May is Mental Health Awareness Month

by: Jessica Boles

In recognition of May being Mental Health Awareness Month, individuals in the Charlotte County community will be raising awareness of mental health as they walk in the Healthy Minds. Healthy Community Mental Health Awareness Walk on Saturday, May 30^th.  Addressing mental health before Stage 4-this year's theme for May is Mental Health Month-calls attention to the importance addressing mental health symptoms early, identifying potential underlying diseases, and planning an appropriate course of action on a path towards overall health. Mental health conditions should be treated long before they reach the most critical points in the disease process-before Stage 4.

"This Mental Health Month, we are encouraging everyone to learn the signs, ask for help if needed, address symptoms early, and plan an appropriate course of action on a path towards overall health." says Jessica Boles, Director of Public Relations at Charlotte Behavioral Health Care.  One of the quickest and easiest ways to determine whether you are experiencing symptoms of a mental health condition is to take a mental health screening.  Mental Health America has online screening tools for depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder at www.mhascreening.org.  MHA's goal is to get every American screened and aware of their mental health, so they can address it #B4Stage4.

MHA has also developed a series of fact sheets available on its website (www.mentalhealthamerica.net/may) on realizing the critical importance of addressing mental health early, recognizing the risk factors and signs of mental illness and how and where to get help when needed.

 "Prevention, early identification and intervention, and integrated services work," concluded Boles. "When you address symptoms before Stage 4, people can often recover quickly, and live full and productive lives."

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This year we are having a 2 mile walk in Punta Gorda starting at Gilchrist Park.  The ceremony will kick off at 9:00 am. Parking is available in the Public Parking lot located on the corner of Harvey Street and Retta Esplanade. The first 100 walkers will receive a free Healthy Minds. Health Community T-shirt. The walk will also include free water, snacks, resources from local healthcare organizations and speakers from the community.  If you would like to represent your organization by having a FREE table at our walk, please contact us immediately!

For more information regarding the Healthy Minds. Healthy Community Mental Health Awareness Walk, please call Jessica Boles, Director of Public Relations, Charlotte Behavioral Health Care at 941-639-8300 ext. 275 or visit www.cbhcfl.org.

Click here for the flyer

Golf Tournament to benefit the Recovery Center

by: Jessica Boles & ARCHway Institute

A special thank you goes out to Archway Institute for holding a golf tournament fundraiser for our Recovery Center! Archway donated $4500 to assist individuals with the costs of addiction services. CBHC will use these funds to help an individual or individuals who want to be in recovery but do not have the financial resources to put a complete program in place. 

The ARCHway Institute Punta Gorda Golf Outing Committee would like to take a second and thank all our Tee Box Sponsors, Gift Donations, Golfers, Volunteers and Lunch Goers for making our first golf outing in Punta Gorda very special and very successful. You raised right at $9,000 at this event. We have heard from both the local newspaper and the staff at Twin Isles Country Club that this maybe the single largest amount raised for a golf outing in this area. That could not have happened without your support.

ARCHway has put the other $4,500 into a fund where individuals can go to our web site and submit for financial support to  get into a program. These funds are available nationwide. If someone is approved then we send the check to the recovery program of their choice to be applied toward their bill. If you know of someone either in the area or around the country who need help please point them to our web site at http://thearchwayinstitute.org/  .

ARCHway Institute is committed to helping bring awareness and education around mental health and addictive disorders and issues. We also want to help raise funds in communities so agencies can use those funds to help individuals who want to be in recovery but do not have the financial means to do so.

http://thearchwayinstitute.org/

 

Jennifer Reed-Quality Management

I am looking for anyone interested in being part of the Cultural Competency Committee. This committee has not met in some time so we will be conducting a SWOT analysis of the agency from a cultural perspective. I have had a few people express interest, but if you or anyone in your departments might be interested in participating let me know. 

As our world becomes more and more diverse, our responsibility as healthcare providers grows as well. Additionally, we are expanding into new communities and we need to make sure we are prepared to meet the needs of each and every patient who comes to us in need. The Cultural Committee met in March and discussed ways in which we could grow as a company in this regard. To help us all, we will be providing an educational piece in our newsletter to bring awareness to how a patient's cultural background and/or religious beliefs may affect our care for them.

But we need your help! If anyone has experience, information, or a suggestion to share towards expanding our company's cultural awareness please let a member of the Cultural Committee know! You can e-mail your input to Jennifer Reed, QM or Rachel Koch, OP LPN and we will make sure it is brought to the attention of the committee at our quarterly meetings, or sooner if it is an urgent need. And if anyone is interested in joining the Cultural Committee, please get with your supervisor or e-mail Jennifer Reed.

Just want to remind you that we must (according to HIPAA) keep track of all disclosures from a consumer's record when it is not related to billing or direct patient care. So when other agencies request information from you (such as DCF or Probation), we must document those disclosures. That is one reason we have asked you to notify the records department when something needs to be disclosed. We record the disclosure in the client's electronic chart with an assessment called disclosure to third party. The SA department makes progress notes related to any communications they have with the Probation/DCF, and that should keep us compliant. If you have any questions as to  whether you should send something out of a consumer's chart, check with Linda Ulrich or myself; we can help.

Shelly Terruso-Administration

NOMINATION GUIDELINES FOR THE ABOVE & BEYOND AWARD

Just a friendly reminder that CBHC has an Above & Beyond Award for its employees!!  Any staff member can nominate another staff and it's a great way to acknowledge those that really stand out!    

How it works:

1.     Please compose a write-up between 2 and 4 paragraphs regarding the staff member that you're nominating and why you feel that they've gone above & beyond.

  2.     Then, please submit the write-up to me (Shelly) via e-mail and copy the supervisor of your nominee to ensure that they're eligible for the award (No PIP status). 

 3.     If eligible, your nomination will be reviewed by our Executive Team.  After review, I will contact you to make arrangements for your presentation to the nominee.  Fun!  

 4.     **The staff will receive his/her framed write-up and a $25 restaurant gift card!**

I'm happy to help should you have any questions.  Thank you and happy nominating!