Article archive / August 1, 2012
Originally published: . Volume 3, No. 12. Source pages: 1, 3, 4.
BP Funds Health Projects in LA Coastal Community LSUHSC Professors Lead Mental and Behavioral Health Project
A legal settlement for health issues will provide $105 million to projects aimed at increasing the availability of healthcare to the coastal communities in Louisiana and four other states.
As part of the 432-page class action medical settlement between plaintiffs and BP, which set out compensation procedures for those with illnesses arising from the spill, BP agreed to allocate $105 million for four projects to support residents’ primary and psychological care.
The coordinated efforts are to help coastal residents in four states, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the panhandle of Florida. The projects will target the Louisiana coastal communities in Lafourche, Cameron, Terrebonne, Jefferson, St. Bernard, Orleans, and Plaquemines parishes (see photo).
Collectively the four healthcare promotion projects are named the “Gulf Region Health Outreach Program.” According to court papers, the goal is to “expand capacity for and access to high quality, sustainable, community-based healthcare services, including primary care, behavioral and mental health care, and environmental medicine, in the Gulf Coast communities …” in the four states.
Dr. Joy Osofsky, psychologist and Barbara Lemann Professor in Pediatrics and Psychiatry at LSU Health Sciences Center, will co-lead one of the projects. She spoke with the Times, saying, “One of the unique things about this project will be the focus on community-based, integrated approaches.”
She noted that efforts will aim toward strengthening the capacity of clinics and school-based services that already exist within the communities.
“The Project will work collaboratively with schools in impacted areas,” she explained, “to support the counselors and social workers in providing school- based services including training, assessment, consultation, prevention and resilience building programs, and time-limited interventions with individuals and with support groups.”
The particular goal of integrated, community- based services was noted in the settlement. Residents of the Gulf Coast “… face health care challenges that are severe and specific to the particular geography, demography, and economy of this region,” wrote the authors.
“For rural residents in particular, proximity to facilities, cost of treatment, and lack of insurance and transportation make access to quality primary care, behavioral and mental health services, and environmental medical services an ongoing problem.” The issues also include cultural and language barriers and that community health clinics being overburdened due to the impact of recent hurricanes, the authors noted.
The four projects are to weave together and address physical and psychological needs of those in the coastal communities along the Gulf.
Dr. Osofsky explained, “Having psychologists working collaboratively with primary care doctors and psychiatrists in clinic settings in areas heavily impacted by the oil spill will provide the opportunity to outreach to communities, reach more people in need of mental health consultation and services and “de- stigmatize” the delivery of mental and behavioral health services.”
She has been following the status of people in the spill-affected areas. She and others helped to gather survey data from more that 2,000 people, and discovered ongoing psychological issues related to the Deepwater Horizon incident. (See table.)
“The data following the oil spill and other data related to risk indicate a significant relationship between health and mental and behavioral health issues,” she said. “This project has the opportunity to address these issues to improve outcomes.”
A grant of $50 million will go into the “Primary Care Capacity Project,” to help expand primary care services and to build additional capabilities for the region. The Louisiana Public Health Institute and the Alliance Institute in New Orleans will manage this project.
The “Mental and Behavioral Health Capacity Project,” will receive $36 million to address “behavioral and mental health needs, expertise, capacity, and literacy in the Gulf Coast communities …” Dr. Howard Osofsky and Dr Joy Osofsky are project leaders for the Louisiana project through LSU Health Sciences Center and the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics.
“We will be providing psychologists,” Osofsky noted, “as well as other mental health professionals to work with us on this project.”
According to the budget published in the legal papers, nearly $8 million will go toward supplemental therapeutic treatment for individuals in need, during the first two years of the project.
“The MBHCP will be focusing on mental and behavioral health concerns for individuals impacted by the oil spill,” she said. “As occupational stresses and job losses impact on these individuals and they are identified in Federally Qualified Health Centers and other primary care clinics, the MBHCP will deliver supplemental therapeutic services and supportive strength-based services as needed.”
Colleague Dr. Jennifer Langhinrichsen-Rohling at U. of South Alabama, will be “… targeting our efforts toward children, families, and adults who are presenting at Federally Qualified Health Centers,” she told the Times. “I am very excited to be a part of this project; it is a tremendous opportunity for our region.”
Also leading will be University of Southern Mississippi’s Dr. Timothy Rehner, and University of West Florida’s, Dr. Glenn Rohrer.
Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine will receive $15 million for the “Environmental Health Capacity and Literacy Project.” Dr. Maureen Litchveld is project leader. The goal will be to improve environmental health expertise along the Gulf Coast communities.
Dr. Steven Picou from the U. of South Alabama will lead a project to train community health workers, “Community Health Workers Training Project.”
The projects are to build on the existing Federally Qualified Health Center model and the Primary Care Medical Home models, measure community health needs, build health clinic capacity, and to promote community engagement.
Some of the services to be enhanced are family medicine, laboratory, dental, mental and behavioral health, and substance abuse screening.
Other studies are in progress including the LSU HSC “Women and Their Children’s Gulf Health Consortium” (WATCH) and the Tulane School of Public Health’s GROWH study, the Trans- disciplinary Research Consortium for Gulf Resilience on Women’s Health.”
April 2010 — “In-situ burn” to attempt to prevent the spread of oil following explosion at Deepwater Horizon. (Photo by Navy Specialist 2nd Class Justin Stumberg)
From court documents of the BP Medical Settlement. Green outline shows coastal areas of those in the target areas. Grand Isle is Zone A.
Results of survey conducted of 2,000 people in affected areas along the Gulf Coast. (Court documents from BP Medical Settlement.)
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.