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Policy Areas

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Part 1: Navigating Evidence: Finding and Synthesizing Literature for Evidence-Based Practices
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EDT; 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm CDT;
12:00 pm – 1:00 MDT; 11:00 am – 12:00 pm PDT
Register Here

Part 2: Making Evidence-Based Practices Work: Strategies and Outcomes
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EDT; 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm CDT;
12:00 pm – 1:00 MDT; 11:00 am – 12:00 pm PDT
Register Here

Michael Peterson, MA, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist and Clinical Transformation Specialist

Speaker Bio:
Michael works as a Clinical Transformation Specialist, where he focuses his efforts as part of a Clinical Transformation team to promote a culture of evidence-based practice at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul, Minnesota. Michael is also a speech-language pathologist with 12 years of clinical experience working with children and adults with childhood-onset conditions. He applies his clinical experience and advanced training in knowledge translation and implementation science to partner with and guide clinical staff to bridge the gap between evidence and clinical practice.

Objectives: At the end of these sessions, the learner will:

Part 1: Navigating Evidence: Finding and Synthesizing Literature for Evidence-Based Practices

  • Describe how to search for literature using PICOT questions
  • Identify resources to support appraisal of relevant papers
  • State the purpose of synthesis tables in supporting evidence-based practice decisions
  • Describe how to use synthesis tables to make evidence-based practice recommendations

Part 2: Making Evidence-Based Practices Work: Strategies and Outcomes

  • Describe how frameworks guide implementation of EBP
  • State how barriers and facilitators influence implementation of EBP
  • Describe implementation strategies
  • List different kinds of outcomes to monitor implementation of EBP

Audience: This webinar is intended for all interested members of the rehabilitation team.

Level: Intermediate

Certificate of Attendance: Certificates of attendance are available for all attendees. No CEs are provided for this course.

The Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) has issued clarification on policy regarding encounter signatures for crisis services. The updated policy outlines that OMHSAS considers mobile mental health crisis services to be emergency services. While every effort should be made to obtain a signature from the beneficiary or a parent, legal guardian, relative, or friend, when such a signature cannot be obtained due to the nature of the situation, crisis intervention service providers are permitted to insert “Signature Exception” on the signature line of the encounter form.

RCPA has inquired if the encounter verification under these circumstances can be considered for similar applications to other programs under other OMHSAS licensed services. If you have any questions, please contact RCPA COO and Policy Director Jim Sharp.

Registration for the Pennsylvania Association of Area Agencies on Aging’s (P4A) 2024 Aging and Behavioral Health Conference is now open. The conference agenda will equip behavioral health practitioners and professionals with essential tools and knowledge regarding mental health and substance use disorders affecting older adults. The conference is set for May 29 – 30 at the Best Western Premier Hotel & Conference Center in Harrisburg. The deadline for registration is Friday, May 17. You can register and find details regarding the conference here.

From Senator Frank Farry’s Newsletter on April 12, 2024:

Last week, I held a press conference to announce the findings from the Joint State Government Commission report mandated from House Resolution 212 – which I authored while serving in the House of Representatives. The report reviewed the services provided by the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) to individuals with disabilities, including work opportunities and living arrangements.

The press conference was held at Associated Production Services (APS), a packaging company in Feasterville that is employed predominately by individuals with disabilities. Currently, ODP in their rate setting penalizes operations like APS because there is not a community element. However, we heard from many of the working individuals along with their families that they are happy working at APS with their peers. It is a clean, safe, and structured environment, and they consider it their community.

Watch what the workers of APS and their families had to say:  

In 2017, we held a rally at the Capitol with workers from APS and similar workplaces, their families, and service providers advocating for “My Work. My Choice.” I cannot believe we are still talking about this today. One astounding issue is that to participate in a work program like APS, you need to be found ineligible for other programs and it is considered a workplace of last resort. That doesn’t sound like choice.

The report reaffirms that choice should be paramount in the services provided by ODP. The number one recommendation in the report is “promote freedom of choice.” I am going to use this report as the blueprint to continue to advocate for programs like APS to stay open and ensure individuals with disabilities are treated fairly by the government, including having the freedom to choose where they live and work. View full press conference and learn more.