Action Forum Summary:
Educate the Community About Existing
Health Resources
Sept. 17, 2008
Sarasota County Health Department
Attendees
Kathleen Houseweart, Nancy Flow, Janet Kahn, Ann Hardy, Jackie Chanudet, Liz Bumpus, Jennifer Robertson, Wendy Hunter, Debbie Frank, Christian Romero, Dora Limoncelli, Rev. Dana Narring, Dianna King, April Glasco, Kimberly Chmielewski, Robert Blinch-Edwards, Kari Ellingstad
Themes from the Previous Meeting
On August 18th, 2008 an Action Forum was held around the topic of Educating the Community About Existing Health Resources. Due to the impending arrival of Tropical Storm Fay, a number of people that had planned to attend were unable to make it. The September follow-up meeting was an attempt to bring more people into the loop and move the discussion forward.
Janet Kahn provided an overview of August’s meeting, which included discussion around the following topics:
· What prompts people to learn about resources? There is a tendency for people to wait to learn about resources until they are in crisis;
· Directories. Though a number of health and human services directories exist, they are often outdated soon after they are produced;
· 2-1-1. A centralized entity – such as 2-1-1 – is critical and local agencies need to take a bigger role in helping keep 2-1-1 current and make it more effective. Developing communication trees could help with this effort;
· Other opportunities to link people to information. Health and wellness information kiosks will soon be located in each library, and the Get Sarasota County Insured Workgroup is presenting educational forums to help people learn about low-cost healthcare and insurance options.
Overview of 2-1-1
Alberto Suarez, of United Way 2-1-1 Manasota, Inc., provided an overview of the information and referral line. The mission of the organization is to expedite the exchange of information between customer and service provider to improve the health and wellbeing of local citizens. 2-1-1 manages a database containing over 800 agencies and 2,400 programs and serves DeSoto, Manatee & Sarasota Counties. Alberto noted that 2-1-1 is accredited by the Agency for Health Care Administratioin and the Alliance for Information & Referral Systems. But he also added that the information they have tends to be very generic, following guidelines set by the state. Tapestry, a new system that is expected to be implemented in Sarasota County, could represent an improvement over the existing systems and a chance to improve coordination of services, allowing all participating providers to share resources and client information in real time.
Questions / Comments
How does information get into the system?
Alberto responded that all agencies receiving funds from the County are required to submit information online to www.211manasota.net. (Only registered 501(c)3 organizations are eligible for inclusion.) The data are uploaded shortly after being entered online. Alberto noted that one of the biggest challenges is keeping information up-to-date.
Information captured in 2-1-1 is sometimes hard to find.
This was a sentiment expressed by a number of attendees. Alberto noted that the technology does have limitations and that the Tapestry system should represent a significant improvement.
About Directories
Directories are a logical tool to be used in the dissemination of health and wellness information. However, Alberto noted that the guides are quickly outdated and can cause problems. Alberto noted that 2-1-1 has received heat for putting these guides together.
Ideas
Kathleen Houseweart expressed a goal to make 2-1-1 more user-friendly, even if it means putting the onus back on providers. Those attending the meeting had a number of ideas to improve 2-1-1 and engage the provider community, including:
· A campaign targeted toward service providers to encourage regular updates of the system. Utilize volunteers to get the word out. Kathleen Houseweart noted that she often has masters-level students working with her who could help communicate with agencies to get their information entered and/or updated. Kim Chmielewski also said that she would be willing to contact agencies to encourage updating 2-1-1 listings.
Alberto expressed a concern about marketing 2-1-1 because of limited capacity to respond to more calls. Currently, 2-1-1 is receiving 450 calls per day, but staff and funding are very limited and there may not be the capacity to accept more calls.
· Provide information on private-sector agencies.
Alberto noted that 2-1-1 Atlanta currently does this. In Atlanta, businesses/agencies are willing to pay a modest fee to have their information included, but liability issues are a concern.
· Trainings or tutorials to help providers enter their information accurately.
Alberto noted that often providers are not entering data into the 2-1-1 system correctly, which then makes it hard for users of the system to find. He suggested that an advisory board – made up of community leaders and the 2-1-1 data manager – could address classification issues. Another option was to have the data manager attend agency meetings and provide trainings to help people understand how to put information into the system.
Create a fundraising committee.
Trying to get people to know that 2-1-1 exists remains a challenge. Even if staffing were sufficient and the information were accurate, there is little chance that there would be enough money to effectively market 2-1-1, noted Dianna King.
Alberto suggested that a fundraising committee could help to address this problem, and that a proposal coming from a group of providers would be attractive to potential funders. Kathleen Houseweart was not enthusiastic about serving on another fund-raising committee, but asked what is needed that would not involve writing a check (i.e. computers, staff, data managers). Alberto noted that he would be willing to put together an in-kind wish list.
· Require agencies listed in 2-1-1 to have a link to 2-1-1 on their website.
This idea was suggested by Dana Narring; Kim Chmielewski underscored that it would be a great way to direct people to the website.
Next Steps
· Distribute meeting summary - Kari Ellingstad
· Discuss ideas with Board and identify specific opportunities for community partners to become involved in assisting 2-1-1 – Alberto Suarez
· Create an in-kind budget – Alberto Suarez
· Continue dialogue at www.chip4health.org/forum. (Register, then click on the appropriate forum topic. To subscribe to a particular forum topic, open the topic, click the ‘subscribe topic’ button on the bottom left hand. By subscribing, you’ll receive an email whenever a new topic has been added to the forum.)
For more information about the Community Health Interactive, visit www.chip4health.org/interactive 1