Community Health Collaborative Meets for Autumn Networking and Updates

[September 08, 2024] 

The Logan County Department of Public Health (LCDPH) hosted the quarterly meeting of the Community Health Collaborative on September 5 in Lincoln. Representatives from area organizations met together to present their services and organize ways to work together to better serve Lincoln and Logan County. Molly McCain, Community Health Coordinator at Lincoln Memorial Hospital (LMH), directed the meeting and each representative had time to explain the services offered by their organization.

2024 Illinois Youth Survey trends

Grace Irvin, Prevention Coordinator with Chestnut Health Systems, opened the meeting with a brief report of the 2024 Illinois Youth Survey trends. The Illinois Youth Survey was administered last spring. The full results for Logan County will be presented at the October meeting of the Substance Use Prevention Coalition (SUPC) at LMH. The Illinois Youth Survey is a self-reported survey administered in school settings in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades to gather information about a variety of health and social indicators including substance use patterns. The survey asked questions regarding drug use in the last 30 days and about parent communication regarding alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and opioids for non-medical reasons. Questions included, “In the past year, have your parents talked to you about not using any of these?” “Are the rules in your family clear?” Ninety percent answered yes. More details will be available at the SUPC meeting on October 10 at 9:00 a.m. at Lincoln Memorial Hospital.

Community Health Needs Assessment

Molly McCain gave an overview of the Community Health Needs Assessment of Logan County. Logan County residents completed 428 surveys last fall. In February, McCain met with 10 focus groups in Logan County. Based on this data priorities were selected with the Internal Advisory Board. On September 4, the report was approved by the LMH Board. The community health implementation plan will be approved in November. The implementation plan will be publicly available beginning February of 2025. The top three priorities from the survey are Mental Health, Cancer, and Healthy Weight.

LMH Trailblazers

LMH Trailblazers will be sponsoring a “Walktoberfest” fall walking challenge. Any participant who completes 25 laps around the pond at the LMH Wellness Trail will receive a Walktoberfest T-shirt.

Coalition Updates

The Substance Use Prevention Coalition exists to promote awareness of substance use disorder, prevent youth substance use, and improve access to resources. The SUPC has completed their environmental scan. The results will be provided at the next SUPC meeting on September 12.

Breastfeeding Coalition

The Breastfeeding Coalition reports that the Logan County Fair runs during World Breastfeeding Week. LCDPH has hired a peer counselor to assist the county with breastfeeding support. Breastfeeding rooms are available at the Logan County courthouse and the Logan County fairgrounds.

Youth Mental Health Coalition/Butterfly Project

The Railer Reach Out text campaign for LCHS freshmen launched at freshman orientation on August 6. One hundred and twenty LCHS freshmen, faculty, and family members have now subscribed. There are plans to expand to all LCHS grade levels and then to expand to additional high schools, as well as middle schools.

The Butterfly Project offers Exposure-to-Violence training. The coalition will be highlighting Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. They plan a screening of a movie about relationship violence.

Logan County Parks Coalition

Logan County Parks Coalition is organizing the second annual Pumpkin Smash to keep pumpkins out of landfills and provide winter food for wildlife. Pumpkin drop-off will be November 1 through 15 at Kickapoo Creek Park, Lincoln Community Garden Project, Lincoln Park District, and Madigan State Park. The Pumpkin Smash will be held on November 16 from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. at Kickapoo Creek Park, Lincoln Community Garden Project, and Madigan State Park. A Pumpkin Splash will coincide with the Pumpkin Smash at Kickapoo Creek Park during the same hours for anyone who wants to chuck a pumpkin off the foot bridge into the creek.

Collaborative Partner Updates

Memorial Behavioral Health (MBH) has been able to hire additional therapists this year. The client waitlist has been reduced from 500 in February to 100 currently. MBH is planning to hire more therapists in the Springfield office to address the remaining waitlist. Outlier sites such as Lincoln are able to schedule clients more quickly. The MBH First Episode Psychosis program allows clients to Fasttrack to available services rather than being added to a waitlist.

Logan County Senior Advocates

Logan County Senior Advocates is an organization that works to benefit seniors and meets to discuss how organizations may best support senior citizens. Silver Fox senior fitness offers 10 classes a week adapted to a variety of fitness levels and abilities. Silver Fox fitness accepts Silver Sneakers as well as other insurance programs’ fitness memberships.

“Too Good for Drugs”

For substance use prevention, the educational curriculum “Too Good for Drugs” is being started in area middle schools and an anti-vaping campaign is underway at Logan County high schools. Saturday, September 26 will be a drug take-back day in Mason County at several locations. A permanent drug take-back box is located at LCDPH.

Girls on the Run

Girls on the Run programming started the first week of September in Lincoln. A team at Chester East had their second practice on September 5. Girls on the Run are recruiting for more sites to begin in the spring, with plans already to start a team at Zion Lutheran School.

