MAOInsightFallWinter2018

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BEHAVIORIAL HEALTH Serving the mind and the body MAO SUPPORTS NATIONAL DRUG TAKEBACK DAY More than 40 pounds of controlled and non-controlled prescriptions were collected and turned over to the DEA in April. Corp. Cedrick Leonard from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department pictured with Kirstie Tyson Cleveland, ALC, one MAO’s Behavioral Health Therapists, preparing the DEA submission. (1) medical and clinical operations through physician referrals and consultations; (2) capacity building through workforce development and staff training on specialized topics around behavioral health; (3) social services through the coordination of community resources and referral linkages; (4) administration through agency wide planning for Alabama Department of Mental Health substance abuse treatment certification; (5) marketing and social media through the use of multimodal dissemination of behavioral health information to staff and the community; (6) telehealth services through opportunities for substance abuse prevention and treatment opportunities in rural communities; and, (7) financial planning for future acquisition of state and federal behavioral health funding, private pay fee for services, and third party insurance billing. The Department of Behavioral Health continues to explore opportunities to address the opioid crisis in Alabama. In 2018, the following programs were implemented and MAO INSIGHT - WINTER 2018/2019 - PAGE 6 MAO’s newest department, Behavioral Health, began expansion efforts in 2018. The primary goal of the ongoing expansion is to offer substance abuse and mental health counseling services to agency patients and clients who are accessing other services. The offering of these and other behavioral health services have been initiated through the integration of services into: funding initiatives were pursued respectively: • Intra departmental development and coordination of the OTAP Committee (Opioid Treatment Abuse and Prevention) including capacity building and pharmacy • Hosting the National Prescription Drug Take Back Observance on April 26 for the community, patients, and MAO staff • Hosting the 1st Annual Opioid Summit on October 18 for state and local community substance abuse and mental health providers • Naloxone 101 Training for clinical and social services staff on September 25 and October 18 • Integration of the SBIRT (Screening for Brief Intervention Referral to Treatment) and ASAM (American Society for Addiction Medicine) assessment tools to screen patients for opioid related disorders The integration of comprehensive behavioral health services into Ryan White Care programs at MAO is evolving and growing. Contributed by Elana M. Parker Merriweather, Ed.S., AADC, LPC, NCC Director of Behavioral Health
Building Human Capacity Community Education - Professional Development - Systems Outreach - Civic Health One of the fasted growing departments within MAO is the Department of Capacity Building. For some who remember the early years of MAO, education and helping South Alabama communities gain access to information and the tools that will improve overall health, quality of life, and remove stigma surrounding life-saving care is where it all began. Today, we have to go ever further to make a difference. During 2018, MAO’s Division of Community Education hosted multiple health fairs and wellness events, including the Wiregrass Wellness Expo in November, and exhibited at those hosted by partnering agencies. Additionally, MAO’s Health Educators continued to lead efforts to encourage the public to know their HIV and Hepatitis C status by offering free, fast, and confidential testing at MAO locations and throughout South Alabama. More than 200 presentations were made in settings ranging from Preparing for community testing days in Dothan and Montgomery. Always a team effort at MAO! secondary schools to college and university campuses to private institutions of care or incarceration. Changing the Landscape of Rural Care - Continued from page 5. Over the past few years, the Alabama Governor’s Office turned to MAO for advice on addressing health disparities, nominating MAO’s CEO, Michael Murphree, to the State’s Healthcare Task Force. To date, Murphree has been invited to participate in three rural health conferences at The White House where he advocated for policies to bolster rural healthcare capabilities. Elsewhere, he has been invited to provide talks on a wealth of social service, HIV/AIDS, telemedicine and rural health topics. MAO’s Division of Professional Development was equally busy planning, hosting and/or facilitating training opportunties that expand the capabilities of doctors, nurses, social service workers, counselors, and others. Through in person and webbased training sessions, including the Breaking Barriers Summit andWiregrass Breaking Barriers Summit, operating alone or in partnership with the Alabama AIDS Education Training Center (AETC) and the Southeast AIDS Education Training Centers (SE AETC), more than 1,243 trainees reached new levels of understanding on a menu of topics. During 2018, the Capacity Building Team increased its focus on empowering people to become more active in issues impacting their lives by assisting with voter registration, offering voter right restoration training sessions, and hosting nonpartisan Town Hall Listening Sessions surrounding healthcare. Advancing into 2019, even more will be done in these areas as well as Civic Health and System Outreach, focusing on the benefits of PrEP and building community support partnerships. Consider how you might get involved. Lucero Sitz, MAO’s LatinX outreach professional and language interpretor pictured outside of the MAO Learning Center showing support for MAO’s #ivotebecause campaign. MAO INSIGHT - WINTER 2018/2019 - PAGE 7
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Page 3 and 4: Building and Maintaining a Holistic
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MAOInsightFallWinter2018

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