Interagency Coordination to Manage Co-Occurring Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health Conditions.

OBJECTIVE: The authors aimed to identify barriers to and strategies for supporting coordination between state agencies for intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) or mental health to meet the mental health needs of people with co-occurring IDD and mental health conditions. METHODS: Forty-nine employees of state agencies as well as advocacy and service delivery organizations across 11 U.S. states with separate IDD and mental health agencies were interviewed between April 2022 and April 2023. Data were analyzed with a thematic analysis approach. RESULTS: Interviewees reported that relationships between the IDD and mental health agencies have elements of both competition and coordination and that coordination primarily takes place in response to crisis events. Barriers to interagency coordination included a narrow focus on the populations targeted by each agency, within-state variation in agency structures, and a lack of knowledge about co-occurring IDD and mental health conditions. Interviewees also described both administrative (e.g., memorandums of understanding) and agency culture (e.g., focusing on whole-person care) strategies that are or could be used to improve coordination to provide mental health services for people with both IDD and a mental health condition. CONCLUSIONS: Strategies that support state agencies in moving away from crisis response toward a focus on whole-person care should be prioritized to support coordination of mental health services for individuals with co-occurring IDD and mental health conditions.

[Structures, aims and needs of early career scientists at the German Center for Mental Health]. / Strukturen, Ziele und Bedürfnisse der Early Career Scientists am Deutschen Zentrum für Psychische Gesundheit.

BACKGROUND: Early career scientists (ECS) are agents of change and driving forces in the promotion of mental health. The German Center for Mental Health (DZPG) is a powerful initiative to guide and support careers in the field of mental health. OBJECTIVE: The DZPG aims to make investments to educate, engage, excite, and empower ECS in an interdisciplinary and interinstitutional scientific community. STRUCTURES, TOPICS AND INITIATIVES: To achieve this, the ECS Board at the DZPG plays a central role and consists of 18 elected ECS representatives. The ECS culture gives members the right of voice and embraces bottom-to-top ideas and acknowledges autonomy and co-determination. The DZPG academy was developed to facilitate communication and networking and encourage collaboration among ECS members. The DZPG also navigates several key issues, such as equality, diversity, inclusion, family friendliness and work-life balance, which are essential for a functioning research landscape. The DZPG also extends opportunities to ECS to develop skills and competencies that are essential for contemporary ECS. It complements nationwide support for ECS with funding opportunities, mental health support at work, careers advice and guidance activities. Importantly, the ECS Board is committed to patient and public involvement and engagement, scientific communication and knowledge transfer to multiple settings. CONCLUSION: The DZPG will contribute to fostering ECS training programs for student and academic exchanges, collaborative research, and pooling of resources to acquire grants and scholarships. It will also support the establishment of hubs for ECS networks and promote the expansion of international competence of ECS in Germany.

Participation of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers in veteran-centric community-based service navigation networks: A mixed methods study.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the determinants and benefits of cross-sector partnerships between Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VAMCs) and geographically affiliated AmericaServes Network coordination centers that address Veteran health-related social needs. DATA SOURCES AND SETTING: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with AmericaServes and VAMC staff across seven regional networks. We matched administrative data to calculate the percentage of AmericaServes referrals that were successfully resolved (i.e., requested support was provided) in each network overall and stratified by whether clients were also VAMC patients. STUDY DESIGN: Convergent parallel mixed-methods study guided by Himmelman's Developmental Continuum of Change Strategies (DCCS) for interorganizational collaboration. DATA COLLECTION: Fourteen AmericaServes staff and 17 VAMC staff across seven networks were recruited using snowball sampling and interviewed between October 2021 and April 2022. Rapid qualitative analysis methods were used to characterize the extent and determinants of VAMC participation in networks. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: On the DCCS continuum of participation, three networks were classified as networking, two as coordinating, one as cooperating, and one as collaborating. Barriers to moving from networking to collaborating included bureaucratic resistance to change, VAMC leadership buy-in, and not having VAMCs staff use the shared technology platform. Facilitators included ongoing communication, a shared mission of serving Veterans, and having designated points-of-contact between organizations. The percentage of referrals that were successfully resolved was lowest in networks engaged in networking (65.3%) and highest in cooperating (85.6%) and collaborating (83.1%) networks. For coordinating, cooperating, and collaborating networks, successfully resolved referrals were more likely among Veterans who were also VAMC patients than among Veterans served only by AmericaServes. CONCLUSIONS: VAMCs participate in AmericaServes Networks at varying levels. When partnerships are more advanced, successful resolution of referrals is more likely, especially among Veterans who are dually served by both organizations. Although challenges to establishing partnerships exist, this study highlights effective strategies to overcome them.

Examining preconditions for integrated care: a comparative social network analysis of the structure and dynamics of strong relations in child service networks.

