This blog is a follow-up to a recent panel presentation co-sponsored by Comagine, The Institute for Primary Care Behavioral Health and the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association. The chat for the presentation is here. Video is here or just scroll down. What started out as deep consternation as the COVID pandemic hit in March quickly turned […]
Delivering Poinsettias–Creating a Healing Community For Covid Grief
5 minute read The initial panic about the coronavirus has long passed. Sadness and grief from Covid losses is settling in on clinical settings, including behavioral health. In my small psychotherapy practice, I’ve heard about one client tragedy after another: The adult daughter who feels stricken because hospital policy wouldn’t allow her to be at […]
Looking Towards The Long-Term Implications of The Pandemic
The realities of the pandemic are settling in among our membership and more of our conversation is turning to the long-term implications. We are concerned about our fellow healthcare providers, our patients and the economic realities that healthcare is facing along with the rest of the world. At the same time there is a sense […]
Happy Lifestyle, Happy Life: The Benefits of Physical Activity in the Wake of COVID-19
3 minute read In the wake of the current pandemic, the psychological benefits of physical activity may outweigh the physiological ones. It is one of the best ways to combat the effects of social isolation, even when a person exercises alone. Physical activity’s ability to combat stress and depression, improve self-esteem and body image are […]
Finding the Silver Lining through a Dark Cloud
Diana and her mother, Dorothy, have had a tumultuous relationship over the past three years. Dorothy (82) has refused to go into an assisted living facility against the wishes of her three daughters. Diana is the only child that lives in town and can care for her mother. During the COVID-19 situation, Dorothy has become […]
The Upside Down World of COVID-19
You know things are weird when behavioral health visits are outpacing primary care visits (at least as far as percentage increases) at many health centers. This is one of several paradoxes of the COVID-19 era along with the finding that many (if not most?) patients are preferring phone visits to video consults – which is […]
COVID-19: How to Support the Emotional Wellbeing of Veterans Diagnosed with Diabetes
3 minute read Uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 can increase feelings of fear and worry among veterans with diabetes. As a behavioral health consultant, I saw an increase of referrals to primary care mental health. Suddenly, I had to develop innovative ways to address the emotional needs of veterans without the traditional in-person face to face appointment. […]
Settling Into The Quarantine Period
The second week of April saw our community settle into the COVID-19 era with better established telehealth practices and a better sense of what the near-term would hold for the provision of healthcare. This knowledge did little to diminish the uncertainty of the long-term outlook for healthcare teams, particularly for primary care where the economic […]
COVID-19: Week 4 In Review
The first week of April saw our community solidify workflow changes to telehealth and continue to note the toll of the pandemic financially across the healthcare sector. Although less content overall was shared on our listserves compared to the initial weeks of the crisis it was clear community members were hard at work figuring things […]
COVID-19: Week 3 In Review
The last week of March saw diminished COVID-19 information on our list serves as members turned to their new clinic workflows and new normals. Large questions still remained about reimbursement for telework, workflows for integrated care teams and the sustainability of the current situation. As a service to members and to the general public we […]
COVID-19: Week 2 In Review
As a service to members and to the general public we will be posting weekly updates of our conversations and resource sharing efforts here. Because these are taken from email conversations, examples provided may refer to single clinics or situations. We hope this inspires, encourages and educates everyone as to the work that integrated care […]
The Whiplash Files: COVID response first 15 days
5 minute read BHC perspective, Portland, OR When our CFHA blog editor reached out to ask for posts on the rapid conversion to telemedicine due to COVID my first thought was, “oh yes, I would like to read those!”. Then I realized that as one of your bloggers it is my job to try to […]
COVID-19: Week 1 In Review
CFHA members (click to join) as usual stepped up to the plate to support each other and to begin to collectively frame a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a service to members and to the general public we will be posting weekly updates of our conversations and resource sharing efforts here. Because these are […]
Research Review
I hope this Research Review blog post finds you virus-free and in good spirits. We are living through history right now with the COVID pandemic. Perhaps this post will give you a break from the ongoing disruptions. This is the post where I save you time searching the hottest integrated/collaborative care research literature by doing […]
How To Be A Good Team During COVID-19 Season
We all have COVID-19 on the brain and it got me thinking about the role of high functioning integrated care teams in responding to the pandemic. Turns out, its pretty important. Here are my top 4 ways that integrated care teams can respond adaptively to the COVID-19 crisis. If you have some ideas of your […]
Motivational Interviewing with the Latinx and Spanish-Speaking Community
7 minute read If you provide services at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), or similar health care center, it would be unusual if you did not meet with patients who are Spanish-speaking. I was thrilled to meet-up with an enthusiastic group of professionals at the recent CFHA conference with the goal of establishing a […]
Docs May Sympathize More with Family Caregivers, But They’re Still Stuck
5 minute read During the years I was my mother’s family caregiver, I had widely different interactions with her physicians. Some embraced me as a partner in her care, talking directly to me during my mother’s medical visits about her symptoms and medications—and largely ignoring her. Afterwards, during the car ride home, my mother would […]
Oral Health and Social Work
5 minute read. This piece is a reprint. Original post: https://www.onwardohsu.org/blog/detail/holistic-health-care When you think of going to the dentist, you likely don’t think of social work. But the OHSU School of Dentistry is changing all that with an innovative, interprofessional curriculum that focuses on the holistic health of patients. The new program, spearheaded by Rosemarie […]