iAwards
The iAwards aim to provide national recognition of agencies that are using innovative approaches to meet the changing needs of clients, staff & the behavioral healthcare field. Winners are announed at the NIATx Summit / SAAS Annual Conference!
New this year! New to the iAward process this year, only TWO (2) organizations will be selected as iAward winners. The selection committee will be seeking top notch innovations. Winning applicants will provide a strong description of their innovation as well as a clearly outlined sustainability plan. In addition to an all-expense paid trip to the SAAS Annual Conference/NIATx Summit in New Orleans, LA, June 19-22, 2012, the top two applicants will be eligible to receive a $5000 mini-grant to assist the winning organization with sustaining and sharing their innovation. Because there are often many strong applications, we will award honorable mentions to up to eight (8) organizations. Honorable mentions will receive one free registration to the SAAS Conference and NIATx Summit.
Click here for more information and the online application.
2011 Innovations in Behavioral Health Service Awards (iAward)
Process Improvement: Office-Based Opioid Treatment, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA
Boston Medical Center’s Office-Based Opioid Treatment (OBOT) program provides training and technical support to nurse care managers and others across the State. This initiative is 100% grant funded through the Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Abuse Services (BSAS). Since this initiative began in 2007, the OBOT nurse care manager model has been adopted by 14 community health centers statewide, located mostly in urban areas and serving low-income communities.
Process Improvement: 90-day Outpatient Treatment, Glide Health Services Recovery Program
Established in 1997, Glide Health Services (GHS) is a University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing faculty practice arrangement and a Federally-Qualified Health Center (FQHC) through the Health Care for the Homeless program. GHS is well integrated into the “safety net” of public and private agencies serving San Francisco’s homeless and medically-underserved residents who suffer higher rates of health disparities. GHS has developed a holistic primary care model, supported through Division of Nursing grant funding, that includes medical, integrated behavioral health and chronic disease management.
Management: Technology and communications, Kentucky River Community Care, Inc., Jackson, KY
KRCC is a private nonprofit Community Mental Health Center dedicated to improving the health and well-being of the people of the Kentucky River region. KRCC provides mental health, developmental disabilities, addiction, housing and trauma services, in eight of the nation’s poorest counties: Breathitt, Knott, Leslie, Lee, Letcher, Perry, Owsley and Wolfe. KRCC’s 58 facilities are located in a rural setting throughout the Appalachian Mountains.
Significant barriers exist to access to treatment for many suffering from mental illness, addiction and trauma. Technology and communications almost guarantee improving access, engagement, effectiveness and affordability of treatment in community-based care. Kentucky River Community Care, Inc. (KRCC) instituted technology and communications management practices to overcome barriers.
KRCC developed Caney Digital Media (CDM) as the organizational branch for digital communications and technology. Through CDM’s capabilities, KRCC designed a system where improved information sharing occurred with staff, clients and community members and created interactive Internet and video technology products for customers.
Process Improvement: Executive Change Team, Kentucky River Community Care, Inc., Jackson, KY
KRCC is a private nonprofit Community Mental Health Center dedicated to improving the health and well-being of the people of the Kentucky River region. KRCC provides mental health, developmental disabilities, addiction, housing and trauma services, in eight of the nation’s poorest counties: Breathitt, Knott, Leslie, Lee, Letcher, Perry, Owsley and Wolfe. KRCC’s 58 facilities are located in a rural setting throughout the Appalachian Mountains.
Our goal was to transform the agency culture to one where process improvement is a vital part of the organization so problems and barriers to effective services could be resolved and resolutions sustained.
KRCC has developed a group of Change Leaders and Change Teams with considerable knowledge and history of the agency and clients. To monitor the different change teams, change leaders and sustain our process improvement goals, KRCC implemented its Executive Change Team. Every Wednesday morning the Executive Change Team meets to review the progress of current Change Teams. Through the Executive Change Team, KRCC has a mechanism for supporting process improvements and an organizational culture of change. Anytime a problem is identified, ranging from Human Resources, to Facilities, to Addiction Treatment, the Team considers whether or not to create a change team. The Team also considers who is a good candidate for the Change Leader Academy or a new Change Team. In addition a Dashboard Report is presented, graphically showing data on the status of more than 24 past Change Teams to determine if any need to be resurrected.