Brightpoint

Brightpoint focuses on healing and attachment after domestic violence. Brightpoint serves children and families exposed to domestic violence. Case managers work with caregivers and children together and with each child affected. Case managers are available to support the whole families’ needs. The goal is wrap-around care. Brightpoint does not cover youth-in-care unless they are in adoption proceedings. Services are completely grant-based, so there is no fee for families. Brightpoint also offers Childhood Exposure to Violence training which can help agencies to recognize signs and symptoms of violence exposure in children. The hour-long program is offered to agencies such as daycare centers and parent support groups, however, CEUs are not available.

Heartsavers CPR

Jennifer Kirby, director of Heartland Community College (HCC) Lincoln Campus, reported that HCC will host a Heartsavers CPR class on November 15 with a cost of $65. This course is suitable for daycare providers, but not geared toward medical professionals. The HCC Spring 2025 schedule will be available at the beginning of October. Short term work certificates for CNA and welding will be available to complete on site in Lincoln. HCC also offers free GED preparation courses at the Lincoln campus mornings and evenings in person, as well as online. HCC is also a GED testing site. HCC is always looking for ideas for community enrichment courses. HCC is able to provide outreach to local college students with CHC partner organizations’ information.

Other topics

Birth to Five is a statewide program that works with families to help them with what they need to thrive. A community meeting is planned for September 19 in reference to their action plan coinciding with their regional needs assessment. They are recruiting for their Action Council for those assisting young children and their families.

Senior Services provides homemaker service to seniors age 60 and over. They can provide personal care, house cleaning, errands, transportation to doctor's appointments, and life alert buttons that are upgraded to GPS for fall detection. Senior Services is asset-based, not income-based beginning at $17,500 for an individual. Senior Services will do an assessment of a couple or individual and communicate the hours of assistance that the senior citizen qualifies for.

The Community Engagement Coordinator for Memorial Behavioral Health reported that the Mobile Crisis Unit in Lincoln is an in-person response to any crisis. Patrons may call for themselves or for another person, even someone in crisis that a patron observes, but may not know. Schools also use this resource. For Lincoln, the Mobile Crisis Unit is available in-person 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and telehealth is available at all other times. The Mobile Crisis Unit is working toward staffing for 24 hour in-person availability. In-person follow up is available after telehealth. The higher the utilization of the Mobile Crisis Unit, the more funding that will be forthcoming. Calling 988 will connect you with your local provider. The 988 number can be used everyday or occasionally and is developing to become region specific.

The Regional Substance Use Prevention Center of the Family Guidance Centers helps fill gaps in substance use prevention such as after-school care and other youth-serving organizations. The next Advisory Board meeting is September 24 at 9 a.m. Surveys are live for providers to complete to help the Regional Substance Use Prevention Center to discern what gaps they may fill. All staff are trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid. They offer this training to other organizations, as well.

Lincoln Prairie Behavioral Health Center offers psychiatric care for youth ages 3-17. They have recently developed an in-person intensive outpatient program (IOP) of 4 hours per day that allows IOP students to still engage with school and not get so far behind, especially if they are coming out of inpatient hospitalization. Lincoln Prairie Behavioral Health has been in existence for 16 years. They have recently established a designated education room to provide a new environment that is different from the in-patient setting. They serve a variety of populations and typical programming runs 7-10 days. Sometimes youth-in-care stay for an extended time beyond the 7-10 days, so they are developing additional programming. Every month LPBHC provides free CEU training events. Last month, training was provided by the staff music therapist. Staff of CHC partner agencies are invited to come tour the facility to learn about the facility, what is provided, and work in partnership with LPBHC.

Jeannette Davis of ROSC said is partnering with the Logan County Jail to provide resource bags for those released from jail. The resource bags provide information and resources for their next steps.
Hope on Fifth hosts many recovery meetings including AA, NA, and CODA (codependency anonymous). Smart Recovery meetings, which is an evidence-based program, will begin meeting on Friday mornings in partnership with LMH.

Kara Davis, Director of Nursing at LCDPH, reported that the LCDPH has flu shots available. There will also be flu shots at the LMH Market on September 21. The LCDPH will also provide drive-through clinics. Naloxone is available for free at the LCDPH in the entryway and at a vending machine at Family Custom Cleaners.

The TASK organization will be starting a Choices Deflection program in Logan County. TASK is available in the whole state. Springfield has used it for the unhoused population. East St. Louis uses it for kids growing up with families that use substances. Logan County will be using it to hire case managers to keep people out of jail. A kick-off for the program is being planned. Representatives from SIU, Memorial Health, the Lincoln police department, the Logan County jail, Chestnut Health System, other agencies, and the mayor of Lincoln were at the first meeting. TASK resources do not cost the city or county anything as the funding comes from tax on cannabis. Case managers will aim to develop a rapport with clients with a goal to provide services and prevent incarceration.

The next SUPC meeting is September 12. The next CHC meeting is December 5. Meetings are open to the public, and all parties interested in improving the quality of life in Logan County are invited to attend.

[Stephanie Hall]