SAMHSA and USDA team up to promote behavioral healthcare in communities across the US | WPN World People News

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have developed an interagency agreement to provide new behavioral healthcare capabilities to communities across the nation.

Under this continuing interagency agreement, SAMHSA and USDA will build upon collaborations with regional, state, and local public service organizations to improve the gathering, analyses, and sharing of data related to a wide range of mental and substance use disorder issues.

The interagency agreement will draw upon the USDA’s nationwide network of over 925 cooperative extension sites to develop a better understanding of key factors involved in collecting and sharing behavioral healthcare data in communities. Through a USDA grant with Michigan State University, information will be collected and provided to SAMHSA and USDA on such key factors as:
•What existing behavioral health surveillance systems are currently in place?
•What kinds of data and support would be most helpful to communities facing different types of behavioral healthcare challenges?
•What are the existing partners in the community that can help in gathering needed behavioral health data, and what kind of training might they need?
•How much data will be needed to effectively help meet a community’s behavioral health needs?

SAMHSA will use this and other information to help improve communities’ immediate and long-term capabilities to gather and share behavioral health information; upgrade systems for tracking behavioral health trends (and the performance of efforts to address them); and enhance systems for responding to acute needs such as those related to emergencies (e.g. natural or man-made disasters, etc.).

Overall this interagency agreement will promote the public health needs of communities across the country – especially underserved communities. The behavioral health data it will gain will also strengthen the ability of the Federal government and its partners at all levels to anticipate and respond to behavioral health challenges in every part of the nation.

Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration