In a leading effort to create a healthier Minnesota, Essentia Health in Detroit Lakes has been awarded a mini-grant from PartnerSHIP 4 Health, the Minnesota SHIP (Statewide Health Improvement Program) of Becker, Clay, Otter Tail and Wilkin Counties.
Essentia Health will use the grant funds to support policy, systems and environmental strategies that will assist clinicians in addressing physical activity, nutrition, and tobacco use and exposure among their patients.
According to Linda Hespe, RN, Essentia Health, Home Health Manager, SHIP has made it possible for Essentia Health to increase its commitment to the community.
"Essentia Health St. Mary's is committed to being a healthcare provider that cares about the community for the long term. The partnership with SHIP is enabling us to positively affect our community members' health now and into the future."
Essentia Health is one of 10 healthcare settings that, in the fall of 2009, began partnering with SHIP via participation in a collaborative with the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement. The goal of the collaborative is to put ICSI guidelines into practice to address overweight/obesity and tobacco use/exposure. Each partner created a multidisciplinary team that participates in face-to-face sessions, webinars and conference calls. These opportunities provided the direction for the crafting a plan in each healthcare setting. Hespe leads the multidisciplinary team from Essentia Health. According to Hespe, the SHIP partnership seems to have offered a unique opportunity for Essentia Health.
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"Working with SHIP has been a very positive experience because without the education, resources and guidance, we wouldn't have been involved or able to do this. The mini-grant that we received will be used to implement the health assessment and education pieces that support the policy and systems changes."
For more information, www.partnerSHIP4health.org .
