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Centerstone Peer Model for Behavioral Health Tops Metrics

FamilyCare, which uses those services, brought its community advisory council to Centerstone for a tour and presentation recently.
June 18, 2015

Not everybody wants to be seen parked in front of a behavioral health building.

So Centerstone, which provides urgent access to mental health services in Clackamas County, open three years ago in a strip mall near Clackamas Town Center so no one can tell if people need mental health care or just want to shop.

Police have access via a back door, but there’s no bullet-proof glass. Interview rooms have windows, no cameras. And, with unisex bathrooms, no one has to declare their identity, said Martha Spies, the county’s safety net services manager.

Clackamas County uses a different model from many crisis programs, housing many services in the same space “for easier coordination and problem solving,” Spiers said.

Open seven days a week , Centerstone houses a crisis line, crisis walk-in clinic, crisis stabilization, counseling for two-to-four weeks and case management that includes help with housing, food, medication assistance and health insurance.

Last year in Clackamas County, involuntary hospitalizations for people with mental health problems fell 25 percent and another 20 percent drop occurred during first quarter of this year. “It certainly suggests that our model is working,” Spiers said.

Centerstone also embeds peers in its service array through a contract with Folk Time. Peer services aren’t unique, said its program services director, Rebecca Boraz, and have been in hospitals since the 1700s.

Spiers believes peers may be a big reason why Clackamas County has hit a metric for follow-up visits within seven days of discharge from a hospital 80 percent of the time in 2014 compared to the statewide benchmark of 69 percent.

Peers have lived through some of those experiences. ”Change naturally happens when you’re connected,” said Rachelle Ross, a peer supporter at Centerstone.

“Peers also address the power imbalance in mental health,” said Spiers.

FamilyCare brought its community advisory council to Centerstone for a tour since its members rely on Centerstone for behavioral health problems. This year, FamilyCare is focusing its Community Health Improvement Plan on transition age youth between the ages of 19 and 24, said Meg Pitman, director of community partners for FamilyCare.

FamilyCare is also struggling to get a better handle on the exact makeup of its membership due to information glitches with the state. “We need to know who our members are so we can treat them in a proper way but it’s a work in progress,” said Brett Hamilton, health policy and program manager. 

Jan can be reached at [email protected].

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