With generous support from the Archstone Foundation, department faculty under the leadership of Jürgen Unützer MD, MPH, MA, have named four partnerships to participate in a learning collaborative to improve depression care for older adults and reduce mental health disparities. Each partnership, consisting of a primary care clinic and a community-based organization (CBOs), will receive a one-year award of $30,000 to participate in a continuous quality improvement learning community with the goal of creating an innovative solution to address patients’ medical, behavioral and social needs to improve care. The four selected partnerships include:

• Community Health Centers of the Central Coast (CHCCC) and Food Bank of Santa Barbara County (FBSBC)
• Eisner Health and Special Service for Groups’ SILVER Program
• San Bernardino County Department of Aging and Adult Services Age Wise program and Lifestyle Medical
• Grove by Sutter Health and Council on Aging, Santa Rosa, CA

This new initiative builds upon previous work with the Archstone Foundation’s Depression in Late-Life Initiative. Investigators include Jürgen Unützer, MD, MPH, MA,Theresa Hoeft, PhD,Patrick Raue, PhD, and John Kern, MD. Mindy Vredevoogd and Kat James provide research support.

For more information about the learning collaborative, please visit Care Partners Learning Collaborative or read the Archstone Foundation’s blog: Learning Collaborative to Improve Depression Care through Community Partnerships.