PI: Behavioral Health

Why is this important? Our clients take a brief assessment at the initial intake for behavioral health therapy and approximately every 90 days thereafter as long as they are enrolled in treatment. Generally speaking, behavioral health therapy is helping our clients. By the time the third assessment rolls around, clients report that they are participating in far less self-destructive behavior and having far fewer suicidal thoughts. But responses to certain questions reveal that many of our clients are still struggling with general feelings of anxiety and how to manage them.

The latest:

• Our behavioral health therapists have begun working with clients on mindfulness as an intervention for dealing with anxiety. Mindfulness simply means paying attention. The team is currently tracking the use of 6 different mindfulness techniques to see which will help our clients the most
• Environment is key when it comes to helping people recognize and respond to feelings of stress and anxiety. So, our therapists are taking steps to create a relaxed environment in therapy session by adding things like soothing lights, calming smells and even music to their offices. The team predicts that an improved therapeutic environment may also reduce no-show rates, which will improve the client-provider relationship and drive improve outcomes

What's next:

• In preparation for our next behavioral health-related goal of depression remission, the behavioral health team has chosen to discontinue use of the symptom and functioning assessment and instead make use of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), which focuses on screening a client for the presence of depression.
• For the rest of 2018, the behavioral health team will use practices to ensure clients are being screened using the PHQ-9 every 3 months. This will create baseline data that will help with the creation of 2019 PI goal and measure.

Current progress:

Return to PI Goals