students come from the Manual Career Technical Center, a part of Kansas City Public Schools located in the urban core and underserved zip codes.
Hospital resources used for the program include staff time and budget for supplies such as food, etc. Transportation is provided by Kansas City Public School District.
The anticipated outcomes of the program are: employment, advanced knowledge of career options, and development of a talent pipeline.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Caught in the Crossfire
In 1993, Sherman Spears, a paraplegic former gunshot victim working at local CBO Youth ALIVE!, began visiting young gunshot wound (GSW) victims at the Oakland hospital where he had been treated. This became Caught in the Crossfire, the first hospital-based violence intervention program – now a national model.
The program serves youth and adult survivors of intentional injury (gunshot, stab wound, and physical assault) with immediate response upon hospital treatment in the golden moment when the patient is open to long-term support. Continuing post-discharge for 6-12 months, trained intervention specialists from the peer community of the patients will provide case management, mentoring, linkage to mental health and services, safety assessment/retaliation prevention, and other services in the field/community in order to prevent retaliation and reinjury and to promote physical, social, and emotional healing from trauma.
This program coordinates with hospital Administration, Social Services, and Trauma to access patient records, coordinate hospital access to visit patients, and to communicate about follow-up care. Community partners include Youth ALIVE!, Eden Medical Center, Children’s Hospital Oakland, Alameda County Emergency Medical Services, and the City of Oakland.
Program measures include positive outcomes such as attachment to mental health services, education/employment and housing, and reduction in negative outcomes such as arrests and injury recidivism. Without intervention, nationally, up to 44% of patients recidivate within 5 years. In the program, it is less than 3%.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Nice Ride Community Partnership
The program started in 2016 as a collaboration between the mental health and cardiology teams at Hennepin County Medical Center, in an effort to implement a holistic approach to treating patients. Through this program, patients can make therapeutic lifestyle changes that reduce their risk of a heart attack or stroke — while simultaneously improving their mental health. Patients are given “prescriptions” to ride a bicycle as a form of treatment. With support from the Nice Ride MN bike share program, patients can rent a bicycle free of charge.
The Nice Ride Community Partnership serves adults with Serious and Persistent Mental Illness (SPMI) who participate in the program. The program is guided by the notion that better physical health equals better mental health. The program combines clinical goals from the William W. Jepson Day Treatment Program with the Comprehensive Cardiovascular Prevention Program (C2P2) to address multiple health concerns in their populations and track results over time. Nice Ride MN and U.S. Bank provide bicycles and funding for the program.
In its first year (2016), the program had 31 participants who logged a total of 957 hours. A cardiologist form Hennepin County Medical Center tracks participant progress over time.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Aqui Para Ti
Aqui Para Ti (APT) was created in 2002 to support Latino adolescents who are often raised in a different culture than that of their parents. APT became a certified Health Care Home in2010, and a certified Behavioral Health Home in 2016.
The program serves to consult and educate teens and families about topics such as health, relationships with family and friends, concerns with weight/height, mental health, abuse of drugs and/or alcohol, family planning, and sexual health. The program provides complete physical exams, pregnancy tests, treatment of common diseases, pregnancy care testing, and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
This program works closely with the staff of the Family Medicine department and the Whittier Clinic where the program is located. The program is funded by the Eliminating Health Disparities Initiative of the Minnesota Department of Health. Aqui Para Ti is also closely affiliated with the Between Us Initiative, another Latino teen focused program that helps build communication between teens and their parents.
Aqui Para Ti currently has 300+ active patients with 70 new patients added each year.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Rx for Change
The Rx for Change program was created with funding and support from Regional One Health’s Foundation, and a partnership with the Office of the Mayor of the City of Memphis. The purpose of Rx for Change is to “intervene and offer support and guidance to victims of violence” by connecting clients with community resource partners which may 1) reduce retaliation levels, 2) allow clients to achieve personal goals, and 3) reduce recidivism rates.
The program serves clients ages 14-24 who are victims of intentional violence and residing in Shelby County, Tennessee. The program is funded and staffed by the hospital, but involves a number of internal and external partners that help assist clients with navigating on-going care, as well as completing personal goals outlined by the client once they are discharged. Partners include: Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Regional One Health Foundation, the City of Memphis Mayor’s Office, GRASSY, 901 BLOC, Workforce Investment Network, HopeWorks, and Hospitality Hub.
Clients are reviewed at the end of a six-month period of time to assess progress. At that time the client is marked graduated, or not. Through-out the process clients are marked active, deferred, inactive or referred. These categories allow us to monitor progress toward success. To-date, approximately 200 clients have been on-boarded. Repeat Intentional Injury rates are low, and this past fiscal year three clients were successfully graduated.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Food for Health
In partnership with a health clinic, UNM screened diabetic patients who had a HGA1c over 7 (indicating that their diabetes is not under control) for food insecurity. Patients who screened positive were considered to be food insecure, and were referred to a healthy food center. The goal was to educate patients on healthy eating to see if diabetes can be better controlled.
Hospital resources used for this program included a community health worker who did the screenings during clinical visits. The hospital also worked with Roadrunner Food Bank and Healthy Foods Center, who provided patients and their families with food on a weekly basis.
The program resulted in consistent access to fresh fruits and vegetables for patients and families, allowing for increased intake of healthy food. Program surveys saw a 33% increase in reports of eating fruits/vegetables “more than once a day”. Surveys also showed increased self-reported health outcomes (from 78% poor/terrible to 80% very good/good), and improved quality of life indicators (27% increase in reports of “never” being kept from usual activities due to poor mental of physical health).
