Helping Hands: Medical College of Georgia 

 Improving the Mental Health of Augusta, GA through community service and outreach

Sponsored by a grant from American Psychiatric Foundation

2011-2012 

 

   Sign Up With Helping Hands!!!

 

 

Statement of Intent:

We propose to expand current screening and referral services for homeless persons in Augusta,

Georgia, by training medical students to administer more comprehensive screening tests and to provide a source for continuous care through locally established programs. We hope to promote mental health awareness within our medical community and also extend it to the public by disseminating informative articles regarding mental illness within the homeless population.

Overall, we aim to improve the quality of life for homeless persons with mental illness by providing them with an opportunity for mental health screening and referral services and by creating a social environment that is more understanding and receptive of their plight.

Confidentiality Notice:

Out of respect for the rights of the people we serve, the people receiving services affiliated with MCG’s Helping Hands project must remain anonymous. No personal identifiers shall be permitted in the dissemination of acquired information, excepting those facilities receiving patients for continued care. All information shared and data collected in association with the MCG Helping Hands Project shall remain confidential.

Safety Precautions:

To ensure the safety of volunteers and patients, any threatening behavior is to be immediately reported to a team leader or administrator. Additionally, in the event of any uncertainty, volunteers should always present the question to a team leader or administrator to ensure a proper course of action. We recommend that all students working at the shelter comply with MCG policy about seasonal and pandemic influenza immunizations. If you have any kind of personal health concern please report to a team leader of administrator.

Attire and Equipment:

All participants are permitted to wear casual clothes. The only requirement is that all participants must wear their MCG badge in a visible location at all times.

 

Screening Procedure:

1. Modified C.A.G.E. Questionnaire for Alcohol and Substance Use Disorders

• Before beginning, be sure to assess patient's current and past drug and/or alcohol usage, including type of alcohol/drig and number of drinks per day/week.

2. Mental Health Screening Form III 

• Follow up affirmative answers with questions providing more detail about patient's positive reply.  (For example, What kind of noises do you hear?  When?  How often?)        

3. Identifiers:

• Be sure to obtain patient's full name and date of birth
• For the purpose of record keeping, names will be exchanged for numbers (done by team leaders). Salvation Army number identifiers will be preceded by “1.” and Garden City will bepreceded by a “2.”
• Write your name at the bottom of each completed questionnaire.
• All forms must be co-signed by Adriana Foster, MD or her designee.

4. Location and logistics

Augusta Rescue Mission 526 Walker St. Augusta, GA 30901-2316, (706) 722-2058. Park on the street.

Garden City Rescue Mission 828 Fenwick St, Augusta, GA 30901-2916, (706) 724-6960. Park on the street.

Mercy Ministries 1739 Fenwick St. Augusta, GA 30904-3781, (706) 737-0242. Park on the street.

Salvation Army 1384 Greene St, Augusta, GA 30901-1088, (706) 826-7933. Park in front of the building.

St. Vincent DePaul Women's Clinic 526 Walker Street, Augusta, GA  30901, (706) 722-2058.  Park in front of the building.

Contact Information:

Administrators:

1. Dr. Adriana Foster: afoster@georgiahealth.edu Cell phone: 706-231-7232, pager 706 721-7243        
    x1149

Team Leaders:

1. Faneece Embry : fembry@georgiahealth.edu Cell phone : 404-822-1600

2. Sarah Hilton : sarahahilton@gmail.com Cell phone : 404-791-7446

3. Charity Pires : charity.pires@gmail.com Cell phone : 678-986-4724

Frequently asked questions:

1. How do I get involved?

A:Here is a link to the schedule, so you can sign up on dates that will be most comfortable for  

   you.  January - April 2012 Schedule

2. How does Helping Hands operate, and what is the time commitment?

A: Each volunteer will be placed in a group led by a team leader. Each team leader will meet at

   the same shelter on the same Monday of every month. Each volunteer will meet at most

   once a month, pending the amount of volunteers who sign up.

3. Will there be any supervision?

A: The team leader (and administrator) will always be on site to help assist and guide

     volunteers who screen.

4. How do I get trained to administer the screening instruments?

A:We encourage you to role play with a peer and then go ahead and administer the instruments

   yourself to people at the shelter. Faculty and team leaders will be there to train you on the  

   spot.

GHSU students make presentation, "Homeless In Georgia:  The Helping Hands Program                           at Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association on February 26, 2011

	GHSU students' poster presentation at Institute of Psychiatric Services  in San Francisco, CA on October 30, 2011.

Publications:

Murro D, Gable J, Smith L, Murray P, Foster, A, Students Partner with the community to Screen Homeless Mentally Ill, poster presented at the National Outreach Scholarship Conference, Raleigh NC, October 2010.

Jessica Lee, Erin Dainer, Phillip Murray, Kathryn Echols, Anna-Marieta Moise, Philip Neiheisel, Gareth Fenley, Adriana Foster, Does Service Utilization Match Distribution of Mental Illness in an Inner City Homeless Population? A Helping Hands Grant Project Report, Institute on Psychiatric Services, Boston, MA, October 2010.  

J. Gable, P. Neiheisel, D. Murro, L. Smith, J. Lee, K. Echols, A. Moise, J. Buckley, E. Stirewalt, A. Foster, Students Partner with the Community  to Screen Homeless Mentally Ill, poster presented at International Congress on Schizophrenia Research, Colorado Springs, CO, April 2011.

Moise, AM, Murro D, Gable J, Smith L, Stirewalt, E, Foster, A, "Comorbidity of substance use and other psychiatric disorders in an inner city homeless population", poster presented at Institute on Psychiatric Services, San Francisco, CA, October 2011.

 

References:

• Modified CAGE questionnaire - Ewing J, Detecting alcoholism: the CAGE questionnaire, JAMA 252,

   1905-1907, 1984

• Mental Health Screening Form III , Carroll, Jerome F. X.¹ (Jan 2008), Development of the Mental

   Health Screening Form III, International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction, Vol. 6 Issue 1, p72-76.