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Medical Respite/Recuperative Care News
A Quarterly Newsletter for Members of the Respite Care Providers' Network
November 16, 2021
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| NIMRC Resource Highlights
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MRRC Research Agenda Coming Soon!
As momentum continues to build around medical respite/recuperative care (MRRC), it is increasingly important that the evidence base for this essential service grows and evolves as well. Over the past year, NIMRC convened MRRC programs from across the country to implement a stakeholder engagement project funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)*. The primary goal of the project was to collaboratively develop a research agenda that (1) identifies high-priority research topics in MRRC and (2) ensures that the voices of people with lived experience of homelessness are at the center of future research efforts.
In August 2021, 63 stakeholders from 22 geographically and structurally diverse MRRC programs participated in a two-day, virtual project summit. Importantly, one-third of the participants were people with lived experience of homelessness. The discussions and insights captured during the summit informed the development of specific research priorities for MRRC and recommendations for effectively engaging people with lived experience in the research process.
We are thrilled that, as a result of this project, a robust agenda to guide MRRC research will be published next week and announced in the November issue of the Solidarity newsletter. As the publication is disseminated through the Council’s networks of MRRC providers, researchers, health care and social service organizations, and people with lived experience of homelessness, we are confident that it will galvanize support for high-quality and consumer-centered research that demonstrates the value and impact of MRRC.
Please keep an eye out for this forthcoming resource in next week's Solidarity newsletter and on the NIMRC website.
* This project was supported through a Eugene, Washington PCORI Engagement Award (EAIN-19955).
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New Resources: Identifying Outcomes for Medical Respite/Recuperative Care Programs
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Hello RCPN Members,
In September, I celebrated my one-year anniversary with the Council (and many of you have probably become more familiar with my email address in your inboxes this past year!). It has certainly been a difficult year, but also one where we have seen the incredible strength and compassion of our respite programs and providers as you continually navigate challenges to provide the best possible care for our neighbors experiencing homelessness.
As NIMRC has continued to grow and expand, we have remained focused on our support for programs and growing a community of medical respite providers across the country. This has included increasing opportunities to join together and learn, share experiences and insights, and problem-solve the unique challenges of providing medical respite care. We continue to expand our resources and are always open to new ideas on what would be most helpful to you all!
One of the most exciting initiatives from this past year was our work to update and publish the Standards for Medical Respite/Recuperative Care Programs. The Standards were a result of an initial multi-year effort to provide guidance for high-quality medical respite care, resulting in publication in 2016. In alignment with best practices for a five-year review process, we undertook the 2021 update to ensure they continued to reflect high quality care and respond to changing needs of the field. A small workgroup convened monthly between January and August 2021 to discuss, revise, and edit the Standards. Thirty medical respite/recuperative care programs contributed to this process by completing surveys, reviewing the document, and testing the new Standards. We also were able to engage consumers in the revisions process, ensuring a variety of perspectives and program models were reflected. Although no document is perfect or final, we are incredibly proud of the Standards that were published in September and are so appreciative to all of you who contributed your time and expertise to this process.
I have enjoyed getting to know each of you throughout our many activities and look forward to continuing our work together within medical respite and in our larger work to end homelessness.
With appreciation,
Caitlin Synovec, OTD, OTR/L
Program Manager for Medical Respite
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| | Respite Kudos & Accomplishments
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Photo Credit: Phoenix Business Journal
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| Congratulations to Kristy Rose Anderson, who was named by the Phoenix Business Journal as a 2021 Health Care Hero.
Anderson is the Program Manager at Circle the City Midtown Medical Respite Center located in Phoenix. She was named by the Phoenix Business Journal as a 2021 Health Care Hero in the Non-Physician category. She was recognized for her leadership in guiding her respite healthcare team through the pandemic as they provided daily care for hundreds of patients facing homelessness.
Circle the City is an Arizona-based nonprofit organization that provides healthcare to men, women, and children facing homelessness in Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located. Circle the City has two 50-bed respite centers, two outpatient primary care centers, and four mobile medical units. Circle the City estimates it will provide healthcare to approximately 7,500 patients this year.
