Urban Religious Congregations' Responses to Community Substance Use: An Exploratory Study of Four Cases.

Faith-based drug treatment programs are common, and many are implemented through congregations; however, little is documented about how congregations conceptualize and implement these programs. We use case study analysis to explore congregational approaches to drug treatment; qualitative findings emerged in three areas: (1) religion's role in congregational responses to substance use, (2) relationships between program participants and the broader congregation, and (3) interactions between congregational programs and the external community. Congregational approaches to drug treatment can be comprehensive, but work is needed to evaluate such efforts. Congregants' attitudes may influence whether program participants become members of a sustaining congregational community.

Implementation of Medical Homes in Federally Qualified Health Centers.

BACKGROUND: From 2011 through 2014, the Federally Qualified Health Center Advanced Primary Care Practice Demonstration provided care management fees and technical assistance to a nationwide sample of 503 federally qualified health centers to help them achieve the highest (level 3) medical-home recognition by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, a designation that requires the implementation of processes to improve access, continuity, and coordination. METHODS: We examined the achievement of medical-home recognition and used Medicare claims and beneficiary surveys to measure utilization of services, quality of care, patients' experiences, and Medicare expenditures in demonstration sites versus comparison sites. Using difference-in-differences analyses, we compared changes in outcomes in the two groups of sites during a 3-year period. RESULTS: Level 3 medical-home recognition was awarded to 70% of demonstration sites and to 11% of comparison sites. Although the number of visits to federally qualified health centers decreased in the two groups, smaller reductions among demonstration sites than among comparison sites led to a relative increase of 83 visits per 1000 beneficiaries per year at demonstration sites (P<0.001). Similar trends explained the higher performance of demonstration sites with respect to annual eye examinations and nephropathy tests (P<0.001 for both comparisons); there were no significant differences with respect to three other process measures. Demonstration sites had larger increases than comparison sites in emergency department visits (30.3 more per 1000 beneficiaries per year, P<0.001), inpatient admissions (5.7 more per 1000 beneficiaries per year, P=0.02), and Medicare Part B expenditures ($37 more per beneficiary per year, P=0.02). Demonstration-site participation was not associated with relative improvements in most measures of patients' experiences. CONCLUSIONS: Demonstration sites had higher rates of medical-home recognition and smaller decreases in the number of patients' visits to federally qualified health centers than did comparison sites, findings that may reflect better access to primary care relative to comparison sites. Demonstration sites had larger increases in emergency department visits, inpatient admissions, and Medicare Part B expenditures. (Funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.).

Use of CAHPS® patient experience survey data as part of a patient-centered medical home quality improvement initiative.

OBJECTIVE: To describe how practice leaders used Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) Clinician and Group (CG-CAHPS) data in transitioning toward a patient-centered medical home (PCMH). STUDY DESIGN: Interviews conducted at 14 primary care practices within a large urban Federally Qualified Health Center in California. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-eight interviews were conducted with lead physicians (n=13), site clinic administrators (n=13), nurse supervisors (n=10), and executive leadership (n=2). RESULTS: Seven themes were identified on how practice leaders used CG-CAHPS data for PCMH transformation. CAHPS® was used: 1) for quality improvement (QI) and focusing changes for PCMH transformation; 2) to maintain focus on patient experience; 3) alongside other data; 4) for monitoring site-level trends and changes; 5) to identify, analyze, and monitor areas for improvement; 6) for provider-level performance monitoring and individual coaching within a transparent environment of accountability; and 7) for PCMH transformation, but changes to instrument length, reading level, and the wording of specific items were suggested. CONCLUSION: Practice leaders used CG-CAHPS data to implement QI, develop a shared vision, and coach providers and staff on performance. They described how CAHPS® helped to improve the patient experience in the PCMH model, including access to routine and urgent care, wait times, provider spending enough time and listening carefully, and courteousness of staff. Regular reporting, reviewing, and discussing of patient-experience data alongside other clinical quality and productivity measures at multilevels of the organization was critical in maximizing the use of CAHPS® data as PCMH changes were made. In sum, this study found that a system-wide accountability and data-monitoring structure relying on a standardized and actionable patient-experience survey, such as CG-CAHPS, is key to supporting the continuous QI needed for moving beyond formal PCMH recognition to maximizing primary care medical home transformation.

Social entrepreneurship in religious congregations' efforts to address health needs.

