Title and Citation

Summary

Format

ABCs of Wellness: Facts and Tips for Whole Health

Clients are the principal audience for this fact sheet, but it provides an introduction to the core physical health factors--blood sugar, blood pressure, body mass index, and cholesterol levels, diet and exercise--that contribute to the health of the "whole person," and so should be of value to members of a behavioral health support team.

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(450 KB)

Accelerating Disparity-Reducing Advances

While the focus of this review of patient navigation programs and toolkits is the area of cancer treatment, findings will have relevance to other treatment fields. The programs reviewed in this report had in their mission to reduce disparities in outcomes among under-served populations; many delivered impressive results using health navigation.

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(210 KB)

After an Attempt: A Guide for Medical Providers in the Emergency Department taking Care of Suicide Attempt Survivors

A booklet for emergency department medical providers taking care of suicide attempt survivors.

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(970 KB)

Certified Peer Specialist Roles and Activities: Results From a National Survey

A synthesis of the results of an online survey of 291 certified peer specialists from 28 states. Factors addressed include variability in context in which CPSs work and the types of issues they typically provided support around, along with those they do not. Concluding remarks touch on the challenges faced by CPSs, among them a lack of acknowledgment of the value of experiential knowledge versus traditional credentialing; the field is moving, somewhat controversially, towards nationally standardized training.

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(70 KB)

Change, Challenge, & Opportunity-Substance Abuse and Addiction in a Changing Health Care Environment

This slide presentation presents an overview of substance abuse in the U.S. and discusses a prevention framework that prioritizes underage drinking and prescription drug abuse. Discussion also reviews changes in healthcare resulting from health reform and discusses provider readiness and the workforce.

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(6.5 MB)

Changing Roles: How Health Navigators Support Whole Health

This webinar reviews the role of health navigator and its relationship among the existing roles in a primary care practice. The "ABC Wellness Initiative," which the National Council designed to highlight important physical health baselines (blood sugar, blood pressure, body mass index, and cholesterol levels) and other resources are also discussed. These are tools that the behavioral health navigator is encouraged to use as in their work with clients to improve health status.

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(2.3 MB)

Clinical Community Health Workers: Linchpin of the Medical Home

The emerging clinical community health worker model integrates community health workers as integral members of primary care teams inside a medical home. This evaluation documents the case management services provided by two clinical CHW programs at La Clínica del Cariño in Hood River, Oregon, and how they affected the care team's ability to deliver efficient, effective primary care. Clinical CHWs have the potential to make a significant impact on clinical efficiency and effectiveness as ambulatory primary care clinics strive to transform into high-quality, patient-centered medical homes and become linchpins in accountable care organizations. (Abstract only is in the public domain.)

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Community Health Workers and Integrated Primary Health Care Teams in the 21st Century

CHWs provide structured linkages between the community, the patient, and the health care system. Effective CHWs are strongly embedded in the communities that they serve. Moreover, they have clear supervision and defined roles and they are well trained, with a defined system of advancing their education and roles within the health care system. (Only the abstract is in the public domain.)

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Community Health Workers Can Be a Public Health Force for Change in the United States: Three Actions for a New Paradigm

This discussion focuses on how to strengthen the roles of CHWs to enable them to become collaborative leaders in dramatically changing health care from "sickness care" systems to systems that provide comprehensive care for individuals and families and supports community and tribal wellness. The authors identify approaches that can make optimal contributions, integrate CHWs into "community health teams" as part of "medical homes," and improve evaluation frameworks to better measure community wellness and systems change. (Only the abstract is in the public domain.)

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Creation of the Pillars of Peer Support Services: Transforming Mental Health Systems of Care Transforming Mental Health Systems of Care

The Pillars of Peer Support Services Summit convened in November 2009, to examine the multiple levels of state support necessary for a strong peer support workforce. Summit participants developed and agreed upon a set of Pillars of Peer Support Services. Twenty five "pillars" of peer support services propose a framework for states interested in developing or expanding peer support programs. (Online only.)

