141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

287802
Schools and public health professionals navigating information sharing about youth involved in multiple systems

Sunday, November 3, 2013

John P. Rosiak, MA Ed Admin , Health and Human Development Division, Education Development Center, Rockville, MD
Emily Veysey , Health and Human Development, Education Development Center, Waltham, MA
Background: Schools and public health professionals often struggle to effectively share information about youth affected by violence, mental health and substance abuse disorders, and unstable home lives. School health personnel, teachers, mental health and substance abuse providers, physicians, social workers, and others must share information to help students and families address these issues. A gap exists between complex, information-sharing laws―HIPAA, FERPA, federal drug and alcohol laws―and the way those laws are applied by public health professionals. Purpose: To present youth-serving public health professionals with strategies and tools to effectively share information about youth involved in multiple systems; to share locally applicable best practices from the ten-year, national Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative. Significance: School shootings have sparked national dialogue about the need for better information sharing, which increases the efficiency and quality of youth services, decreases costs, and provides a more seamless experience for youth and families. Methodology: A literature and resource review were conducted; selected communities' experiences were assessed; and the nation's leading experts in information-sharing were convened and consulted. Findings: Strategies for sharing information effectively were identified and a protocol for decision-making was developed. As a result of the project, the following were produced and piloted: a Toolkit, a website, and an online course based on real-life information-sharing scenarios that allows practitioners to build information-sharing skills. Conclusions/Recommendations: Reviewers of the Toolkit in its formative stages and a panel of experts at a national summit on the topic identified the approach as having great utility for the field.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Administration, management, leadership
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the relationship between effective information sharing and efficient public health services. Explain strategies and tools to effectively share information about youth involved in multiple systems. Name major national laws relevant to information sharing. Differentiate between the categories of information-sharing laws. Analyze real-life information-sharing scenarios using a set of essential questions.

Keywords: Case Management, Collaboration

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: John Rosiak, Senior Project Director for the Education Development Center’s National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention, has a broad background in drug, crime, and violence prevention, working in cross-sector collaboration issues for over 30 years. He has managed the development of Navigating Information Sharing, funded by SAMHSA, and presented on the topic of information sharing in many national fora. He has also presented at APHA many times.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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