NYAPRS Note: Read the article and access the links below to learn more about how initiatives sparked at ACHMA are advancing peer support as a best-practice model with accessible resources for peers and providers to enhance activation and outreach and engagement.
ACMHA Project Involves Peer Support of At-Risk Individuals
Mental Health Weekly; Vol 25 Num 20, 5/18/2015
Determining how peers are using their skills and tools to empower, engage and work with at-risk individuals with limited resources is at the heart of a new project launched by the ACMHA (American College of Mental Health Administration) College for Behavioral Health Leadership. The new project will allow peers to help others reach recovery and build efficiency, say ACMHA officials.
The project commenced with a call for applicants (with a February 3 deadline) who would eventually become part of a workgroup to create a then-undetermined program or project about how peers are supporting at-risk individuals (ARIs). ACMHA would leave it to the workgroup to determine the final outcome of the initiative (i.e., a learning collaborative, a toolkit, a white paper or an e-book).
ARIs for the purpose of the project are defined as:
- Individuals in rural and frontier areas where resources are geographically hard to access.
- Justice-involved individuals.
- Individuals experiencing multiple ongoing hospitalizations.
- Individuals with multiple physical and behavioral health issues.
- Homeless individuals.
The new project will focus on outcomes and the search for best practices, Marianne Burdison, senior director for strategic alliances and development at Cenpatico, one of two funders of the project, told MHW. The peer-involved project “was an area of interest even before we became aware of a sponsorship opportunity,” said Burdison. “We were exploring a program within our network for increasing peer support. From a business perspective, it’s also cost-effective. We’re stewards of public dollars; we want the best functional outcomes.”
“As a funder, Optum really values highlighting what peers can do,” Sue Bergeson, vice president of consumer and family affairs at Optum Behavioral Health, told MHW. “ACMHA is committed to leadership and really focusing on peer leaders.”
“The applicants [for the work- groups] were asked about their experience within each of the five ARI areas and were scored zero for no, x (number) for good and xx for great,” explained Bergeson. The scores were totaled, and those with the highest scores, representing the most experience within the five specified project areas, were offered a position with the At Risk Peer Leadership Interest Group, she noted.
Members of the workgroups were asked to commit to attending the 2015 ACMHA Summit held March 24–26 in St. Louis, Mo., and participate in a post-summit session where they shared summit findings, best practices and insights and determined what deliverable would be created to support the field.
E-book development
Bergeson noted that a Web-delivered model such as an e-book was determined to be the product that would collect and share information and outcomes about how peers are supporting ARIs. ACMHA is developing an activation e-book, considered an ongoing tool “that will likely not ever be ‘done,’” said Bergeson. “We will add to it over time.”
As the health care system is increasing its focus on engagement, activation and active participation in personal health, there are many more resources available in this area, according to a flyer introducing the 2015 ACMHA Healthy Behavior Change E-Book Prototype.
Activation is considered an important first step in the promotion of health and self-care management, noted Bergeson, who led a presentation, “Activation: The ‘Secret Sauce’ To Promote Recovery and Wellness,” at the National Council for Behavioral Health conference, held April 20–22 in Orlando, Fla.
Many individuals who regularly receive both primary and specialty care fail to actively modify health behaviors to improve their well-being, according to Bergeson’s presentation. Activation of healthy behaviors and actions is the link to self-care and improved health out- comes, she noted.
“Think of the activation e-book as a website that contains many re- sources,” said Bergeson. In addition to providing research on activation, the e-book will include videos of consumers talking about activation, and links to tools and resources that support activation, she said. “The e- book is for everyone, especially providers and consumers who are seeking innovative solutions to support members who fall into the five ARI categories,” she said.
Toolkit
In another effort to improve health care outcomes and qualities, ACMHA released a comprehensive toolkit for increasing the role of peer support in behavioral health. The creation of the toolkit began at the 2014 ACMHA Summit. “The Peer Services Toolkit: A Guide to Advancing and Implementing Peer-run Behavioral Health Services” looks at the nature of peer support and its origins, core values, training and certification, providing services with- in peer-run and traditional agencies, and working with managed care companies.
“The toolkit is a stand-alone project available at no charge from our website to anyone interested,” Kris Ericson, ACMHA executive di- rector, told MHW. The ARI Project will develop out of its workgroups another toolkit, said Ericson.
Ericson added, “This new toolkit will have a dual purpose: It can stand alone to provide the specific information the group is working on and it will become part of the e- book because the issues the project is addressing are tied to the e-book.” The ARI toolkit will be completed in March 2016, she said. t
To view a copy of the Peer Services Toolkit, visit www.acmha.org.
A prototype of the e-book is available at http://bit.ly/16nOG89.
For more information about the ACMHA program supporting at-risk individuals, contact Kris Ericson at kericson@acmha.org. http://www.mentalhealthweeklynews.com/