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Developing a Mental Health Peer Specialist Workforce in Massachusetts

This position paper describes the deficiencies in the behavioral health system that more recent national legislation is meant to address: insufficient patient involvement and few and inadequate formal patient support systems. In specific, the CHPR argues for the development of a mental health peer specialist workforce to meet the needs of the more patient-centered behavioral health system that calls for transformation envision.

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(60 KB)

Developing the Medical Home in Primary Care: Using a Patient Navigator to Coordinate Care

Overlook Hospital Foundation funded a pilot project to demonstrate how patient navigators can help improve care coordination for patients of primary care practices. This is a report of the types of services the navigator provided, the barriers and facilitators to patient navigation in primary care practices, and understanding patients', physicians' and the navigator's perspectives and experiences with this service. (Online only.)

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Development of Peer Specialist Roles: A Literature Scoping Exercise

The Scottish Recovery Network commissioned the Scottish Development Centre for Mental Health to undertake a sector review to assist in the development of peer specialist roles in Scotland. This paper reports on a literature review of existing models of accredited training and peer specialist roles and on telephone interviews with peer specialist/peer support projects in Scotland and the United States.

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(165 KB)

Early Detection and Treatment of Substance Abuse Within Integrated Primary Care (Healthcare Utilization and Cost Series, V. 7)

Substance abuse is a major public health concern, affecting millions of people in the United States. Given its far-reaching impact on the welfare of society, healthcare professionals should make substance abuse a priority. Most patients with substance abuse problems present in primary care settings, oftentimes with other complaints. When professionals, working in primary or integrated care settings, know what to look for and there is adequate infrastructural support with respect to triage, implementing substance programs with an eye on early detection and intervention can dramatically improve health outcomes and create significant financial benefits.

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Enhancing the Capacity of Community Health Centers to Achieve High Performance: Findings from the 2009 Commonwealth Fund National Survey of Federally Qualified Health Centers

This 2009 survey assessed ability of FQHCs to deliver high-quality healthcare across a range of services and criteria. Difficulty with access to off-site specialty care was a common theme, and adoption of HIT was found to lead to improved patient care. Recommendations for strengthening the model are included.

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(1.8 MB)

Establishing a Professional Profile of Community Health Workers: Results from a National Study of Roles, Activities and Training

This paper presents results from the 2010 National Community Health Worker Advocacy Survey (NCHWAS) and in sum demonstrates that CHWs apply core competencies in a synergistic manner to assure that their clients get the services they need. In research and practice, the field would benefit from being considered a health profession rather than an intervention. (Only the abstract is in the public domain.)

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Genesys HealthWorks Integrates Primary Care with Health Navigator to Improve Health, Reduce Costs

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Triple Aim Initiative has developed a report series to catalog Triple Aim model program progress. This overview describes Genesys HealthWorks in Michigan, which has focused on integrating care in primary care practices by adding health navigators to the care team.

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(440 KB)

Growing Your Own: Community Health Workers and Jobs to Careers

Quantitative and qualitative case study data demonstrate that investing in CHWs can achieve measurable worker and programmatic outcomes. To achieve these outcomes, targeted changes were made to the structure, culture, and work processes of employing organizations. These findings have implications for other health care employers interested in developing their CHW workforce. (Only the abstract is in the public domain.)

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Health Navigators Support Self-Management With Primary Care Patients, Leading to Improved Behaviors and Lower Utilization

Using a combination of health coaching, case manager, and care coordinator skills, health navigators help insured and uninsured patients cared for by PCMHs adopt healthier behaviors and better manage chronic diseases. This review of Genesys HealthWorks' health navigator model found that navigators improved lifestyle-related and self-management behaviors, leading to better health outcomes and significant reductions in emergency department and inpatient utilization.

