Executive overview –Meeting Minutes
The MVPHIP reviewed the Otsego County YRBS (Youth Risk Behavior Survey) mental health questions and topics included: Sad Feelings and Suicide; Injury and Violence; and Alcohol and Other Drug Use. The workgroup discussed the potential age groups who qualify to participate in the survey; survey administration; strategic planning as a result of the data; and protective factor analysis.
The workgroup discussed the RWJF Funding Opportunity “Using Behavioral Science to Advance Community Health & Well-Being.” The terms of the Request for Problems (RFP) pertaining to the grant application were reviewed. If selected, the candidates would participate in an interactive workshop scheduled for September 28-29, 2016 in Chicago with all expenses paid. Applications are due on Friday, June 17th by 5:00pm. The selections will be announced on July 29th. Application assistance is available from the MVPHIP staff.
The group continued the conversation on developing a behavioral health anti-stigma campaign. Information was provided on Active Minds, a college campus organization that offers a variety of free materials for awareness campaigns. It is suggested to increase the number of regional college campuses participating in similar programs. The media campaign could include anti-stigma messages wrapped on busses and billboards in collaboration with DSRIP. The notion of contracting with a professional marketing company to develop an anti-stigma campaign was mentioned.
The development of a regional mental health first aid toolkit was reviewed. The idea of conducting a survey with school districts to assess needs, interest levels and best delivery methods (an application, poster, booklet, resource sheet, etc.) was raised. It was suggested to gain support and to include additional school faculty in addition to teachers, such as school nurses and counselors. The mode of delivery will have to be considered depending on the school setting (primary school settings versus colleges).
The emergence of Regional Planning Consortiums (RPC) throughout the state was mentioned. The RPCs will directly align with the NYSDOH PHIP regions; regional kickoff occurred on June 10, 2016 in Albany for the Capital District and Mohawk Valley regions.
The next Behavioral Health workgroup meeting will be held Thursday August 25th 2016 from 1-3pm in the Montgomery County Annex Building (Address: 20 Park St in Fonda).
Mohawk Valley PHIP
August 25,2016
Behavioral Health Workgroup
Workgroup Members:Janine Dykeman (Mental Health Association of Fulton and Montgomery Counties), Siri Young (Schoharie County Head Start), Joseph Yelich (Oneonta City Schools), Julie Dostal (LEAF, Inc), John Nasso (Catholic Charities), Denis Wilson (Fulmont Community Action Agency), Scott Friedlander (St. Mary’s Healthcare), Zvia McCormick (Resource Center for Independent Living), Amy Gildemeister (Schoharie County Dept. of Health), Ann Black (Filmont Community Action Agency), Heidi Bond (Otsego County Dept. of Health), Besty Jay (Bassett Medical Center), Paul Meher (HFM Prevention Council), Doris Hill (MIBH), and Kristin Pullblank (MIBH).
Staff:John May, Aletha Sprague, Anna Gleboff, Bonita Gibb, and Felicia Johnson.
Welcome & Approval of Minutes:
Dr. Dostal calls the meeting to order and seeks approval of the minutes. The minutes are approved.
YRBS Update:
Aletha Sprague opens the meeting with a Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) update. The YRBS was completed as of April 2016 with the Otsego County results posted on the mvphip.org website. Each school will receive their own district profile which will not be available on the website. Schoharie County has agreed to complete an YRBS in the fall of 2016 and Herkimer County will have one completed in the spring of 2017. Otsego County chose a version different from the one chosen by Herkimer and Schoharie Counties. Otsego chose one that did not have questions regarding protective factors, while Herkimer and Schoharie did.
Regional Anti-Stigma Campaign:
In previous meetings the group discussed the possibility of the Leatherstocking Collaborative Health Partners granting funds for this initiative. Ms. Sprague states there are some existing campaigns and gives examples of the resources shared by Mental Health Association of Fulton and Montgomery Counties and LEAF, Inc. to give an example of regional campaigns already occurring.
Ms. Sprague draws attention to the DSRIP Request For Funds form provided to each work group member so they could have an idea what would be asked of the group in order to apply for these funds. This includes how much money the group would like to ask for and for what activities. She asks for workgroup input and suggestions.
