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Tags Posts tagged with "Pennsylvania Department of Health"

Pennsylvania Department of Health

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The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH), Bureau of Family Health (BFH) has been awarded the Administration for Community Living (ACL) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) State Partnership Program Mentor Grant. This funding opportunity will allow for the BFH to develop a NeuroResource Facilitation Program. The program will connect families and individuals with TBI to services and resources through case management. The BFH will also fund brain injury education and training to increase knowledge of TBI with a focus on TBI screening in the juvenile justice and the older adult population. The overall project aim is to help maximize the health, independence, and well-being of persons with TBI and their families in Pennsylvania. Through the Mentor Grant Program, the BFH will also mentor other states to assist with enhancing their programming, and will collaborate with ACL and other Mentor States to build on the overall TBI infrastructure. Contact Melissa Dehoff, RCPA Director of Rehabilitation Services, with questions.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) has created a brain injury identification wallet card. The card was created as a result of a telephone call from an individual with a brain injury who moved from another state. The individual was inquiring as to whether PA had a card that could be used in emergent situations that would easily identify him as having a brain injury and his symptoms. The wallet card is available on the DOH website. The intent of the card is to provide a document for individuals with a brain injury that could be used to communicate their symptoms and emergency information to emergency personnel or the public.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA-DOH), in collaboration with the state’s Academy of Pediatrics’ Medical Home Initiative (PA-AAP, MHI), is working to increase access to medical homes for children, youth, and young adults, including those with special health care needs.” Medical Homes are comprehensive, team-based care that takes into account the whole person. Input from a broad range of health, behavioral health, dental, and social support providers, as well as families, is needed. Over the past month, PA-DOH and PA-AAP, MHI have conducted stakeholder meetings across Pennsylvania. Now, you are invited to participate in a Stakeholder Input Survey and provide your ideas about strengthening the medical home approach in your community.

For practitioners, providers, and consumers supporting integrated physical health and behavioral health care, this opportunity to share our perspectives and ideas should not be missed. Also, please feel free to share this survey information with colleagues in health care, mental health, education, children and youth services, and families in your community.

On February 23, 2017, the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) released guidance to Home Care Agencies and Registries in follow-up to a policy clarification issued on November 23, 2016 regarding Direct Care Workers Non-Skilled Services in Home and Community-Based Services Settings.

The guidance includes a tool for organizations to use to comply with the Department of Health’s Home Care Agency and Registry regulations. The tool describes the consumer characteristics of individuals who can receive non-skilled activities/services, defined as Specialized Care. In addition, it describes the Home Care Agency/Registry responsibility for training and documentation of the direct care worker’s competency prior to delivering the Specialized Care. The guidance also establishes guidelines for the inclusion of Specialized Care into an individual’s care or service plan. RCPA’s policy statement in support of this clarification and guidance for expanded service options is available here.