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(160 KB)

Inclusion of Peer Support: Catalyst to Recovery, Trauma Informed and Community-Integrated-Based Services

The focus of this presentation is on the demonstrated benefits of including peer support for people in recovery in the toolkit of resources. Peer-delivered services improve participants' experience of recovery, reduce substance use, and offer other beneficial outcomes for individuals and systems.

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(400 KB)

Integrating a Behavioral Health Specialist Into Your Practice

This peer-reviewed article identifies and discusses the positive outcomes of integrating behavioral health specialists in primary care practices, addressing such factors as increased efficiency; increased patient and physician satisfaction; improved health outcomes; and improved mental health outcomes. (Only the abstract is in the public domain.)

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Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care Services: Opportunities and Challenges for State Mental Health Authorities

The National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) Medical Directors Council commissioned this overlay analysis of The Four Quadrant Clinical Integration Model and The Care Model approaches to integrated healthcare to establish baseline data on states' implementation of and to elicit recommendations in the areas of: Community Health Centers and their role in providing behavioral health services; needs of the people served by state mental health authorities; and evidence for integrating behavioral health services into primary care.

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(510 KB)

Introduction to Integrated Physical and Mental Health Care

This APNA webpage offers a basic but well-developed overview of integrated care, especially behavioral specialists in primary care settings. Information is offered in the context of health care reform and mental health parity laws that have led to today's sector-wide adaptive changes towards greater integration and collaboration between disciplines.

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Mental Healthcare: Framework for Emergency Department Services

This practice guide provides direction for delivery of emergency mental health care in Australia's state of Victoria's public hospital emergency departments. The framework assists health services to: plan appropriate emergency department care for people who present with mental health needs; promote service coordination and collaboration between specialist mental health services and emergency departments; and promote best-practice management and care coordination. Protected by copyright but offered as a download by the Government of Victoria.

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Model Patient Navigation Program

This brief article on the patient navigator model highlights the disparity in medical care for disease, cancer in specific, between that available to members of the dominant culture and members of underserved populations. The author, a past president of the American Cancer Society, provides historical context for the evolution of the navigator concept and emphasizes the significant improvement in outcomes for patients who are provided access to a health navigator.

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(70 KB)

Next Level Transformation-Care Coordination and Care Managers

A review of the shortcomings of traditional (specialized) medical practices in is followed by a description of the care coordination inherent in the PCMH model. Wagner emphasizes the need to build in accountability, patient supports, and care coordination.

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(270 KB)

Outcomes of Community Health Worker Interventions

This literature review examines the evidence on characteristics of community health workers (CHWs) and CHW interventions. Sources included studies published in English from 1980 through 2008 available at MEDLINE®, Cochrane Collaboration resources, and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature. Reviewers found that CHWs can serve as a means of improving outcomes for underserved populations for some health conditions, yet also found the effectiveness of CHWs requires further research.

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(5 MB)

Peer Delivered Services and Programs Within Managed Care

This webinar provides a review of the role consumers and their families are playing in transforming Managed Care Organization staff and processes. The presentation outlines the types of services that peers deliver, reviews findings from recent field applications of peer-delivered services, and discusses mechanics related to contracting and financing this new model.

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(2 MB)

Peer Navigation Demonstration Program

This slide presentation provides an overview of the evolution of the role of the health navigator from the medical field (i.e., for cancer patients) and moves to a review of the benefits of navigators in the context of behavioral health. A behavioral health navigator model program was found to deliver positive outcomes in areas such as: increased performance of healthy behaviors; increase utilization of primary care; increased adherence to primary care treatment and medication regimes; and others.

PDF
(70 KB)

Peer Support Specialists, Core Competencies

Glossary listing of peer specialist competency areas

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(90 KB)

Pillars of Peer Support: Transforming Mental Health Systems of Care Through Peer Support Services

A summary of the results and findings of the Pillars of Peer Support Services Summit convened at the Carter Center in November 2009; a review of the literature related to the evolving policy for mental health services and peer support services; a review of existing state level data of peer support services collected as part of the Summit.