Julie Dostal, LEAF Inc, asks how much money is available from DSRIP.
Ms. Sprague states that she does not know how the budget looks for this kind of activity.
Ms. Dostal states that the group needs to figure out how much money the group would need to develop a consistent anti-stigma message out to all 5 counties in the region before going forward. Her concern is that the cost difference is significantly different for each county.
Zvia McCormick of Resource Center for Independent Living asks the group to consider what it is exactly the group wants to do, who the target audience is, how we want to spread the message (social media, print media, etc), and then find out how much this would cost.
Ms. Dostal responds that there has been discussion about hiring a professional group to develop the campaign and then a group to advertise it.
Joseph Yelich, Superintendent of Oneonta City Schools, claries that the group is talking about a media company such as Towne Square Media.
Ms. Dostal states that the first step would be to engage a business to help develop the campaign and then move forward.
Ms. Sprague asks if there are any resources from the state to disseminate already developed campaigns.
John Nasso from Catholic Charities states that the Department of Health gives Catholic Charities money for this sort of project. He also states that while he knew the group had discussed the possibility of working on a regional campaign, he does not recall this ever coming to a decision.
Ms. McCormick states that Google offers a $10k grant for a 501c group for social media campaigns. However, they all have to be funneled through a website. She states that the first step is to really look at the message and target audience. She states that a comprehensive media campaign could cost upwards of $50k, however, it may not be necessary depending on the demographics of the audience.
Ms. Sprague states that the group could get a quote from Town Square Media for the next meeting to get an idea of what the costs would actually be.
Ms. Dostal requests that they come and do a presentation so that the group can make decisions about how to move forward.
Mr. Nasso states that he can ask his staff about their tobacco control efforts and costs associated with those.
Janine Dykeman of the Mental Health Association of Fulton and Montgomery Counties states that Cheryl McGrattan is the communications director of Nathan Littauer Hospital and also on the board of MVPHIP. She states that it would be a good idea to include her in the conversation as she may know the answers to our questions.
John May states that the first step would be to decide who the target audience is and then begin to move forward. He states that there are a number of potential ads on the Internet to use in a series of small focus groups to see which ads they liked and why. Then, using the well received ads, go t a developer and have them use the recommendations made by the focus groups as guidelines for developing the message.
Heidi Bond, Otsego County Department of Public Health, states that in Otsego County, the target audience should be older males as this is the group with the highest suicide rate in the county.
Ms. Dostal agrees that choosing target audiences that aren’t traditionally targeted. She states that her organization targets children and families, but the rates of senior adults who have a substance abuse concern are very high. She states she would be in favor of targeting middle-life and seniors, especially since this group is not typically targeted.
Amy Gildemesiter, of Schoharie County Department of Public Health, states that her county has just done two bus wrap campaigns, one for lead and the other for tobacco awareness. She states that she likes bus wraps because they move around. She states that putting this campaign together was not terribly difficult. She states that she has been contacted by a company that would like to work with her on putting together a radio spot. She states it appears to also be fairly straightforward. She states the company that she has spoken to knows its demographics and that there is no charge for developing the ads.
Dr. May states that the other component of working with agencies is that the group needed very specific goals and how to measure them.
Ms. Bond states that she would like to see an ad campaign targeting older people that will get them to talk to their primary care provider about their mental health.
Ms. Dostal states that these messages won’t exclude the youth completely as this audience has children and grandchildren that will also be impacted by raising awareness among the older generations. She asks the group about suicide rates among their counties and states that Otsego County rates are disturbing. She believes that the group should focus efforts on what the data states are problem areas.
Ms. Gildemeister states that Schoharie County is putting together a suicide prevention coalition that will be meeting at a later date and she will have more information on the suicide rates in her county at that time.
Dr. May states that there was an MMWR that came out in early July that looked at suicide rates by occupation. He states that we could use this data to help select a target audience. The MMWR report states that farmers and construction workers are among the highest professions to attempt or to complete suicide.
Ms. Dostal states that Otsego County is looking at pursuing Systems of Care (SOC) grant that focuses on children and their families. She states that by targeting older agricultural residents, the group is focusing on a group that hasn’t traditionally gotten a lot of attention and is also not being targeted by the SOC grant.