BACKGROUND: To help ensure that children and families get the right support and services at the right time, strong and stable relationships between various child service organizations are vital. Moreover, strong and stable relationships and a key network position for gatekeepers are important preconditions for interprofessional collaboration, the timely and appropriate referral of clients, and improved health outcomes. Gatekeepers are organizations that have specific legal authorizations regarding client referral. However, it is largely unclear how strong relations in child service networks are structured, whether the gatekeepers have strong and stable relationships, and what the critical relations in the overall structure are. The aim of this study is to explore these preconditions for integrated care by examining the internal structure and dynamics of strong relations. METHODS: A comparative case study approach and social network analysis of three inter-organizational networks consisting of 65 to 135 organizations within the Dutch child service system. Multiple network measures (number of active organizations, isolates, relations, average degree centrality, Lambda sets) were used to examine the strong relation structure and dynamics of the networks. Ucinet was used to analyze the data, with use of the statistical test: Quadratic Assignment Procedure. Visone was used to visualize the graphs of the networks. RESULTS: This study shows that more than 80% of the organizations in the networks have strong relations. A striking finding is the extremely high number of strong relations that gatekeepers need to maintain. Moreover, the results show that the most important gatekeepers have key positions, and their strong relations are relatively stable. By contrast, considering the whole network, we also found a considerable measure of instability in strong relationships, which means that child service networks must cope with major internal dynamics. CONCLUSIONS: Our study addressed crucial preconditions for integrated care. The extremely high number of strong relations that particularly gatekeepers need to build and maintain, in combination with the considerable instability of strong relations considering the whole network, is a serious point of concern that need to be managed, in order to enable child service networks to improve internal coordination and integration of service delivery.

HIGHLIGHTS: More than 80% of the organizations in the network has strong relations.Gatekeepers need to maintain an extremely high number of strong relations.Child service networks need to cope with major internal dynamics.These insights offer leads for optimizing how a network functions.

Relaciones institucionales en la implementación de estrategias de promoción, protección y apoyo de la lactancia materna: una revisión integrativa / Institutional relationships in the implementation of breastfeeding promotion, protection and support strategies: an integrative review

Fundamentos: la importancia que tiene la lactancia materna en la salud y calidad de vida de los individuos hace necesario que las políticas establecidas para su promoción sean operadas mediante la participación y articulación de instituciones y a través de redes interinstitucionales. Métodos: para la compilación de la información se hizo una revisión integrativa de literatura, cuyo propósito fue ampliar la comprensión de un tema a partir de la recopilación, sistematización y análisis de producciones científicas. Resultados: se seleccionaron 14 artículos publicados entre 2013 y 2020 y, en su mayoría, escritos en inglés, provenientes de países como Estados Unidos, Alemania, Reino Unido y Samoa. Los temas más recurrentes fueron el análisis de políticas públicas, la coordinación de programas y la percepción del funcionamiento de las estrategias de promoción, protección y apoyo a la lactancia materna. En conclusión: las relaciones intra e interinstitucionales son claves a la hora de implementar políticas de promoción de la lactancia materna. Sin embargo, para su puesta en marcha, se requiere financiación y articulación en los niveles operativos de sistemas de salud. En definitiva, las labores de articulación, seguimiento y evaluación requieren relaciones fortalecidas que fomenten, protejan, promuevan y apoyen la práctica de la lactancia materna. (AU)

Background: the importance of breastfeeding in the health and quality of life of individuals makes it necessary for the policies established for its promotion to be implemented through the participation and coordination of institutions and through inter-institutional networks. Methods: for the compilation of the information, an integrative literature review was carried out, the purpose of which was to broaden the understanding of a topic through the collection, systematization and analysis of scientific productions. Results: 14 articles published between 2013 and 2020 and mostly written in English were selected from countries such as the United States, Germany, United Kingdom and Samoa. The most recurrent themes were the analysis of public policies, program coordination and perceptions of the functioning of breastfeeding promotion, protection and support strategies. Conclusions: Intra- and inter-institutional relationships are key to the implementation of breastfeeding promotion policies. However, their implementation requires funding and coordination at the operational levels of health systems. In short the articulation, monitoring and evaluation require strengthened relationships that encourage, protect, promote and support the practice of breastfeeding. (AU)

Academic-Practice Partnership in Research: Meeting the Gold Standard.

Academic-clinical partnerships describe relationships between 2 groups to advance mutual interests, particularly collaboration on research projects. In this column, members of the Association of Leadership Science in Nursing discuss a 10-year partnership between a nurse professor at a southeast university and a nurse scientist at a health system in the southeast United States, reflections on meeting the criterion standard in our research pursuits, and lessons learned.

An Innovative Academic/Practice Partnership to Support Nursing Workforce Needs and Student Clinical Education.

ABSTRACT: Innovation is needed to solve nursing workforce issues during times of crisis. A collaborative effort between a hospital system and several universities resulted in the Bridge to Professional Practice Program that was implemented during a period of high patient volume and nursing student downtime. The program provided support for staffing needs and clinical hours to promote readiness for practice for students. The program evaluation outcomes and recommendations for improvement are addressed.