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(700 KB)

Primary Care Toolkit: Practical Resources for the Integrated Behavioral Care Provider

The integration of behavioral health into the medical setting brings effective, coordinated treatment and increased satisfaction for both practitioner and patient. In reality, however, the results can be far from perfect-and far from integrated. The Primary Care Toolkit introduces mental health professionals to the best possibilities for the collaboration while preparing them for the crucial differences between primary care and traditional mental health settings, to make the transition as worthwhile and non-traumatic as possible.

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Promoting Recovery-Oriented Mental Health Services through a Peer Specialist Employer Learning Community

Many service providers are unsure of how to include peer specialists in their organizations and may be skeptical of their value. This case study describes an employer learning community model for providers and consumers to explore, through a team approach, the value of having consumers in peer specialist roles and the importance of recovery-oriented practice.

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Recovery Support Services: Behavioral Health Peer Navigator

This brief developed by SAMHSA sets out baseline definitions and standards for peer specialists (named here "Behavioral Health Peer Navigators") that cover the following parameters: target population, expected outcomes, service definition, service requirements, and staffing requirements.

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(350 KB)

Report from the Field: Recommendations for Developing and Sustaining Community Health Workers

This report provides recommendations for the development and sustenance of community health workers. The recommendations are a result of the San Antonio Community Health Worker Summit held January 2010. Recommendations include defining the workforce, training standards, evaluating financial benefit, strategizing Medicaid reimbursement, and creating support networks. (Protected by copyright but accessible for download at Project Muse.)

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Role Development of Community Health Workers: An Examination of Selection and Training Processes in the Intervention Literature

Consistent reporting of CHW selection and training will allow consumers of intervention research to better interpret study findings. A standard approach to reporting selection and training processes will also more effectively guide the design and implementation of future CHW programs. All community-based researchers must find a balance between describing the research process and reporting more traditional scientific content. The current conceptual model provides a guide for standard reporting in the CHW literature. (Only the abstract is in the public domain.)

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Service User and Carer Involvement in the National Mental Health Development Unit

This report highlights the findings of an evaluation of service user and carer (peer specialist and health navigator) involvement within Britain's National Mental Health Development Unit and its predecessor, and the National Institute for Mental Health in England. The report concludes that effective peer specialist and navigator involvement is needed at a national level across all Government departments. The aim is to ensure that the advice of peer specialists and navigators is taken on board when developing and implementing decisions, particularly in relation to decisions about policy and practice within the field of mental health.

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(500 KB)

Skills Required for Mental Health Providers Integrated into Primary Care

MaineHealth has developed a synopsis of core competencies for mental health providers in primary care that describes the skill sets needed and makes recommendations to providers about how to establish mental health services in primary care setting.

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(40 K)

Transforming the Delivery of Care in the Post-Health Reform Era: What Role Will Community Health Workers Play?

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) affords opportunities to sustain the role of community health workers (CHWs). Strategies encouraged by PPACA are prevention and care coordination, functions that have been performed by CHWs for decades, particularly among underserved populations. The two key delivery models promoted in the PPACA are accountable care organizations and health homes. Payment structures encouraged by PPACA to support these delivery models offer the vehicles to sustain the role of these valued workers. (Only the abstract is in the public domain.)

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Unique Model of the Community Health Worker: The MGH Chelsea Community Health Improvement Team

The role of the CHW is gaining much deserved attention. However, a system needs to be built for any CHW program to be successful and sustainable. This article describes a unique approach to community health work at the Massachusetts General Hospital Chelsea HealthCare Center, where a well-integrated CHW model provides support for patients, providers, the community at large, and the internal CHW staff. (Only the abstract is in the public domain.)

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Wellness Coaching: A New Role for Peers

People with serious mental illnesses are at greater risk of living with untreated chronic medical conditions that severely impact their quality of life and result in premature mortality. Wellness coaching by peers in recovery has potential to address health and wellness issues facing persons living with mental illnesses who are at high risk of comorbid medical conditions. (Only the abstract is in the public domain.)

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