The Center of Excellence for Integrated Care blog will highlight areas of interest through a variety of perspectives with a focus on improving whole-person, whole-community, and whole-state health.
Press Release – July 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJULY 30, 2021 The Foundation for Health Leadership & Innovation Secures Funding to Improve and Advocate for Behavioral Health Needs of North Carolina’s Children and Adolescents The new program, funded by The Duke Endowment, will be led by FHLI’s Center for Excellence for Integrated Care team CARY— The Center of Excellence for Integrated Care (COE) — a program of the Foundation for Health Leadership & Innovation (FHLI) — has received a grant from The Duke Endowment to lead a three-year program focused on child and adolescent behavioral health. The emphasis of the project is on advocacy for mental health check-ups for children, as well as on training for behavioral health professionals to provide pediatric and family assessments and interventions. “North Carolina’s health care workforce is doing amazing work every day with well-child exams and preventative services for children and adolescents,” said Dr. Amelia Muse, COE’s […]
Read More>>Oral and Behavioral Health Integration
Jamie: My background has always been in integrated care. From training through licensing, I lived, ate, and breathed integrated care! Coming from a rural community with limited healthcare services, behavioral health and physical health existing in the same space has always just made sense to me. But after a few years of my focus being on behavioral health integration in primary care, I became really curious about how these models of care were being implemented into completely different settings, like in allergist offices, pediatric obesity clinics, and complex care settings, for example. Again, this wasn’t surprising to me and just seemed like a common-sense way to improve patient care outcomes, as well as provider satisfaction. But I will never forget the day I saw a job posting for the role I have now! On one hand, I thought to myself, “Behavioral health integration at the dentist?! How […]
Read More>>So, You’re Thinking of Trying Therapy…
Seven helpful tips from a therapist (who has been to therapy herself!) on navigating the decision to start the therapy journey. by Sara Herrity, MS, LMFT If the last 15 months have taught us anything, it is that: Social media is the best and worst thing ever (hello Tiktok dances, but also political debates) Banana bread has finally been recognized for the ultimate comfort food we never knew we needed, and Our mental and emotional health matters. In the beginning of the pandemic, we all were there with feelings of hope and optimism. The thoughts that crossed our mind were along the lines of, “This will just be two weeks, four weeks tops.” These thoughts were soon invaded by feelings of confusion, frustration, isolation, anger, and so much fear of the unknown, and of the virus itself. Gratitude floated in and out depending on the moment. And, […]
Read More>>Systemic Change to Build Post-Pandemic Resilience in North Carolina Children, Adolescents, and Families
Children are amazing and resilient. Yes, children and adolescents can often handle more than we care to realize. However, 2020 and the beginnings of 2021 have been more than any of us could have ever imagined. Even the leaders running the world had no idea how much, how long, and how impactful the events of this past year would be to our country and our children. If someone had said a year ago that some children would be out of school for a full year, we would have said that there is absolutely no way that can happen. And yet, here we are. Fortunately, there is finally a glimmer of hope on the horizon. What often makes children’s resilience possible is the involvement of at least one caring and available adult. That caring adult can be a caregiver in the family, a family friend, a teacher, a […]
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Gratitude – The Helpers.
By Lisa Tyndall, PhD, LMFT In moments when I am lamenting the dumpster fire 2020 has been, gratitude is often the furthest thing from my mind. And yet, in my more mindful moments, I truly believe gratitude offers the highest and best path forward. I have always enjoyed the power of words and one of the things that gets me through some of the harder moments is remembering the inspirational and feel-good quotes I have heard in the past. Recently it was words of wisdom from one of America’s kindest souls. I think this quote has actually been found on many social media sites in the hard times of the past, but it bears repeating. Mr. Fred Rogers said long ago, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me ‘Look for the helpers. You will […]
Read More>>Fall Integrated Care Learning Opportunity
Many of our sites and partners were excited about the momentum of the NC Integrated Care Symposium created last year. While this year is a bit different, we want to welcome last year’s attendees and future attendees to what we have in store for this November! In the fall of 2019, the Center of Excellence for Integrated Care partnered with Wake AHEC to deliver a symposium on integrated behavioral healthcare. Based on the attendee reviews it was a great success! North Carolina has been on the integrated, whole person care journey for quite some time and it was clear the passion among our healthcare workforce for delivering the highest quality whole person care still runs deep. With a focus on the clinical, financial, and operational aspects of team-based care, the stage was set for the planning of next year’s symposium for 2020. The Center of Excellence of […]
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