Mid-America MHTTC Newsletter
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Good morning!
At last, we at the Mid-America MHTTC have launched our newsletter. Thank you for joining us for our first roundup of all things MHTTC in our beautiful region in America's heartland.
This fall has been exceptionally busy for our Center since we entered Year 2 of our grant in late summer. In this newsletter, you can find tidbits from the last couple of months, as well as upcoming events and training opportunities.
We've also been promoting our training and technical assistance resources on social media, engaging with more of you on
Facebook and
Twitter
and starting a new
LinkedIn
page. Follow us on those platforms for day-to-day updates and announcements.
If something here piques your interest and you would like to follow up with one of us, please reach out!
Again, we appreciate you for following us. Have a wonderful weekend.
Sincerely,
The Team at Mid-America MHTTC
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UPCOMING EVENTS & TRAINING
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We hope to connect with you at one of our events! If you see us, give us a shout-out by using the hashtag
#mhttctravels
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Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska
& Mid-America MHTTC Open House
4:30-6:30 p.m. | Nov. 5 | Omaha, NE
Cost: Free
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Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health
Nov. 7-9 | Austin, TX
Cost: $550 (general registration — contact the National Center on School Mental Health for more information)
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Annual Topics in Education Symposium
4-8 p.m. | Nov. 13 | Omaha, NE
Cost: $40
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Professional Development for Behavioral Health Coaches and Coaches of Behavioral Health Coaches at Millard Public
Schools
Millard Public Schools (MPS)
in Omaha is participating in a four-part professional development series designed for behavioral health coaches and coaches of behavioral health coaches. Sessions will be an opportunity to address the coaches' concerns and successes in supporting the district's behavior coaches.
Nov. 14 | Omaha, NE
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Integrating Primary and Behavioral Healthcare Through the Lens
of Prevention National Conference
Nov. 13-15 | New Orleans, LA
Cost: $550
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Fall 2019 Meeting of the Mid-America TTC Advisory Board
Semi-annual meeting of the joint advisory board of the Mental Health, Addiction, and Prevention Technology Transfer Centers.
Nov. 21 | Omaha, NE
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HOLIDAYS & COMMEMORATIONS
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National Nurse Practitioner Week
- Nov. 10-16
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National Rural Health Day
- Nov. 21
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Thanksgiving Day
- Nov. 28
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Integrated care conference features introductory and advanced guidance, lecture by APA's Dr. Doug Tynan
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Doug Tynan, Ph.D., founder of the APA's integrated care office delivers his keynote presentation.
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The Mid-America MHTTC hosted the
Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care: Creating the Medical Home Conference
on Oct. 18.
The Center's first conference of Year 2, held at the University of Nebraska Omaha, welcomed approximately 25 attendees who participated in engaging breakout sessions pertaining to integrated care.
Doug Tynan, Ph.D., founder of the Office for Integrated Health Care at the American Psychological Association, gave a national perspective on the field in his keynote address. Highlights from his presentation include:
- Models for integrated care can be helpful and are backed by data, but ultimately each clinic needs to adopt its own plan to fit its needs.
- Behavioral health interventions have a direct impact on physical health. Treating behavioral health disorders addresses impacts of many of the physical complaints presenting in primary care clinics.
- The savings that primary care clinics can net by integrating behavioral health care are important, but the more important indication is that the population being served is healthier.
During the breakout sessions, Joe Evans, Ph.D., and Holly Roberts, Ph.D., licensed psychologists and faculty at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, delved into the logistics of integration and shared real-world scenarios in which embedded behavioral health specialists have benefited both the primary care physicians and patient health.
At the end of the day, Dr. Roberts and Marley Doyle, M.D., a psychiatrist and the director of the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska, closed out the conference by sharing in-depth examples and methods to access psychiatric care in Nebraska.
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Federal grant to jump-start new school mental health internships
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The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a Mental Health Services Professional Demonstration Grant to a band of school districts in Nebraska, facilitating a new internship training program in school mental health.
The grant, $500,000 per year for up to five years, was awarded to Educational Service Unit 2 (ESU 2), a state-defined region that encompasses school districts to the west and north of Omaha — in Burt, Cuming, Dodge, and Saunders counties.
