The Technical Assistance Center has a variety of ongoing projects. Here is a brief listing through the end of September 2010:
Workshops
The two-day Back to School Workshop in August focused on clinical quality and Performance Effectiveness Review Tool (PERT) benchmarks. SBHC staff shared their experiences in implementing quality improvements based on the PERT. Workshop sessions addressed quality improvement in asthma, comprehensive physical exams, type 2 diabetes, suicide prevention, a curriculum to educate teachers about mental health and oral health . Over 100 persons attended, including primary care providers, school nurses, SBHC support staff, behavioral health and oral health providers. The Back to School Workshop power point presentations are available at Archive of School Health Workshops
Overweight/Obesity
Version 2.0 of the Adolescent Self Management Touch Screen is now ready for distribution. The improvements include a progress tracking feature and reporting feature. The touch screen technology allows students to self-report lifestyle behaviors and an option to complete an action plan for healthy lifestyle improvements. The student and provider use this information for assessment, goal setting and follow-up. In addition, school-wide reports using the data as entered into the ASM Touch Screen are used to identify and plan for health education programs.
Mental Health
The TA Center provides technical assistance and staff to support the Expanded School Mental Health Initiative, a joint effort of the Bureau for Behavioral Health, Children’s Division and the WV Department of Education, to promote school mental health through community partnerships. The ESMH steering team, with representatives from state and local level education and human services organizations, provides guidance to the initiative. In addition to the state level policy and infrastructure development, the Children’s Division of the Bureau for Behavioral Health awarded grants to seven local organizations to develop ESMH models. The TA Center works with the grantees to assist them in developing their programs. In 2009, the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care selected WV as the pilot state for their Mental Health Capacity Building Project. This project will continue with technical support from NASBHC until 2011. Recent accomplishments of the ESMH Initiative include:
Oral Health
The TA team is working with other groups to develop the capacity of schools and health providers to expand school-based dental services. A funding initiative of the Benedum Foundation and the Appalachian Regional Commission awarded 15 grants to communities for equipment and some operating support for comprehensive school-based or school-linked dental health services. The Request for Proposals and a background paper on school oral health in West Virginia, as well as additional resources for providing school-based oral health services, Additional resources for providing school-based oral health services can be found at Oral Health Tool Kits
Data from the nine School Community Partnerships for Children’s Oral Health were sent to MU TA for analysis and reporting. Individual project reports were produced that included individual activity, history of each project and highlights from the first year. An aggregate report of oral health status of the 2,300 students served in the first year of this project is currently under development. In addition, the MU TA Team is working to develop a web-based data entry system to capture activity for the current school year.
MU TA Center, in conjunction with the WV DHHR Children’s Dentistry Project and with the support of the WV Board of Education Office of Healthy Schools, is conducting a statewide assessment of the oral health of elementary school students. Data are entered at the site into a web-based program by using touch screen technology. Once collected, this data will be provided to the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors and the CDC to assure that our preventive oral health programs are effective.
SBHC Data Collection and Reporting
Seventeen SBHCs provided data for analysis and reporting. Individual and project aggregate reports were produced, as well as a 3-year summary. Each of the SBHC computers was updated with Clinical Fusion 5.0 software in preparation for the new school year.
A web based satisfaction survey tool developed by MU TA was used by eight SBHCs to enter responses from parent, teacher and school staff surveys distributed in the spring of this past school year. Individual reports, some with comparison reports to previous years, were sent to the SBHC sponsoring agency. The survey was implemented with the idea that results would lead to program improvement and result in improvement of the delivery of health care to students.
Collaboration
The MU team works with various state and local agencies to improve children’s health in WV.
Staff provides technical assistance for the implementation of the SBHC Performance Effectiveness Review Tool (PERT) under the direction of the WV Division of Primary Care.
MU staff serves on the WV Asthma Coalition School & Pediatrics subcommittee. For more information visit: The West Virginnia Asthma Education and Prevention Program
MU staff attends WVSBHA quarterly executive team meetings and participate in the Communications Team and Data Team meetings.
MU staff serves as the lead for the WV Partners for Oral Health. The partnership activities include providing policy briefs annually to lawmakers, maintaining a listserv and website devoted to oral health activities in WV. More information can be found at WV Partners for Oral Health
MU is a collaborating partner and staff serves on the steering committee of the WV Perinatal Partnership with a focus on improving the perinatal care of WV women. More information can be found at WV Perinatal Partnership
MU staff is working in conjunction with the WV Coalition against Domestic Violence to promote domestic violence awareness among health professionals, and in particular the development of materials and continuing education programs. Materials developed with oral health providers in mind were sent to every dentist and dental hygienist in the state. Each packet contained posters, guidelines and intervention recommendations.