New York Health Foundation

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Year: 2018

St. Joseph’s Rehabilitation Center, Inc.

Heroin, fentanyl, and other lower-priced alternative and synthetic opioids have emerged as a serious drug threat in the nation, especially in rural areas such as New York State’s North Country.

Recent data from the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) indicate that Essex County continues to experience a significant increase in annual drug treatment admissions related to opioid and fentanyl use. In 2016, NYHealth awarded Essex County Public Health a grant to implement Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), an evidence-based program to combat drug and alcohol use, in health care settings in Essex County. In 2018, NYHealth awarded St. Joseph’s Rehabilitation Center a grant to expand SBIRT to health care providers throughout the North Country.

Under this grant, St. Joseph’s oversaw SBIRT in Essex County and expanded the model among neighboring rural North Country counties. Providers employed the model to identify and treat opioid misuse and addiction, using it as a screening tool to assess the severity of risky substance use behaviors, identify the appropriate level of treatment, and refer those who need more extensive treatment to specialty care. St. Joseph’s built upon the SBIRT model and incorporated new strategies to strengthen the program. It hired a community outreach coordinator to increase collaborations among treatment providers, local law enforcement, and county representatives. St. Joseph’s implemented a family-focused prevention program to deter or delay the onset of substance use; a drug take-back program to address the problem of unused medication in the home; trainings focused on the relationship between traumatic childhood events and opioid, fentanyl, and heroin use; and trauma-focused care trainings for local law enforcement. Through this grant, providers in the North Country have diverse strategies that better position them to address the psycho-social nature of the opioid crisis through addiction prevention, prescription monitoring, treatment and recovery, provider education and training, and increased access to mental health services without stigma for patients.

West Side Center for Community Life (d.b.a. West Side Campaign Against Hunger)

Through its Healthy Neighborhoods Fund initiative, NYHealth is supporting six communities across New York State to become healthier, more active places. Although all the communities are working toward the common goal of improving the health of their residents, each community may face particular challenges. By offering responsive and time-sensitive technical assistance funding to grantees and their partners, NYHealth can help them meet their goals. In 2018, NYHealth awarded the West Side Campaign Against Hunger (WSCAH) a grant to partner with New York City emergency food provision organizations to bring fresh, local, healthy food to food insecure residents.

Under this grant, WSCAH partnered with New York City’s largest emergency food provision organizations to pilot the Collective Purchasing Alliance. The Alliance harnessed the collective purchasing power of the City’s network of more than 1,000 emergency food organizations to bring fresh, local, healthy food to food insecure residents. The formation and implementation of the Alliance reduced costs for emergency food organizations; increased the quality of food available for New Yorkers facing food insecurity; facilitated stronger collaboration among emergency feeding organizations; and created innovation in the work of feeding communities in need.

Health Care Cost Institute

The health care system is hard to understand and navigate, especially when it comes to information about prices.

In an environment where patients are responsible for an increasing share of health care costs, greater price transparency is needed to empower consumers. NYHealth has supported several projects to promote greater price transparency, including an examination of hospital price variation in New York State and various cost calculator tools to help consumers better plan for health care costs. In 2018, NYHealth awarded the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI) a grant to improve price transparency by examining health care spending patterns in New York State.

Under this grant, HCCI allowed access to its health care claims data and collaborated with NYHealth’s policy and research department on analyses related to the Foundation’s Empowering Health Care Consumers core strategy of improving price transparency. Claims data were used to (1) examine health care spending in New York State, (2) analyze the degree to which prices for specific services and drugs account for health care spending, and (3) evaluate the extent to which the trend of more consumers being in high-deductible health plans is having an impact on their price comparison shopping behavior. NYHealth and HCCI worked together to produce reports, journal articles, and data snapshots on these topics and shared them with key stakeholders.

Read the report “Health Care Spending, Prices, and Utilization for Employer-Sponsored Insurance in New York.”

Read the report “Variation in Health Care Prices: The Problem Starts at Birth.”

Community Food Advocates, Inc.

The successful advocacy campaign to bring universal school lunch to all 1.1 million New York City public school children was a powerful first step in helping kids have access to the food they need to be healthy and learn well.

