title: The Allegheny initiative for mental health integration for the homeless: integrating heterogeneous health services for homeless persons.
abstract: The Allegheny Initiative for Mental Health Integration for the Homeless (AIM-HIGH) was a 3-year urban initiative in Pennsylvania that sought to enhance integration and coordination of medical and behavioral services for homeless persons through system-, provider-, and client-level interventions. On a system level, AIM-HIGH established partnerships between several key medical and behavioral health agencies. On a provider level, AIM-HIGH conducted 5 county-wide conferences regarding homeless integration, attended by 637 attendees from 72 agencies. On a client level, 5 colocated medical and behavioral health care clinics provided care to 1986 homeless patients in 4084 encounters, generating 1917 referrals for care. For a modest investment, AIM-HIGH demonstrated that integration of medical and behavioral health services for homeless persons can occur in a large urban environment.
authors.affiliation: Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center of Co-Morbidity (VISN-4), the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa 15240, USA. adam.gordon@va.gov
authors.forename: Adam J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: Melissa L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Montlack
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Freyder
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Thuy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bui
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001524:Behavioral Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018672:Community Health Planning; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006288:Health Planning Organizations; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D010414:Pennsylvania; D016730:Program Development; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019037:Urban Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data