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Family Corner 

Why Integrated care works.

Recently, one of Family Continuity's therapists sent along this note to a physician from a local health clinic where Family Continuity has begun providing triage, intake, and counseling services.

"Dr. Ortega,

     I just wanted to follow-up with you regarding this morning's consult. I apologize that I had to run out of the office after the consultation as I had an appointment back at FCP.

     I agree with your assessment for post-partum depression and that this is a common condition for many women after giving birth. Together with the patient,  we identified possible contributing factors based on how this birth is different from her two previous births and she appeared to have insight into these factors. I offered recommendations on how to behaviorally manage symptoms though she did not appear interested in trying them. She inquired about medication and concerns of potential interactions with breast feeding; I encouraged her to direct these questions to the prescribing doctor. I also offered to meet with her until she moves and she declined reporting that she has social support she can utilize and stated that she'll be fine. She and her husband express confidence that her symptoms will improve once they have moved to Chicago to be with family.

     This consultation is a great use of my time and services at the health clinic and I thank you for the opportunity to collaborate in their care."

Nice note...But what makes it worthy of notice? Well, it probably wouldn't have happened at all not so long ago, when the medical and mental health communities rarely communicated, even when supporting the same individuals.  It is a simple and common example of a new philosophy of care, something we are seeing and hearing about more these days, "integrated care". Until recently, helping professionals in health, human services, mental health and education tended to live in parallel universes where they provided care to many of the same individuals, but rarely talked and knew little about each other's work.

Why I came back to Family Continuity?

Like many large organizations with a lot of employees, staff at Family Continuity come and go. Often they are new to the field, gain experience and licensure and move on to greater opportunities, better pay, or work more focused around their career interests. We hate to see them leave, and when they do, we always conduct exit interviews to learn about their decisions, and to find ways to improve retention of our very best staff.

Recently, we've seen more and more people who once worked here and left, but later chose to return. All of them had good reasons for leaving, but we've been intrigued by their reasons for returning. We decided to ask them, and thought we would share a few of their comments with the friends of Family Continuity.

·         People mentioned change...

One who left several years before said

"I didn't think it was the same agency. It had changed so much and had much more direction and more to offer" Another said, "I felt more supported by upper administration and felt  appreciated for  my work here"

·         For many others it was "the people"...

"I left to go to grad school and planned to go into a different field. I did one year of full time school and then the following year was enrolled part time and needed a part time job. I ran into my former supervisor at a career fair. She gave me a hug and said I could always come back home. Especially, it was the people.",

·         "Family friendliness" and flexibility was an important factor for many...

"The reason I came back into a program coordinator position again was that this is a very family friendly place to work."

Another said, "When I came back my supervisor knew I needed more "mom hours" and tried to assign me as many cases as she could that would allow me to see kids during school hours.  - Already knowing the players it was easy to call and find out the information I knew I needed to know."  

Still another comment, " They have been amazingly flexible over the years with all sorts of things for me, including major medical events and starting a family." 

·         For others it was Family Continuity's commitment to worker safety

"I came back mainly because I needed to get out of the agency where I was working.  I was becoming quite concerned for my safety.  I decided that I didn't want to chance not coming home to my children and husband." 

Another put it this way,"Safety was my other big issue.  I like knowing that if I feel unsafe that the agency I will work for will support me -planning how to better serve a client, and stay safe.  That's huge!" 

·         Despite the challenges everyone faces in difficult jobs, most mentioned the agency's mission, and the work itself,

" I love the work and was excited to come back to a program that I had helped build and that had continued to be managed really well.    It is nice to be working somewhere that makes a big difference in our client's lives and does actually help people.

Another said "After much financial planning and discussion with my husband, I decided that part time  was my best option.  I knew I had some later nights ahead, but felt it would be a good balance between the work I enjoy doing and the kind of mom I want to be".

·         Perhaps the nicest compliment of all,

"In my experience, if you stick around Family Continuity long enough they will do right by you.  And the truth is I enjoy the clinical work"

Is it a perfect place? Certainly "No". Some who returned mentioned things they would still like to see changed.  As they say, "We're working on it", and will continue to do so.

 If you are interested in what brought these staff back, and would like to find out more about working here, go to our website, www.familycontinuity.org. and click on "Careers" for job information and postings.

Finally, thanks to Lauren, Mary, Kristen, Heidi, Donna, Jen, and all of the rest of you who left and came back. As we quoted earlier, "She gave me a hug and said I could always come back home"