|
||||||||||||||||||||||
| HRTW-MS Healthy Futures: Adolescent Transition in Mississippi
WEBSITE: healthyfuturesms.com [Project Overview] [Contacts] [Abstract] PROJECT OVERVIEW: Healthy Futures: Adolescent Transition in Mississippi will provide the catalyst to establish a strong, responsive system of transition services for adolescents with special health care needs in Mississippi, bringing together diverse groups and individuals, building community infrastructure, and resulting in successful transition to adult health care, employment, and independent living. Adolescents with special health care needs will receive intensive skills training (especially health related), independent living services, service coordination, and follow-up through age 25 through mentoring programs, retreats, employment exploration days and leadership conferences. Families and health care professionals will receive transition training and on-going support from a collaboration of diverse groups and individuals. By project end, a strong community infrastructure for providing transition services will be fully operational and serve as a model for replication especially in rural areas. CONTACTS: Sam H. Gleese, Project Coordinator Healthy Futures Program Sam H. Gleese is a graduate of Jackson State University located in Jackson, Mississippi with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He is a native of Vicksburg, Mississippi but has been a citizen of Jackson for most of his adult life. For the last 15 years, he has worked with blind and visually impaired individuals and with other people with disabilities. Since 1986 he has served as the state president for the National Federation of the Blind of Mississippi (NFB). The NFB of Mississippi is a grassroot organization of blind and visually impaired people that advocate for the rights of the blind and visually impaired across the state and around the nation. He has traveled across the country speaking about disability rights and the need for people with disabilities to be more involved in their general welfare. During the last 2 years he has made a number of presentations to schools and community groups about the special needs of people with disabilities. Sam is an ordained minister of the College Hill Baptist Church located in Jackson, Mississippi where he is the senior associate minister. At College Hill he has held such positions as president of the choir, church deacon, and choir of the scouting ministry, currently he serves as chair of the new members ministry and chair of the scholarship committee. As an AmeriCorps member Sam has spoken with hundreds of churches across the state of Mississippi about being sensitive to the spiritual needs of people with disabilities. Prior to becoming project coordinator he served briefly as transition specialist for the healthy futures grant. As a blind person, Sam's philosophy on life is that blindness is not a handicap, but with proper training and opportunity blindness can be reduced to a mere nuisance. EXPERTISE: Advocating for persons with disabilities and peer counseling Marion D. Thomas, Administrative Assistant, Healthy Futures Program Marion D. Thomas is a native of Yazoo City, Mississippi and has been a citizen of Jackson, Mississippi since 1986. She has an associate’s degree in business administration. Marion is an assistant to the project coordinator of Healthy Futures of Mississippi. With Marion being the parent of a child with special health care needs, she has on hand experience in providing services to this population EXPERTISE: Providing person care for persons with special health care
needs MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
PROBLEM - An examination of Mississippi’s socioeconomic and health care statistics reveal the greatest challenge in providing health-focused transition services to Mississippi’s large number of young people with special health care needs. Mississippi has more health and disability problems and less health insurance coverage than other states resulting in challenges that include fragmentation in service delivery, lack of communication among service agencies, transition planning and lack of coordination and knowledge of exemplary programs across the state with large regions of the state having little or no transition programs in place, particularly ones that emphasize health care. Healthy Futures provides the catalyst to establish a strong, responsive system of transition services for adolescents with special health care needs (ASHCN) in Mississippi, bringing together diverse groups and individuals, building community infrastructure, which result in successful transition to adult health care, employment, and independent living. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES - The goal of Healthy Futures is to establish
and fully implement a replicable model system of comprehensive, family-centered,
