West Central Georgia Practice Improvement Collaborative

MISSION

The West Central Georgia Practice Improvement Collaborative (WCGPIC) is designed to contribute to the prevention and treatment practice improvement agenda in both rural and urban communities in West Central Georgia. The activities of this Practice Improvement Collaborative (PIC) are expected to result in the development of culturally competent models for the adoption of collaborative prevention and treatment interventions for African Americans and other underserved populations that could be replicated in other areas. The PIC was formed to provide a mechanism to improve the quality of substance abuse treatment and clinical preventive services by increasing interaction and knowledge exchange among key stakeholders, including the research community, community-based service providers and organizations, and policymakers.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

KEY STAKEHOLDERS

• The Health Promotion Resource Center in the Department of Community Health and Preventative Medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine
• West Central Georgia Regional Mental Health, Mental Retardation, Substance Abuse Board
• New Horizon Community Service Board Outpatient Alcohol and Drug Services
• Middle Flint Behavioral Health Care Substance Abuse Services
• The Bradley Center of St. Francis
• House of T.I.M.E., Inc.
• Georgia State University
• Columbus State University

GOVERNANCE

The control or governing body of the organization is vested in the Board of Directors, which consists of 17 directors elected by the general membership at the annual meeting. The Board of Directors meets bimonthly to manage the business of the WCGPIC. The Board has incorporated training activities as part of the standing agenda for the annual general consortium meeting. Other training events are scheduled based on stakeholder needs and requests. The project director developed a grant advisory team that meets regularly in Atlanta to discuss knowledge development and network enhancement issues and serves in an advisory capacity to the Board.

STAKEHOLDER EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT

The WCGPIC has conducted training sessions for providers in West Central Georgia (e.g., on the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of adolescent substance abuse) and has provided technical assistance workshops focusing on collaboration between providers and researchers. A website for the PIC disseminates information about PIC activities and provides updates in the area of evidence-based practices. In collaboration with Georgia State University, the project director is developing a format to publish quarterly theme newsletters on knowledge adoption studies sponsored by the PIC. Due to a lack of substance abuse researchers in the 16-county region, a mentoring program is under way in which experienced researchers will mentor junior-level faculty in conducting practice improvement evaluation activities.

PRACTICE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES

• Communication skills development intervention for substance-abusing mothers
• Relapse prevention

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES

• Intervene to help women stay connected to their families throughout the recovery process
• Educate staff in methadone programs on strategies to increase HIV-positive clients' adherence to medications
• Create a compendium of information for drug treatment providers on infectious diseases
• Implement a gender-responsive curriculum for criminal justice and treatment staff working with women

EVALUATION ACTIVITIES

• Test the adoption of a strengths-based model of case management for recovering women
• Conduct a satisfaction survey of women in drug treatment
• Survey persons in treatment regarding their use of public and private health care services
• Evaluate the use of an infectious diseases compendium in developing case management strategies and in using the healthcare referral network

CONTACT INFORMATION