MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH:
News You Can Use!  

 Your source for updates on how the SC CTSI is working with the Los Angeles County Department of  Mental Health and the mental health community  
Volume 2, Issue 11                                                                                                                  February 05, 2014
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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT HELPS RESEARCHERS GET PCORI GRANTS
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

 

  

 

 

 

Congratulations to John Brekke, Frances G. Larson Professor of Social Work Research at the USC School of Social Work who recently received a $1.24 million award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to conduct a randomized control trial (RCT) of the Peer Health Navigation intervention ("The Bridge"). Begun in collaboration with Community Engagement staff from the SC CTSI, this award was based on a pilot research project funded in 2008 by the UniHealth Foundation. Community Engagement Research Navigator, Holly Kiger, RN, MN has been an active part of the research team since 2011. "Historically, persons with SMI overuse costly emergency rooms and are not well connected to primary care physicians", says Ms. Kiger. "As an active part of the Bridge research and training team, I have seen major changes in consumers' ability to access medical care once they participate in the Bridge program. I am very happy that we now have the funding to further support our observations and our pilot study findings with a larger RCT."
  

The Bridge is a peer-staffed comprehensive health care engagement and self-management model, situated in an outpatient mental health clinic. Trained peer-navigators teach clients the skills needed to access and manage their own health care. The goal is to train consumers to successfully engage and navigate the primary health care system as well as other needed health care services (specialty care, lab, and pharmacy).

 

Important stakeholder groups for this project are Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH), which has provided funding for several cohorts of Health Navigation trainings, and Pacific Clinics, which has been actively involved in the research and training of Health Navigators since the project began in 2008. "Without the support of these two important organizations, this project couldn't have happened" says Brekke.
  
  
Related post:
  

 

SC CTSI Community Engagement Helps Make Academic/Community Connection for Successful $1.3 Million PCORI grant
  
  
Kathleen Ell, Professor; Maria Aranda, Associate Professor
  
With a goal of helping support academic/community-engaged research projects, Katrina Kubicek and Holly Kiger of the SC CTSI Community Engagement program teamed up with Charlie Kaplan at the USC School of Social Work, to convene a series of seminars focused on team building to bring together the research interests of community partners and academic reserachers. On February 25, 2013, the Community Enagement program brought together research faculty from the USC School of Social Work and Keck School of Medicine and staff from several different community organizations who utilized the promotore model including Visión y Compromiso, Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, Esperanza Community Housing Corporation, and Providence Health and Services, Southern California. The seminar began with a presentation from Hector Balcazar, from the University of Texas El Paso School Of Public Health. Dr. Balcazar is an expert in the use of promotores to help reduce health disparities in Hispanic and Latino communities. The remainder of the seminar focused on identifying research needs and interests of both community and academic participants and a discussion of potential jointly created research projects.
  

As a result of the relationship building at the seminar Maria Aranda, Associate Professor at the USC School of Social Work, invited the staff from Visión y Compromiso, a statewide agency focusing on providing promotores services, to be a part of a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) grant she was developing with Kathy Ell, the Ernest P. Larson Professor of Health, Ethnicity, and Poverty at the USC School of Social Work. In September the team was notified that their $1.3 million three-year project had been funded.

 

"The team-building seminar was instrumental in helping bring our research team together", says Aranda. "By spending time with Maria Lemus, co-Founder and Executive Director of Visión y Compromiso we became aware of each other's strengths and interests and realized that they would make a great community partner for this project". 

 

With this grant, 350 patients with major depression and a chronic illness from two health clinics overseen by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LACDHS) will be recruited to participate in a randomized control trial to test whether promotores can effectively be utilized to provide health information and promote healthy behaviors to help low-income, culturally diverse individuals at LACDHS clinics have better access to treatment and improve their health outcomes.

 

Read the full news release on the USC Social Work website

  
HIGHLIGHTS FROM JANUARY 15 
NIMH OUTREACH PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM UPDATE
 
 (see attached e-newsletter for details)
  
   
  
  
SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS (SMI) TIED TO HIGHER RATES OF SUBSTANCE USE; NEW NIH STUDY SHOWS THAT CERTAIN PROTECTIVE FACTORS DO NOT EXIST IN THOSE WITH SMI  
People with SMI such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder have a higher risk for substance use, especially cigarette smoking, and protective factors usually associated with lower rates of substance use do not exist in individuals with SMI, according to a new study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
  
Press Release
    

   

HHS STRENGTHENS COMMUNITY LIVING OPTIONS FOR OLDER AMERICANS AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a final rule to ensure that Medicaid's home and community-based services programs provide full access to the benefits of community living and offer services in the most integrated settings.  Under the final rule, Medicaid programs will support home and community-based settings that serve as an alternative to institutional care and that take into account the quality of individuals' experiences. The final rule includes a transitional period for states to ensure that their programs meet the home and community-based services settings requirements. 