PURPOSE: Examine how religious congregations engage in social entrepreneurship as they strive to meet health-related needs in their communities. DESIGN: Multiple case studies. SETTING: Los Angeles County, California. PARTICIPANTS: Purposive sample of 14 congregations representing diverse races/ethnicities (African-American, Latino, and white) and faith traditions (Jewish and various Christian). METHOD: Congregations were recruited based on screening data and consultation of a community advisory board. In each congregation, researchers conducted interviews with clergy and lay leaders (n = 57); administered a congregational questionnaire; observed health activities, worship services, and neighborhood context; and reviewed archival information. Interviews were analyzed by using a qualitative, code-based approach. RESULTS: Congregations' health-related activities tended to be episodic, small in scale, and local in scope. Trust and social capital played important roles in congregations' health initiatives, providing a safe, confidential environment and leveraging resources from-and for-faith-based and secular organizations in their community networks. Congregations also served as "incubators" for members to engage in social entrepreneurship. CONCLUSION: Although the small scale of congregations' health initiatives suggest they may not have the capacity to provide the main infrastructure for service provision, congregations can complement the efforts of health and social providers with their unique strengths. Specifically, congregations are distinctive in their ability to identify unmet local needs, and congregations' position in their communities permit them to network in productive ways.

Religious congregations' involvement in HIV: a case study approach.

Comparative case studies were used to explore religious congregations' HIV involvement, including types and extent of activities, interaction with external organizations or individuals, and how activities were initiated and have changed over time. The cases included 14 congregations in Los Angeles County representing diverse faith traditions and races-ethnicities. Activities fell into three broad categories: (1) prevention and education; (2) care and support; and (3) awareness and advocacy. Congregations that engaged early in the epidemic focused on care and support while those that became involved later focused on prevention and education. Most congregations interacted with external organizations or individuals to conduct their HIV activities, but promoting abstinence and teaching about condoms were conducted without external involvement. Opportunities exist for congregations to help address a variety of HIV-related needs. However, activities that are mission-congruent, such as providing pastoral care for people with HIV, raising HIV awareness, and promoting HIV testing, appear easier for congregations to undertake than activities aimed at harm reduction.

Learning about urban congregations and HIV/AIDS: community-based foundations for developing congregational health interventions.

Religious congregations are important community institutions that could help fight HIV/AIDS; however, barriers exist, particularly in the area of prevention. Formative, participatory research is needed to understand the capacity of congregations to address HIV/AIDS. This article describes a study that used community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches to learn about congregation-sponsored HIV activities. CBPR strategies were used throughout the study, including proposal development, community expert interviews, Community Advisory Board, congregational telephone survey, congregational case studies, and congregational feedback sessions. Involving community consultants, experts, and advisory board members in all stages of the study helped the researchers to conceptualize congregational involvement in HIV, be more sensitive to potential congregational concerns about the research, achieve high response rates, and interpret and disseminate findings. Providing preliminary case findings to congregational participants in an interactive feedback session improved data quality and relationships with the community. Methods to engage community stakeholders can lay the foundation for future collaborative interventions.

Assessing the implementation of the chronic care model in quality improvement collaboratives.

OBJECTIVE: To measure organizations' implementation of Chronic Care Model (CCM) interventions for chronic care quality improvement (QI). DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Monthly reports submitted by 42 organizations participating in three QI collaboratives to improve care for congestive heart failure, diabetes, depression, and asthma, and telephone interviews with key informants in the organizations. STUDY DESIGN: We qualitatively analyzed the implementation activities of intervention organizations as part of a larger effectiveness evaluation of yearlong collaboratives. Key study variables included measures of implementation intensity (quantity and depth of implementation activities) as well as fidelity to the CCM. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: We developed a CCM-based scheme to code sites' intervention activities and criteria to rate their depth or likelihood of impact. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The sites averaged more than 30 different change efforts each to implement the CCM. The depth ratings for these changes, however, were more modest, ranging from 17 percent to 76 percent of the highest rating possible. The participating organizations significantly differed in the intensity of their implementation efforts (p<.001 in both quantity and depth ratings). Fidelity to the CCM was high. CONCLUSIONS: Collaborative participants were able, with some important variation, to implement large numbers of diverse QI change strategies, with high CCM fidelity and modest depth of implementation. QI collaboratives are a useful method to foster change in real world settings.