HRSA Administrator’ s Site Visit Accompanied by a $ 2.5 Million Grant Award Announcement( continued)
be about gun violence. She was glad to be at CDU to discuss this work at the community level. It cannot be left to psychiatrists and social workers. It’ s getting families ready to raise their hands and say,‘ my child needs help’.
She noted the fortuitous timing of the award, close in proximity to CDU’ s establishing its own medical school. DHHS has worked with CDU for a long time on other critical work such as the recruitment and development of young people into the health professions, and the task of HIV education sorely needed locally as well as around the world. CDU’ s application for this honor was obviously competitive, with only 24 grants awarded in this round.
President Carlisle remarked that the funding is consistent with CDU’ s historic mission. He cited the University’ s Vision Statement with its focus on health disparities and invited Ms. Johnson to see the University as HRSA’ s west coast partner. The funds will go a long way with a strong impact on the community.
Dr. Barkley noted that the previous HRSA funding had a tremendous impact on the ability to train residents by going out in the community and learning firsthand about substance abuse behavior and its impact; and social issues like racism, violence, and discrimination in various ways. CDU’ s community faculty is a vital part of the process. The funding offers the opportunity to train residents in novel and different ways.
The mobile health outreach program has been a key component. It allows CDU to go next level. A lot of people are hard to reach. Connecting with them where they live allows the University to meet their needs.
Reactions by Roundtable Panel members. The panel consisted of Dr. Alexander Rodgers, Dr. Roberto Vargas, Prof. Cynthia Davis, Dr. Hector Llenderozos, Dr. Denese Shervington, Dr. Nicole Nelson, Dr. Krystian James, and Dr. Gigi Simmons. The group was engaged in responding to a battery of questions posed by Ms. Johnson, acting as moderator.
The overarching question was how to incorporate mental health within primary care training and what are key lessons learned. Paraphrased here is a summary of the responses:
• Mental health training and patient care are an offshoot of the CDU Mission.
• The University has frequently engaged in hiring people with a passion to impact their own community.
• The current family medicine and psychiatry programs were the first offerings presented in the new residency program beginning in 2018.
• The primary care provider must serve as a bridge, which takes a lot of commitment.
• Part of the residents’ training should be how to support people who need mental health services and how to seek it.
• In building consensus of support, it literally takes a village.
• CDU doesn’ t just graduate physicians. Graduates are expected to be knowledgeable about community needs.
• Many of our people emigrated from communities and cultures where openly discussing their mental health needs was a stigma. Consequently, they are not inclined to seek such service.
• Lots of people in the community are depressed. They have to pay bills; and, they are alone.
• Lots of mental health issues seen in the clinic are secondary to more primary issues. A person comes into the clinic for a health issue and they are crying, which upon disclosure, is the result of a mental health issue. The resident in that instance becomes the first line of treatment.
• CDU has a 31-year history of providing mobile services and outreach to underserved communities.
• When the mobile program was originally established during the height of the HIV / AIDS epidemic, lots of stigma, fear and conspiracy theories were out there. They were only ameliorated by being out in the community on a daily basis. Looking like the people in the community served us well.
• The current mobile unit program designed the vehicles with the recognition that there is a whole group of people who cannot, or will not, come to the clinic. There’ s a large percentage of people we’ re not presently reaching.
• Public-private partnerships help to sustain the outreach program.
• By linking with CDU partners in various sectors, e. g., faith-based entities, we can provide care as well as seek additional services.
• Lessons learned: hire people from the community; establish and build trust over time.
• Dealing with parents’ mental health condition can affect a family and a community for generations to come.
• Cynthia Davis’ legacy as an outreach expert is very critical to the success of the mobile outreach program.
CDU College of Medicine | PG. 29