Mindy Chadwell, Ph.D., is a co-investigator on the new grant and school mental health faculty trainer for Mid-America MHTTC. Along with others from the Center and the University of Nebraska Medical Center's Munroe-Meyer Institute (MMI), Dr. Chadwell will assist in the development of the internship program, enabling the Center to advance its comprehensive school mental health training in the region.
“We are really looking forward to the multi-site collaboration, which will ultimately lead to increased mental health services to students in the rural region,” Dr. Chadwell stated.
The new internship program will recruit master’s-level students from Wayne State College, the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO), and the joint program of the UNO and MMI Psychology Departments. The students will have the opportunity to provide supervised, on-site mental health services within multi-tiered systems of support in ESU 2 school districts.
Through the grant, training in school mental health will also be provided for ESU 2 employees such as school psychologists, school counselors, teachers, administrators, and licensed mental health practitioners.
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Mid-America MHTTC kicks off school mental health training in Omaha district
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The Mid-America MHTTC in September held its first formal training of personnel at Millard Public Schools (MPS), an Omaha district comprised of 35 schools and more than 24,000 students. Ninety-four educators and mental health professionals attended the training.
This session followed nine months of collaboration between the Mid-America MHTTC and MPS administrators in developing a professional development plan for district-wide behavior coaches. At the Sept. 23 training, Center trainers began working directly with the MPS behavior coaches — school psychologists, counselors, social workers, and building administrators — and self-identified "coaches of coaches" to provide training in comprehensive behavior coaching.
In November, Center trainers will return for a second training session, where they will focus on the topics of teaming and collaboration.
"Feedback from the trainees has been positive, and they have been engaged and eager to learn," said Erika Franta, Ph.D., the Center's school mental health program coordinator. "Our team is excited to continue working with the MPS administration and behavior coaches to implement a comprehensive training model for addressing behavioral and mental health in a school system."
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AREA OF FOCUS SPOTLIGHT
Serious Mental Illness
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Persons with
serious mental illnesses
are more likely than those without to have a reduced social network, be unemployed, and live in sub-par housing. In recent years, researchers have come to understand how to address these disparities.
The Mid-America MHTTC is currently involved with increasing adherence to and expanding the use of the evidence-based practices of
Permanent Supportive Housing
and
Motivational Interviewing
. Our Center is also planning a conference on family support to persons with serious mental illnesses. These long-term and intensive projects are designed with state and local learning communities to maximize sustainability beyond our involvement.
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Each newsletter we highlight our work in one of our core training areas: school mental health, integrated behavioral health in primary care, serious mental illness and behavioral health workforce development.
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EXPERT SPOTLIGHT
Dr. Joe Evans
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Joe Evans
, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Project Director for the Mid-America MHTTC. As leader of the Center, he has spearheaded a number of initiatives, particularly in integrated care, one of the Center's core training areas and Dr. Evans' passion for nearly two decades. In mid-October, the Center hosted the Integrating Behavioral Health in Primary Care: Creating the Medical Home Conference, the brainchild of Dr. Evans. The Center continues to develop relationships with regional health organizations and leaders to provide consultations and training in integrated care, which allows for better behavioral health outcomes by connecting patients with services during visits to a primary care practice.
“The need for behavioral health services far outstrips the availability of providers in our four-state area,” Dr. Evans says, noting that “85 percent of counties in our states have shortages of behavioral health providers.” Mid-America MHTTC's role is to help close that gap, improving access to behavioral health care and developing a robust workforce.
Thus far, Dr. Evans says he is most proud of the Center's work in the area of school mental health — "our shining star," he said, in part due to an "overwhelming" need for behavioral expertise in school environments. Since Mid-America MHTTC's inception in 2018, the Center has built a strong reputation for providing comprehensive training to hundreds of teachers, administrators, counselors, and other district employees.
Now that the Center has entered its second year of funding, Dr. Evans says he is looking forward to making new connections with schools, health providers, and government agencies across the region, especially in under-served geographical regions in Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.
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Each newsletter we shed light on an exceptional contributor to Mid-America MHTTC's mission. If you would like to nominate someone to be featured, please reply to this email.
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You've reached the conclusion of this issue. Thank you for reading!
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The Mid-America Mental Health Technology Transfer Center is a SAMHSA-funded program at the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska (BHECN) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The Mid-America MHTTC provides training in evidence-based practices to the four-state area of
Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas
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