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By Lindsay Knaus, Project Manager

Island Senior Resources presented at this year’s All-In: Data for Community Health National Meeting in Baltimore, MD.  This event is intended to bring data sharing pioneers together to share solutions and accelerate progress toward improved health equity.

Island Senior Resources’ director Chasity Smith’s presentation was titled, “Screening for Social Determinants: What’s in a Tool?”

Island Senior Resources, Island County Human Services and Public Health, Island Senior Resources, and WhidbeyHealth are all participating implementation partners with the ACH, working cooperatively on a number of initiatives related to ACH health improvement strategies. Their work has developed into cross-sector collaboration aimed to address service gaps, barriers, and risk factors in order to improve health equity in Island County.

These partners’ goal is to develop a coordinated referral system and social determinants screening tool. The tool includes demographics and nine core measures covering medical, social, and basic needs. The tool acts as both a screener and referral generator, connecting each person with the right resource.  The organizations aim to identify the needs in their community, better understand the causes, connect people with help, and improve health and well-being.

Implementation began with a local primary care clinic as the pilot site, integrating the screening tool into clinical workflows as of Fall 2019. The pilot will be followed by a formal review and process improvement plan.

Chasity’s presentation provided insights for those looking to develop a coordinated screening and referral system across sectors, using collaboration.  It also provided a rural perspective on this process, from the creation and modification of a screening tool, implementation and timeline considerations, and how small projects can be used to leverage the discussion on multi-sector data sharing in rural communities.

Earlier this month members of our team attended a two-day training with the Pomegranate Center, co-facilitated by Communities of Color Coalition.  The Pomegranate Method provides tools to build collaborative, inclusive, and decisive projects. Our staff learned a process for community planning and decision-making based on productive discussion to drive successful collaboration. Those who attended are eager to use this model in future meetings!

Pomegranate Center believes every community, agency, and company should have teams of trained facilitators who are neutral about what is decided, but fierce about protecting the process. If you would like to learn more, click here to read about training with the Pomegranate Center in Seattle this October.

The Health Care Authority (HCA) has released Sharing Substance Use Disorder Information:  A Guide for Washington State. You can find it on the HCA website.

This guide supports whole-person health care by supporting exchange of information between a person’s behavioral and physical health providers. It also supports a person’s right to determine who may share and receive their substance use disorder (SUD) information.

Please feel free to share this resource with others.

Communities of Color Coalition (C3) is a non-profit, non-partisan group that meets in Snohomish County to discuss, problem-solve, and advocate for social justice, cultural and religious respect, and human rights, especially for people of color and other under-represented groups. Their major areas of concern include but are not limited to: the elimination of personal and institutional racism, equal access to and opportunities in education, equal access to and opportunities in economic development and employment, and fair and equal treatment under the law and in our society.

North Sound ACH is honored to partner with C3 by helping to sponsor their 2019 Conference on Race on April 20. With our similar goals and outlook, we want to leverage one another’s work to support healthier and more resilient communities.

C3’s Color Commentary Radio Program presented a three-part series dedicated to youth suicide and prevention, in observance of National Suicide Prevention & Awareness Month last September.  Two of the segments feature Dr. Benjamin Danielson from the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic; the other features Wendy Burchill, Community Health Specialists for the Snohomish County Health District.  These short segments feature information on youth suicide prevention, cultural and community factors, and highlight additional resources. 

“Color Commentary” —  providing you with experts, analysis and background information on racism, discrimination, and inclusion.

Part 1: Dr. Benjamin Danielson, Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic – 9/12/18

Part 2: Dr. Benjamin Danielson, Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic – 9/19/18

Part 3: Wendy Burchill, Snohomish Health District – 9/26/18