Ms. Gildemeister questions whether social media would be an effective tool to reach 50+ year old men?
Mr. Yelich states he thinks radio would be the most viable delivery method.
Ms. Dykeman suggests having information placed around farm equipment shops, auto parts stores, and other places where men in this age group are likely to be.
Ms. Gildemesiter suggests looking into publications and radio stations that already target people in agriculture.
Ms. Dostal asks the PHIP team to look into prices for these things and get someone in to do a presentation on how to create an anti-stigma campaign. She expresses concern that the group can find an existing anti-stigma campaign directed towards 50+ year old farmers.
Ms. Gildemeister states that she will forward the radio information on to whoever wants it.
Ms. Dykeman states that the MHA has toolkits that they send anything out on that target audience.
Ms. Dostal reminds the group that September is National Recovery Awareness Month and there will be a number of activities related to anti-stigma going on.
Existing County Resources:
Ms. Spraguediscusses the Otsego County Resource Guide and asks the group if their counties have similar guides. She states that the MVPHIP website has a “Community Resources” page that links to 2-1-1, NY Connects, OASAS, and Eldercare.com as a way to connect people to resources, but she asks the group if they have anything additional they want included on the mvphip.org. She states that at the last meeting, a resource specifically for teachers and school personnel was discussed. She states that the MVPHIP staff is in the process of developing a questionnaire for teachers, school counselors, and other school staff to take so the group can have more of an idea of what kind of tool would be the preferred one.
Ms. Dostal states that Sweet Home Productions in Oneonta already has a developed app for this type of resource for the DSRIP region. She states that LEAF, Inc. has the platform and she could give permission for the release of this platform to the group to develop something for the MVPHIP region.
Kristin Pullyblank, of RHENSOM, expresses her approval of this type of resource because the app would be on the teacher’s phones and on them at all times.
Ms. Dostal states that the only thing that would be required of the group would be for someone to go into the back end of the app and enter all the resources.
Ms. Sprague asks if this app is available in the three overlapping counties of DSRIP and MVPHIP (Otsego, Herkimer, and Schoharie).
Ms. Dostal replies that the app is currently in beta form in Otsego County only at this time.
Ms. Sprague states that this is one of the reasons why the MVPHIP promotes the 2-1-1 resource. She states that 2-1-1 has a live person that can help an individual locate services they need. She states that the 2-1-1 is also maintained by an outside organization. The only drawback to the 2-1-1 resource is that they only work with non-profit organizations. Private organizations would be excluded from this resource.
Ms. Sprague asks if the group has an interest in pursuing an app resource.
Dr. May responds that this would go hand-in-hand with the Systems of Care grant that Otsego County is pursuing.
Besty Jay, of Bassett Medical Center, remarks that Bassett’s inpatient social work department has something similar that they have put together.
Ms. Gildemeister asks who keeps this up-to-date.
Ms. Sprague states that it would depend on who was ultimately responsible for the resource. 2-1-1 for example, relies on both staff and individual feedback. For the MVPHIP app, there would need to be an organization designated as the group responsible for the information on the app.
Ms. Dostal replies that whoever owns the app would be responsible for ensuring that it is sustainable.
Ms. Gildemeister wants to know who would be the ultimate owner of the app when PHIP is no longer a funded grant. She asks that we develop a plan for the future.
Ms. McCormick asks if another organization such as SAMSHA or OASAS has an app that the MVPHIP could promote instead?
Ms. Dostal states that she thinks that the group was thinking about an app that links all the resources in a county, not just suicide prevention.
Ms. Gildemeister asks is the app is geared towards teachers or someone looking for resources for themselves.
Ms. Dostal replies it could be for either.
Ms. Gildemeister remarks that this app is not necessarily something people will want on their phones. She asks whether or not there is a linking website that someone could Google instead.
Ms. Dostal replies that there is a mobile friendly webpage associated with the app for people who did not want the resource on their phones.
Ms. Sprague asks if the counties have a person who is already working on resources in the counties. She states the group can go to that person and ask them for their information and then we can use that information to update our app.
Toolkit:
1