Ohio Department of Mental Health/Help Me Grow (ODMH/HMG), Maternal Depression Project

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Main Focus:

  1. The project involves Help Me Grow (HMG) workers administering the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) to mothers of infants between 4-20 weeks of age as part of their standard services. Mothers scoring in the clinical range (≥12) on the EPDS are referred to a county mental health department coordinator, who, in turn, arranges for further evaluation and treatment of the mother. Based on experience with this project, screening will be expanded to additional counties in the future.
  2. Create a web-based system that would collect data, facilitate mental health referrals and follow-up and generate meaningful reports for workers and supervisors for service monitoring and program improvement. The web system is used by HMG home visitors record screens in lieu of the paper system. If the score shows depression or the visitor feels there is depression, they refer to a mental health partner. Once the referral is made a clock starts to see how much time has elapsed since the referral. After the mother makes her mental health appoint the case is closed on the web-based system side, if no appointment is made within 90 days the evaluation team re-contacts the mental health team.