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Bridge to Employment
The goal of this pilot program, a partnership between JEVS Human Services and Einstein Healthcare Network, is to place youth on a path leading to career opportunities, financial stability, and personal fulfillment in the health care field.
Participants of Bridge to Employment were identified by school guidance counselors at Kensington Health Sciences Academy and YouthBuild as individuals who, although facing adversity in their life and home situation, show strong potential for overcoming challenges and making the most of all the opportunities being offered through the program.
Upon completing JEVS’s two-month comprehensive educational and skills training phase, then a month-long, hands-on externship experience at Einstein, these eager young adults are placed into entry-level positions as patient services representatives throughout Einstein’s network of medical facilities. The program prepared them to be well-rounded and effectively serve as the first-point-of-contact for patients upon entering the facility by covering related soft skills, customer service know-how, and topics of instruction including insurance, medical terminology, ethics/HIPAA regulations, medical office database, office essentials, and more.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Next Step
The Next Step program was launched in July 2016 with the goals of reducing the rate of violent re-injury and re-hospitalization for youth and young adult victims of violent assault injuries, supporting positive development and holistic healing for victims and families affected by violence, and interrupting the cycle of recurrent violence.
The Next Step program is a hospital-based violence intervention program. It is available to individuals ages 12 – 28 who are admitted to HCMC with a violent injury. The program starts as an in-hospital crisis intervention with staff youth workers who are available to provide immediate and ongoing support, advocacy, and connection during the full hospital stay. The youth workers enable and empower participants to envision a different future and to help them create a goal plan towards that new vision. Next Step youth workers continue to provide support after discharge and facilitate connections with other community resources to support participants as they work towards their goals. Funding for the programs comes from the city of Minneapolis and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety – Office of Justice Programs. The hospital staffs Next Step. There are currently three youth workers who are the heart of the program.
The Next Step program staff have worked collaboratively with other hospital departments to re-view, re-think, and re-write protocols for admitting and transferring victims of violent injuries so that the processes are trauma-informed and trauma-sensitive. The resulting protocols take into account the needs of patients, their families, staff, visitors, providers, and the community. Next Step staff also regularly work with myriad community-based providers to meet the diverse needs of program participants. Additionally, via partnership with the City of Minneapolis Health Department, the program is part of a broader collective impact network of jurisdictional partners and stakeholders focused on preventing youth violence across the city.
During the first year of Next Step 98 individuals participated in the program. On average, 38 participants were actively receiving services at any given time. Only 3 (3%) of the program participants had returned to HCMC with a violent injury. (National average for re-injury after a violent attack is ~40 %.) Nearly 60% of participants developed a goal plan and received support from staff toward at least one goal. (Goals might relate to safety, housing, school, employment, basic needs, positive social activities, etc.) Of those who developed a goal plan, 70% completed at least one goal.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on The Food Shelf @ HCMC
The Food Shelf @ HCMC was started to address hunger and food insecurity among patients and families, with a long-term vision of creating a hunger-free hospital where all patients have the healthy food they need for their well-being.
The program serves patients and families who receive care at the primary care and specialty care clinics located within the hospital and/or at one of the hospital’s community clinics. Volunteers help package inventory and fill sturdy bags with healthful groceries. The bags are then delivered to the each participating clinic and are available for staff to give to patients/families in need.
The Food Shelf @ HCMC staff work closely with clinic staff in different departments to make sure they provide options that meet patients’ nutritional needs related to specific health conditions. The staff work with a variety of community partners to make sure they are able to provide both non-perishable foods for those with limited access to food storage as well as fresh produce and other foods to those with adequate food storage options. A major partner is Feeding America’s Second Harvest Heartland, which distributes food to food shelves throughout the state. Food is packaged in sturdy, handled bags which can be managed on public transportation, and are filled with items tailored to specific patient populations.
The Food Shelf @ HCMC serves nearly 30,000 households composed of approximately 90,000 individuals each year. More than half of the individuals served are children.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Lincoln-West School of Science & Health
MetroHealth leadership wanted to develop a program that would help local high school students realize a more promising future. In September 2016, the Lincoln-West School of Science & Health opened within MetroHealth Medical Center. With deep immersion in the MetroHealth community, including exposure to a wide variety of careers in the health system and health care industry at large, the goals of the school are to mentor students and prepare them for post-secondary and career opportunities.
Students come from throughout the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, and the program is managed by a MetroHealth employee. In addition to core classes, students have a health industry-specific curriculum that includes community health, empathy, exercise, leadership, medical simulations, and ethics. Freshmen are on-boarded through monthly field trip experiences and sophomores are matched with mentors in areas of interest. Juniors participate in a scholar-employee shadow program and seniors are hired as unpaid interns in various departments throughout MetroHealth.
Per their specific interests, students are matched with hospital employees who are mentors, so they can see firsthand what a career in their interest area entails. Students can be matched with doctors, flight nurses, accountants, food service workers, development staff, strategy teams, any of the hundreds of jobs in a health system.
There has not been a graduating class yet because this is only the second year of the school. It is anticipated that with the smaller class sizes, devoted teachers, and hospital employees who volunteer as mentors and tutors, students will receive the support and encouragement they need to flourish.
