The Allegheny initiative for mental health integration for the homeless: integrating heterogeneous health services for homeless persons

Am J Public Health. 2007 Mar;97(3):401-5. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2006.094284. Epub 2007 Jan 31.

Abstract

The Allegheny Initiative for Mental Health Integration for the Homeless (AIM-HIGH) was a 3-year urban initiative in Pennsylvania that sought to enhance integration and coordination of medical and behavioral services for homeless persons through system-, provider-, and client-level interventions. On a system level, AIM-HIGH established partnerships between several key medical and behavioral health agencies. On a provider level, AIM-HIGH conducted 5 county-wide conferences regarding homeless integration, attended by 637 attendees from 72 agencies. On a client level, 5 colocated medical and behavioral health care clinics provided care to 1986 homeless patients in 4084 encounters, generating 1917 referrals for care. For a modest investment, AIM-HIGH demonstrated that integration of medical and behavioral health services for homeless persons can occur in a large urban environment.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Behavioral Medicine / organization & administration*
  • Behavioral Medicine / statistics & numerical data
  • Community Health Planning
  • Congresses as Topic
  • Delivery of Health Care, Integrated / organization & administration*
  • Female
  • Health Planning Organizations
  • Humans
  • Ill-Housed Persons / psychology*
  • Male
  • Mental Health Services / organization & administration*
  • Mental Health Services / statistics & numerical data
  • Organizational Case Studies
  • Pennsylvania
  • Program Development
  • Referral and Consultation / statistics & numerical data
  • Urban Health Services / organization & administration*
  • Urban Health Services / statistics & numerical data