You can read more about Kristy’s work and award here.
If you would like to highlight a medical respite/recuperative care program or provider in the next newsletter, please send your “kudos” to Caitlin at csynovec@nhchc.org
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- Bobby Watts, CEO of NHCHC, joined Beth Graham, the executive director of Joseph's Home in Cleveland, for an interview on Cleveland's NPR morning program about medical respite and homelessness. Their segment starts at 17:20.
- The work of medical respite programs (the Boulevard, Housing Forward/Sojourner House, and A Safe Haven) in Chicago, IL, were featured by their local NPR news.
- Care2Home medical respite, operated by Lower Columbia CAP in Vancouver, WA, is featured in a story highlighting their work.
- Brother Francis Medical respite program in Anchorage, Alaska, is highlighted as one of the city’s larger initiatives to address homelessness.
- Two medical respite/recuperative care programs were featured for their partnerships with health plans: Father Joe's Villages in San Diego, CA, and United Health Care; and Buffalo City Mission in Buffalo, NY, and Amerigroup.
If you have a news story recognizing a medical respite/recuperative care program, please share it with us by emailing Caitlin at csynovec@nhchc.org.
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| Activities & Opportunities
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Medical Respite/Recuperative Care Program DirectoryPlease update your Directory Program Profile! In January, we will be reviewing our data in our medical respite directory for an updated State of Medical Respite Programs. Additionally, upcoming funding opportunities will be shared with programs with updated directory listings. The updated directory form captures what is happening within medical respite programs and the services they provide, supporting advocacy work and resource development.
Use this link to complete the medical respite directory form.
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NIMRC is Growing! Two Program Manager Positions Available! We're seeking two NIMRC Program Managers to join our team. The NIMRC Program Managers will work with the Director of Medical Respite on projects of NIMRC and the Respite Care Providers’ Network. Job responsibilities will involve completing pre-defined projects scoping the areas of technical assistance, education, training, project management, and research, as assigned. Learn more and apply!
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Save the Dates
Thursday, November 18; 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT
Webinar: An AI Analytics-Driven, Integrated Care Model for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness
Join Dr. Pooja Bhalla and Dr. Ashish Abraham as they present their co-authored white paper titled "A Data-Driven, Analytical Approach to Illumination Foundation's Integrated Care Model for People Experiencing Homelessness" moderated by Paul Leon.
The presentation will share data on Illumination Foundation's unique and effective integrated model for addressing the health inequities and Social Determinants of Health among those experiencing homelessness. It highlights how predictive and prescriptive data analytics have been used to improve the identification of the risks of the population Illumination Foundation serves, as well as to identify the most effective and efficient strategies to manage these risks, improve client outcomes, and reduce cost to the health care system.
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Wednesday, December 1; 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CTCoffee Chat on Outcomes in Respite Medical Respite/Recuperative Care programs offer comprehensive and wrap-around services to support health and recovery for people experiencing homelessness. The complexity of services, however, can make it more challenging to determine outcomes of the program, what may have had a positive impact, and what data would support these outcomes. This coffee chat serves as an opportunity for programs to consider other ways to identify the positive outcomes of medical respite care, including data that can be collected internally by programs. Attendees will have an opportunity to share their own methods for data collection and outcomes tracked, as well as learn from others, to support programs’ ability to tell the story of medical respite to their communities. As a Coffee Chat, please come ready with questions, conversation, and to share practices from your own work!
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Respite Care Providers' Network All Member Meeting
Tuesday, February 1; 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT
Stay tuned! We’ll be sending out more information with registration links and topics for discussion.
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| | Respite Care Providers' Network Information
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- If you are not already a member, please join the Respite Care Providers Network (RCPN). The mission of RCPN is to improve the health status of individuals who are homeless by supporting programs that provide medical respite and related services. Follow this link for more information and to join the RCPN.
- Is your medical respite program profile in the NIMRC directory up to date? Complete this program profile form to update your information and view the directory here.
- Does your program need technical assistance? Please contact Julia, Caitlin, or Stephen to request a TA meeting to help address your program’s needs!
- Additional resources for medical respite/recuperative care can be found at www.NIMRC.org.
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