Washington County is a federally designated mental health shortage area with the highest suicide rate and binge drinking rates (across all age groups) in Rhode Island. Local individuals presenting with problems of depression/anxiety, suicidal ideation, drug overdose, alcohol intoxication, and bipolar disorder flood the local hospital emergency departments which offer no onsite psychiatric services. Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds (HBHM) has focused on facilitating change at the individual level, as well as the organizational and systems levels. This project supports the collaborative systems-level work to improve our broken and fragmented mental health system as well as target two community enclaves with known socio-economic and health/mental health disparities (Bradford and Davisville).
JSI has been contracted to evaluate the initiative. The evaluation design will monitor both implementation and outcome measures, using regular assessments to capture and report on the evolution of HBHM, the planning processes, and implementation. The evaluation is informed by the logic model, which describes the linkages between program resources, activities, outputs, target populations reached, and short, intermediate, and longer-term outcomes.
We strive to build lasting relationships to produce better health outcomes for all.
