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Preventive Health Update
UPMC Health Plan Behavioral Health Services continues to maintain two Preventive Behavioral Health Programs that are offered to UPMC Health Plan members.
- Improving Treatment Compliance for Adults with Depression for ages 18 and over.
- Parenting Skills for Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) for parents and guardians of children up to 12 years.
The programs send a series of three educational newsletters to members that will help them to learn more about these problems and what they can do to help themselves or their children feel better. The newsletters are free and any member can request to receive them by calling the toll-free Preventive Behavioral Health Phone Line at 1-866-639-2943. TTY users can call 1-877-877-3580. Some members will receive a letter asking them if they want to participate in the program. Members can always say no by calling the Preventive Behavioral Health toll-free line and asking not to receive the newsletters.
UPMC Health Plan Behavioral Health Services measures the progress of the Preventive Health Program in 12-month cohorts. The information presented here is from June 2006 to May 2007, with previous years’ data for comparison purposes.
Participation in the program is measured by the percentage of members who receive a complete set of newsletters. We found that for June 2006 to May 2007, 97% of members with depression participated in the program. Participation in the ADHD program was 97% from June 2006 to May 2007 as well. These are high participation rates and UPMC Health Plan Behavioral Health Services is pleased that so many members and families are choosing to be involved with the program.
We also surveyed the members and parents/guardians receiving the newsletters to see if they found the newsletters helpful. Most of the members with depression said the program increased their knowledge about depression, and parents or guardians of children with ADHD said they felt less stressed after reading the newsletters. Member and family feedback about the program is important to us and leads to improvement in our programming. As a result of feedback about the ADHD newsletters, UPMC Health Plan Behavioral Health Services added a Medication Fact Sheet to the first ADHD newsletter. This fact sheet gives parents or guardians more information about the medications used to treat ADHD, some of the common side effects and answers to frequently asked questions about these medications.
Additionally in October 2006, UPMC Health Plan Behavioral Health Services began including an insert into each issue of the depression newsletters. These inserts include information specific to depression in older adults regarding symptoms of depression as well as treatment and recovery.
Providers are also welcome to use the prevention materials in caring for their patients. In 2007, UPMC Health Plan Behavioral Health Services did receive calls from both behavioral health and primary care physicians requesting copies of the newsletters for their office. UPMC Health Plan Behavioral Health Services is happy that providers are finding the information useful when working with their patients.
We encourage you to use the Preventive Behavioral Health Programs. Any member can call to receive the newsletters, ADHD Medication Fact Sheet, or the late life depression inserts. If you would like more information about the program or wish to receive the newsletters, please call the toll-free Preventive Behavioral Health Phone Line at 1-866-639-2943. TTY users can call 1-877-877-3580. You can also view the materials on the UPMC Health Plan Behavioral Health Services website by clicking here.
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