Increasing the availability of integrated healthcare in Boone County, IN has been a long-term vision of Lynette Clark and Doug McGuire, co-owners of Integrative Wellness, LLC (InWell). In partnership with Witham Health Services and with support from IU School of Public Health Bloomington (SPH-B) and Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health (IU Indianapolis) faculty and staff, the team received a $1 million Community Catalyst Grant from the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction to move the vision closer to reality.
Integrated healthcare focuses on treating "the whole person," and because different parts of people’s health—such as physical, mental, and social—are often related, it makes sense to offer healthcare that can address these components together, shares Jon Agley, Ph.D., associate professor of in SPH-B and deputy director of research at IU Prevention Insights. Dr. Agley is leading the subaward for SPH-B.
“We have a great team of people here who have academic and practical expertise in working to integrate different parts of the healthcare system," Dr. Agley elaborates. "For example, we were able to draw from our experiences in other health systems in Indiana to develop a template that helps illustrate the ‘flow’ of patients and data from their front desk check-in to the time they exit the building."
Other aspects of the project include placing mental health providers within Witham's primary care practice in Thorntown, Indiana to allow direct collaboration among the care providers. The SPH-B team will also work with faculty from IU Indianapolis to evaluate the project and measure how integrated healthcare affects Hoosiers’ health in Boone County.
McGuire is enthusiastic about the project and notes, "The work here is a great example of a community-academic partnership, where everyone brings their unique strengths to the table. The original grant called for respondents to 're-invent' healthcare, and this is a powerful first step taken for the betterment of everyone living here in Boone County."
The IU 2030 framework describes how IU "will strengthen and serve our state and its communities." This project demonstrates one way that SPH-B, and IU, can work together to support the lives of Hoosiers across the state.
For more stories about SPH-B students and faculty making a big difference both locally and worldwide, visit go.iu.edu/48bx.