 

Press Release

   

VA TO EXPAND BENEFITS FOR TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY; ADDS FIVE ILLNESS RELATED TO SERVICE-CONNECTED TBI

Some Veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who are diagnosed with any of five other ailments will have an easier path to receive additional disability pay under new regulations developed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The new regulation impacts some Veterans living with TBI who also have Parkinson's disease, certain types of dementia, depression, unprovoked seizures, or certain diseases of the hypothalamus and pituitary glands. 

 

Press Release

 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND JUSTICE RELEASE SCHOOL DISCIPLINE GUIDANCE PACKAGE TO ENHANCE SCHOOL CLIMATE AND IMPROVE SCHOOL DISCIPLINE POLICIES/PRACTICES

The U.S. Department of Education, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice, released a school discipline guidance package that will assist states, districts, and schools in developing practices and strategies to enhance school climate, and ensure those policies and practices comply with federal law.

 

Press Release 

  

Telebehavioral Health online Training and Technical Assistance

The SAMHSA-Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Center for Integrated Health Solutions (CIHS) Telebehavioral Health Training and Technical Assistance Series is designed to help safety net providers and rural health clinics understand and adopt telebehavioral health services. The implementation of telehealth services for mental health and substance use allows for increased access to these services, particularly in rural or underserved areas. Divided into six sessions, the training provides tools and resources necessary to identify and implement a telebehavioral health program.

 

New Peer Providers Page

The CIHS website has launched a new Peer Providers webpage, which includes billing resources, sample job descriptions, the Whole Health Action Management (WHAM) training and participant guide (now available in Spanish), and the latest research on the effectiveness of peer providers.

 

What's New on StopBullying.gov

This blog describes new resources on the Stopbullying.gov website, including free training resources to help local leaders organize an event or town hall on bullying as well as resources to promote best practices in bullying intervention among bus drivers and classroom educators. The site also added 11 new audience-specific resources to show the role these community members play in preventing bullying. 

 

INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE SCREENING AND COUNSELING TOOLKIT

The Administration for Children and Families' (ACF) National Health Resource Center on Domestic Violence health team has launched an online toolkit for healthcare providers and domestic violence advocates to learn more about how to help women be healthy and safe. The new educational tools and strategies include patient resources, tools for providers, tools to help health systems and clinics prepare their practice, materials for domestic violence advocates, and setting-specific practice recommendations and tools.

 

REAL WARRIORS: MARTIAL ARTS TO COPE WITH STRESS AND BOOST RESILIENCE

This Real Warriors article describes how training in martial arts can help one cope with stress, reduce anxiety, and boost resilience when faced with known and unknown challenges. 

 

 

   

 

 

AHRQ Review Finds Some Meditation Programs Beneficial for Psychological Stress

Meditation programs - particularly mindfulness programs designed to focus attention and awareness on inner and outer experiences with acceptance, patience, and compassion - are beneficial for reducing psychological stress, including anxiety, depression, and pain, according to a new research review from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Effective Health Care Program. Meditation employs a variety of techniques to facilitate the mind's capacity to affect bodily function and symptoms. However, according to AHRQ's research review, there was insufficient evidence on the effect of meditation programs on stress-related behavioral outcomes such as positive mood, attention, substance use, eating, sleep, and weight.

   

   

   

 

 

WEBINAR: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON THE ACA

 

January 30, 2014, 3:00 pm ET

The HHS Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships is hosting this webinar about the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Presenters will answer questions that have been submitted in advance as well as new questions asked during the webinar. Please send questions by January 30 at 10 am ET to ACA101@hhs.gov. 

 

WEBINAR: QUESTIONS ANS ANSWERS ON THE ACA

 

February 20, 2014, 1:00 pm ET

The HHS Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships is hosting this webinar about the ACA. Presenters will answer questions that have been submitted in advance as well as new questions asked during the webinar. Please send questions by February 20 at 10 am ET to ACA101@hhs.gov. 

MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH: News You Can Use! is produced by the SC CTSI Community Engagement program. For questions or information, please contact Holly Kiger, RN, MN, CNS.