Management: The 2010 Blue Book, New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, New York, NY
The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) is a $6.7 billion integrated healthcare delivery system, and is the largest municipal healthcare organization in the country. HHC serves 1.3 million New Yorkers every year and more than 450,000 are uninsured. HHC provides medical, mental health and substance abuse services through its 11 acute care hospitals, four skilled nursing facilities, six large diagnostic and treatment centers and more than 80 community-based clinics.
The 2010 Blue Book: A Guide to Person-Directed Assessment, Recovery and Discharge Planning in Chemical Dependency Treatment Programs at HHC, is utilized across all modalities: detox, opioid and outpatient treatment at all HHC facilities. It provides a single set of tightly integrated, multi-disciplinary forms that permits customizable use in accordance with the resources and protocols of the various programs. All data elements for mandated reporting are built in, and use of the forms in all settings allows for the streamlined transfer of patients between programs, eliminating the need to redo paperwork each time an individual’s level of care or treatment setting changes.
Additionally, HHC’s transformation of chemical dependency treatment programs from an acute care traditional approach to a chronic care model that incorporates Recovery Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) was fostered by the Blue Book. HHC’s chemical dependency treatment programs now provide individualized, comprehensive, high quality care which utilizes evidence-based and emerging best practices in a therapeutic environment at an appropriate level of care.
Process Improvement: Avatar Assisted Therapy, Preferred Family Healthcare, Kirksville, MO
Preferred Family Healthcare is the largest publicly funded non-profit substance abuse program in Missouri for adolescents and also operates prevention and adult treatment services throughout Missouri and in Southeastern Kansas. Since 1979, Preferred has developed an admirable record of delivering quality counseling services, and creating innovative projects designed to overcome barriers to access to and effectiveness of treatment.
Their “Avatar Assisted Therapy” project uses a virtual world platform, accessible via the internet, to deliver treatment services to people who would otherwise find it difficult or impossible to receive care, mainly due to distance and transportation issues. By simply logging into a secure location on the internet, clients and staff are able to meet in real time, individually or as a group in an immersive space which gives all participants a sense of being together without the need to actually be in the same geographical space. Based on research which has proven to be valuable in the development of multi-player internet-based games, our virtual worlds are both compelling places to visit, as well as excellent environments in which to interact with clients.
The results to date have been more than encouraging, with client completion and program involvement rates far above what we see from our “brick and mortar” facility participants. This project represents a true glimpse into the future of counseling!
Honorable Mention
Process Improvement: Innovative Music Program, The Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations, Spokane WA
In 1988, seven northwest tribes banded together to create a residential treatment facility for their youth. Their primary goal was to “construct a comprehensive primary inpatient treatment center to serve American Indians and Alaska Native youth who are identified as having a substance abuse problem.” The Healing Lodge is a 45-bed, adolescent, (ages 13-17) residential, chemical dependency treatment center funded by Indian Health Services and the State of Washington. Services at The Healing Lodge are primarily focused for the Native American population, but are open to all adolescents, both males and females, for an approximately 90-day treatment program designed around the individual resident’s needs. Some of the services available to enhance the chemical dependency treatment program include family education, Native American cultural programs, medical care, an alternative school, recreation program, advanced aftercare support, music/expressive arts program, and supportive mental health services.
A new innovative music program has been a particularly effective tool using hip hop music – a genre chosen by our young residents – to explore their trauma and healing through song writing, music development, and recording. Their first album, appropriately named The Dark Road is complete and will be available on the website www.healinglodge.org – with proceeds providing financial support for the Expressive Arts Program. Initial results prove promising as youth are engaging in treatment sooner, more deeply, and behavior problems decline. This appears to have a positive effect on the overall quality of treatment, sustaining the overall census, and positively affecting treatment completion rates. Research is in development to support the initial results.
