Pilot program reduces anxiety and depression

Six years ago, WHI’s Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Work Group identified a significant gap in services for Washtenaw County residents with mild to moderate mental health concerns.

Today, that gap is, statistically, a lot less significant–particularly for low-income and uninsured patients–thanks to the Tailored Mental Health Management and Support (TaMMS) Intervention designed and run by work group members Dr. Gregory Dalack, chair of the University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry, and Dr. Marcia Valenstein, retired psychiatrist with the U-M Department of Psychiatry and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System.

On April 10, Dalack attended the WHI Steering Committee meeting to share results from the three-year TaMMS pilot that served 585 patients, appreciably diminishing their anxiety and depression.

“The program’s effect on patient care at the Ypsilanti clinic has been indispensable and nothing but positive,” says Dr. Jane Chargot, an Ypsilanti Family Medicine physician who participated in the pilot. Ypsilanti Family Medicine, and all of the other safety net clinics involved in the pilot, will continue to implement the model for patients in the years ahead. Dalack and his team anticipate that it will be implemented at a dozen more sites, including IHA practices, as well.

At the meeting, they extended their thanks to the Center for Healthcare Research and Transformation, the Washtenaw Health Initiative (WHI), and WHI member organizations for the support, funding, and encouragement they received throughout the process.

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