Although the universal school lunch victory was momentous, the campaign’s work continues. Currently, an average of 650,000 students are eating school lunch in New York City, primarily in elementary schools. After the first full year of universal school lunch, an additional 26,000 children on average are eating school lunch every single day. With the proper resources, Community Food Advocates (CFA) estimates that up to 90,000 new students, primarily in middle and high schools, will participate over the next two years. In 2018, NYHealth awarded CFA a grant to ensure continued uptake and maximum participation in universal school lunch for all New York City public school students.

Under this grant, CFA supported and implemented activities to ensure maximum participation in universal school lunch. CFA collaborated with the New York City Department of Education on a social marketing and communications campaign, including ensuring that the content, messaging, and graphics are informed by parents’ and students’ input. CFA focused on cafeteria redesign in middle and high schools, with the goal of making the atmosphere more inviting and increasing student lunch participation. It also partnered with the New York City’s Office of Food & Nutrition Services (SchoolFood) to re-establish Nutrition Committees, which comprise students, parents, teachers, administrators, parent coordinators, and SchoolFood staff, to identify and implement strategies to improve the quality and appeal of food at their schools. To monitor implementation, CFA worked with schools to implement best practices and to address the most significant community-identified barriers to participation, including the taste, quality, and appeal of school food.

Urban Justice Center

While many veterans reintegrate into civilian life without major problems, others have difficulties that bring them into contact with the justice system.

Compared with similar individuals in the general population, veterans are 8 times more likely to have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 2–4 times more likely to have major depression. Several studies have shown an increased risk of criminal behavior for veterans with substance use issues, PTSD, and depression. These challenges are exacerbated for Black and Hispanic veterans, who are more likely than their white counterparts to be incarcerated. About 5% of people under New York State custody are veterans, and approximately 3,000 per year cycle through Rikers Island, New York City’s main jail. Because of inadequate veteran-specific outreach, incarcerated veterans are often unaware that they can apply for U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) services while incarcerated. They also lack knowledge about other benefits they are eligible for and the process to access those benefits. In 2018, NYHealth awarded the Urban Justice Center’s Veteran Advocacy Project (VAP) a grant to address the health and legal needs of justice-involved veterans at Rikers Island.

Under this grant, VAP helped veterans on Rikers Island to reintegrate successfully back into society by providing them with and connecting them to health, social, and legal services before their release. Upon release, veterans were connected to non-VA and VA services, including primary and behavioral health care. To better coordinate these services, case managers provided veterans with a health care plan for reentry. Additionally, VAP conducted outreach and education to court staff to increase their cultural competency and better serve these veterans. By intervening while veterans are incarcerated, VAP not only helped them reintegrate successfully back into society, but also prevented them from being involved with the justice system in the future. Lessons learned from this project better informs the field about the needs of incarcerated veterans and how to address them.

 

Niagara Falls National Heritage Area

According to the most recent Niagara County Community Health Assessment, more than one-third of residents in Niagara County report being physically inactive.

The North End of the county, specifically the Highland Avenue neighborhood in the city of Niagara Falls, sits approximately two miles from Niagara Falls State Park. U.S. Census records reveal that more than 60% of households fall below the poverty level in the Highland Avenue neighborhood. It has been the site for many of NYHealth’s investments in the region through our Building Healthy Communities priority area. Although the Falls and many hiking trails are only a five-minute drive away, there is no public transportation that links the Highland Avenue neighborhood to the outdoor activities and other attractions downtown. In 2018, NYHealth awarded the Niagara Falls National Heritage Area a grant that will encourage residents to be physically active and connect with the history of their city.

Under this grant, the Niagara Falls National Heritage Area developed a walking trail starting from the Highland Avenue neighborhood, going to the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center, and ending at the Niagara River, where a riverside park continues onto the Niagara Gorge trail system. The walking trail project included streetscape improvements to increase walkability; crosswalk installations to increase safety; mural installations to increase visual interest; and guided walks. The project was promoted through social media, local press, and on-the-ground canvassing of the relevant neighborhoods with paper flyers and personal appeals. A map of the trail was also produced. As a result, the local Highland Avenue community is better connected to various Niagara Falls resources, including parks and trails, as well as free transportation to cultural attractions and key food outlets, which are severely lacking in the neighborhood.

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