LSFHS Wins $4.75M SBIRT Grant
LSF Health Systems was recently awarded a five-year, $995,00-per-year federal grant to expand a highly successful mental health screening and intervention program in Central Florida counties including Lake, Sumter and Marion.
The grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration funds the expansion of LSF’s innovative SETS (Screen, Engage, and Treat for Success) pilot program that began in 2018. The SETS model uses trained Certified Recovery Peer Specialists, individuals in recovery from substance use disorders, to help overdose survivors and those at risk for overdose in treatment and recovery support services. Peer specialists use an approach called SBIRT (screening, brief intervention, and referral for treatment) to determine if patients need inpatient services, outpatient services or other types of treatment.
The SETS expansion includes implementing mental health screenings, intervention and treatment at a variety of community health settings and primary care clinics. Working with Langley Health Services, AdventHealth, LifeStream Behavioral Center and Park Place Behavioral Healthcare, LSF will expand the program in the area northwest of Orlando, a region with a very high prevalence of local drug manufacturing and trafficking. “The program will benefit low-income individuals and families that are either uninsured or underinsured”, said Dr. Christine Cauffield, CEO of LSF Health Systems.
“This grant will allow us to screen and help more than 25,000 at-risk people in a Central Florida area that has been hit extremely hard by the pandemic and the opioid crisis,” Cauffield said. “SETS allows us to intervene early when we know we can make the most significant impact in people’s lives.”
In a state where repeat visits account for more than 10 percent of the 20,000 annual overdose ER visits, SETS has proven effective in cutting recidivism by more than half. At up to $100,000 for treating overdose patients in the ER, the financial savings from the SETS program are significant. The human lives saved are even more impressive, said Mooneyham, LSF Health System’s SETS project coordinator.
“This program is a game-changer,” Mooneyham said. “We’re adding it in health departments, OBGYN clinics, HIV clinics and community clinics with the goal of decreasing overdose deaths through early intervention and engagement. We’re identifying opiate users who are at risk of overdose before they end up in emergency rooms, and before their overdose becomes fatal.”
