Using the 4 M of the Age Friendly Health System to improve MIPS documentation in Primary care: A Feasibility study

Age Friendly Health Systems (AFHS) commit to evidence-based, low-risk, coordinated care that is centered on what matters most to older adults, their families and caregivers. Nova Southeastern University South Florida Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (NSU SFGWEP) has partnered with multiple primary care clinics to provide dedicated AFHS training and support to increase AFHS transformation in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. As part of the initiative, SFGWEP provide didactic training, clinic on-site brief demonstration, and infographic guidance for EHR documentation. NSU SFGWEP activities are conducted through training surveys, provider feedback, and e-clinical measures that align with CMS MIPS measures. Three participating health systems report annually on seven e-clinical measures that, collectively, provide indicators of the 4Ms of AFHS (what matters, medication management, mentation and mobility.) From baseline to Year 1, NSU SFGWEP saw improvement in controlled hypertension (54% to 94%), opioid screening (<1% to 11%), advance care planning (21% to 35%) and falls risk assessment (45% to 59%). Results demonstrate the need to continue and expand AFHS interventions for sustainability. In Year 2, SFGWEP will continue to expand awareness of best practices and benefits of the AFHS through education and training at NSU and at the various primary care sites. As mutual collaboration and implementation methods are shared among participating members, the expectation is that quality healthcare of our elder community adults will measurably improve.

Training Clinic Providers on Advance Care Planning Improves Provider Self-Efficacy

Advance care planning (ACP) is a vital step to ensure patients receive and prioritize the care that best aligns with their end-of-life wishes, including discussion and documentation of an advance directive. Significant gaps in ACP among underserved populations have been well documented. Research suggests a successful strategy for increasing the communication between provider and patient about ACP is to educate clinicians on this important issue. Three, 2.5 hour training sessions were provided to healthcare staff of a large chain of older adult primary care clinics across three states. Lecture materials were created and presented by a palliative care (PC) physician and PC nurse practitioner. Presentations were held both in person and virtually. Participants were asked to complete a pre/post-training survey online which included a validated 17-item ACP Self-Efficacy Scale (Baughman, 2017), perceived barriers checklist, and additional quality improvement measures. A total of 131 providers attended one of three training sessions. 76 providers (58.0%) and 47 providers (35.9%) completed pre- and post-training surveys respectively. Scores on a 17-item validated ACP Self-Efficacy Scale were significantly higher after training (Wilcoxon signed rank test, Z= 4.42, p <.001). Participants ranked “lack of time” as the number one barrier to having ACP conversations both before and after the training, whereas “lack of training” ranked 2nd and fell to 7th after the training. These initial results suggest ACP self-efficacy among providers can be increased through a one-time training session. Previous literature has highlighted the importance of provider self-efficacy as factor in increasing ACP conversations with patients.

Clients’ Hope for Counseling as a Predictor of Outcome in Psychotherapy

Researchers have demonstrated links between general hope and symptoms of distress. Findings like these are important given the conceptual role of hope in psychotherapy theories like Frank and Frank’s contextual model. Existing literature, however, has involved researchers employing general hope measures despite hope being variable across domains rather than a general trait. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between hope for counseling and clients’ outcomes as well as the working alliance. Self-report data were collected from 103 clients in a doctoral training clinic. Evidence (from multilevel modeling) demonstrated that increases in working alliance predict increases in hope for counseling over the course of treatment and that increases in hope for counseling significantly predict decreases in distress over the course of counseling when working alliance and session number are controlled. We discuss implications for clinical practice and positively-oriented work in counseling psychology.

Infusing Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies: Reflection on Establishing Mandarin Counseling Services

Due to the unique needs for and barriers to help-seeking among Asian international students, mental health services must attend to both culturally specific and linguistic-specific services. This paper describes successful efforts to establish counseling services in Mandarin Chinese in a large Midwestern university counseling training clinic with a commitment to multiculturalism and social justice. We first discuss the benefits of linguistic-specific mental health services, as well as the establishment of Mandarin counseling services and the Mandarin Mental Wellness Counseling Group. For the 8-week Mandarin Mental Wellness Counseling Group, we include a table with a summary of our agenda and interventions for readers to replicate and implement such a group. We also share considerations for supervision that is only available in English. We then discuss the rewards and challenges of establishing Mandarin counseling services. We conclude with recommendations for future efforts in practice, training, and research.