culturally competent transition services with a primary focus on health,
which prepares adolescents with special health care needs in Mississippi
to make successful transitions to adult and community life including
adult health care and related services, employment, and independent
living. Objectives of this project are (1) Mississippi adolescents
with special health care needs receive services necessary to make successful
transitions to adult and community life including adult health care
and related services, employment, and independent living; (2) Families
of adolescents and children with special health care needs receive
training and on-going support services to help them and their CSHCN
confidently transition from a pediatric health care setting to adult
health care providers; and (3) Health care professionals and service
system agencies receive training and support equipping them to facilitate
successful transitions for adolescents with special health care needs
from pediatric care to adult health care providers. COORDINATION: The Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities developed and is implementing, with assistance from other entities (LIFE of MS; Title V CSHCN program, etc.), a statewide project entitled “Healthy Futures: Adolescent Transition in Mississippi.” The Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities is a statewide, consumer-controlled, non-profit organization established in 1989. It is composed of 28 cross-disability constituent organizations representing the disability community throughout Mississippi. Activities are directed by a Board of Trustees composed of a majority of individuals with disabilities and their families. EVALUATION: Evaluation and documentation will be a continuous, on-going process of vital importance. Healthy Futures will be monitored following the Management By Objectives (MBO) approach using Program Evaluation and Review Techniques (PERT), designed to ensure that all of the goals and objectives of the grant are executed in a timely and cost effective manner. Evaluation will focus on systems, health and performance indicators rather than on intermediate process measures. A statistically sound cost-benefit analysis at the end of the project period is planned and has been written into the Healthy Futures Budget. EXPERIENCE TO DATE: Healthy Futures: Adolescent Transition in Mississippi
has spent its second year to date stabilizing its direct service delivery
system through the hiring under subcontract with LIFE of four Independent
Living Transition Specialists (two full time and two part time). Adolescents
with special health care needs continue intensive skills training,
medical home training, independent living services, service coordination,
and follow-up through age 25 through mentoring programs, retreats,
employment exploration days and leadership conferences. Families are
being exposed to a coordinated range of activities through increased
support group meetings. The Title V CSHCN Program has taken the initiative
to better equip the medical profession on the concept of the medical
home with presentations from a recognized national authority. Healthy
Futures and Title V CSHCN program have been successful in providing
referrals of YSHCN to local health care providers. ARTICLES PRODUCTSHRTW-MS SPONSORED MEETINGS ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING
Healthy Futures Support Group Meeting Locations:
For Families: Youth & Parent, Jackson, MS, 10/2002
PRESENTATIONS NATIONAL “Healthy Futures Transition in MS,” Academy of Family
Physicians Conference, Philadelphia, MS, 11/2002. [HRTW-MS-JERRIGAN] STATE “Medical Home Concept,” Academy of Pediatrics Workshop, Jackson, MS, 09/2002. [HRTW-MS, GLEESE] “Looking to the Future,” Southern Christian Conference, Natchez, MS, 07/2002. [HRTW-MS, GLEESE] COMMUNITY “The Medical Home Concept,” Special Needs Support Group Meeting, Greenville, MS, 01/2003. HRTW-MS, GLEESE] “Transitioning ASHCN,” Natchez High School Parent Teacher Conference, Natchez, MS, 01/2003. HRTW-MS, GLEESE] “Awareness of ASHCN,” Hattiesburg Radio Talk Show, Hattiesburg, MS, 10/2002. [HRTW-MS, GLEESE & WALKER] Independent Living for CSHCN, Tupelo Radio Talk Show, Tupelo, MS, 10/2002. [HRTW-MS, GLEESE] Supporting ASHCN, Greenville Optimist Club Meeting, Greenville, MS, 10/2002. [HRTW-MS, GLEESE] Community Interagency, Clinton High School Parent Teacher Conference, Clinton, MS, 10/2002. [HRTW-MS, GLEESE] Healthy Futures & the visually impaired, Addie McBride Learning Center Workshop, Jackson, MS, 10/2002. [HRTW-MS, GLEESE] “Healthy Futures in North East MS,” Tupelo TV station,
Tupelo, MS, 10/2002. [HRTW-MS, GLEESE & JERRIGAN] Health & Safety Issues, Columbia High School Parent Teacher Conference,
Columbia, MS, 09/2002. [HRTW-MS, GLEESE] “Healthy Futures Transition in MS,” WLBT-TV-3, Jackson, MS, 07/2002. [HRTW-MS, GLEESE] |