142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

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A Safety-Net of alternative services for one community's behavioral health population: Connectivity to care through a multi-agency community partnership

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 12:46 PM - 12:54 PM

Catherine Rees, MPH , Department of Community Medicine, Middlesex Hospital, Middletown, CT
Michele Sharp , Connecticut Hospital Association, Wallingford
When data indicated a disproportionate prevalence of diagnoses related to acute alcohol use, other drug use and serious mental illness for emergency department utilization in Middletown, CT, the community responded. Community agencies specializing in the delivery of care for high-risk patients experiencing acute and chronic mental  illness and/or substance abuse came together to form the Middlesex County Community Care Team (CCT). The team’s objective is to provide patient-centered care and improve health outcomes by developing and implementing a safety-net of alternative services through multi-agency intervention and care planning.

CCT coordinates care for patients who are super-users of ED services who experience behavioral health problems; disjointed care; lack of support networks; poor primary care connections; housing issues; and other social determinants of health. Based on the realization that social problems are community problems, the understanding that collaboration strengthens communities and that no one entity alone can effectively improve outcomes for this shared population, the CCT works together to create community-based solutions that have resulted in systems change. At its core is the belief that community collaboration can significantly impact health and social outcomes if provided in both an evidence-based and innovative manner. In its second year, outcomes include ED visit and cost reduction, maintained sobriety, mental health stabilization, improved access to care, reconnection with family, workforce re-entry, and reduced homelessness.

The Middlesex County Community Care Team was the recipient of the Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) and the Connecticut Department of Public Health 2013 Connecticut’s Hospital Community Service Award for its contributions to the community it serves. CHA developed this video to highlight the multi-agency participation in and commitment to this public health initiative.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Chronic disease management and prevention
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe the importance of a community partnership in connecting an at-risk behavioral health population to the appropriate level of care Identify common social determinants of health for one community’s vulnerable behavioral health population Describe quantitative outcome metrics for the intervention

Keyword(s): Social and behavioral sciences

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: My degree is in public health and my role at the hospital is public-health oriented. I oversee our community health needs assessments and assist in building programs to meet identified need. For the Community Care Team initiative, I wrote the grant that enabled us to create a Health Promotion Advocate position, a key member of the Community Care Team as liaison between patients, family members and team members.
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.