Grant winners were honored at the NAFC’s conference in Indianapolis.
Grace Medical Home was honored by Teva Pharmaceuticals, the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (NAFC) and Direct Relief at the NAFC 2022 Charitable Health Care Symposium in Indianapolis, IN.
Grace Medical Home was among 11 free and charitable clinics across California, Florida, and New Jersey that earned a $75,000 award to address mental health needs through Community Routes: Access to Mental Health Care. Community Routes: Access to Mental Healthcare, a partnership between Direct Relief, the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, and Teva Pharmaceuticals, provides awards to support clinics expanding access to mental health services across three states.
Grant awardees were selected for their innovative and practical approaches to mental health care, which include efforts to expand healthcare access for underserved and vulnerable patients experiencing mental and behavioral health issues, with a focus on depression and anxiety.
Grace Medical Home was recognized for The Healing by Offering Possibilities and Encouragement (HOPE) Project that identifies a person’s toxic trauma and offers individualized interventions through an integrated, whole-person, multi-disciplinary approach to proactively improve health outcomes. The program utilizes the validated, 10-question Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) screening tool. Those with four or more ACEs are referred to the program and case managed by a clinical counselor. Patients and their families receive the appropriate interventions to help resolve the toxic stress brought on by trauma. To date, the program has only been implemented for pediatric patients. Funding from Community Routes: Access to Mental Health Care will help to expand the project to Grace’s adult patient population. Grace is uniquely poised to manage this project because primary care and mental health are co-located in the same building.
“The free and charitable clinics chosen for this initiative are already providing outstanding care in their communities, and this funding, generously provided by Teva, will allow them to do even more, by expanding life-saving mental health care to those who need it most,” said Thomas Tighe, CEO and President of Direct Relief.
In addition to funding, Teva is making a broad portfolio of generic mental health medications available on a charitable basis.
”Teva is proud to partner with Direct Relief and the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics on Community Routes: Access to Mental Health Care, a novel health equity initiative aiming to expand access to healthcare services for underserved populations,” added Dr. Sven Dethlefs, Executive Vice President, North America Commercial. “At Teva, we know how critical it is to enable access to medicines that help improve people’s lives and look forward to seeing how these local clinics create or expand needed programs that drive real impact for patients.”
Anxiety and depression disorders affect more than 40 million adults in the U.S. annually. Additionally, 84 percent of physicians reported an increase in new diagnoses of mental health conditions since the pandemic began, especially among racial and ethnic minorities and lower-income households, according to a recent nationwide survey by the Morehouse School of Medicine and Teva Pharmaceuticals.
“Through this program, clinics will be able to enhance and expand access to crucial mental health services for their communities,” said Nicole Lamoureux, President and CEO of NAFC. “The NAFC is grateful that Direct Relief and Teva Pharmaceuticals not only recognize the barriers to care communities often face and the importance of mental health care, but that they also are taking steps to join with the NAFC and support our clinics on the ground to provide solutions and increased access to care.”
