The Maryland Resilience Breakthrough Series Collaborative: A Quality Improvement Initiative for Children’s Mental Health Services Providers

• Published in: Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) Vol. 66; no. 8; pp. 778 - 780
• Main Authors: Backer, Penina M, Kiser, Laurel J, Gillham, Jane E, Smith, Joan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Psychiatric Association 01-08-2015; American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc
• Subjects: Child; Child Health Services - standards; Cooperative Behavior; Health Personnel; Health services; Humans; Maryland; Mental health care; Mental Health Services - standards; Outcome and Process Assessment (Health Care); Quality Improvement - standards; Quality of care; Resilience, Psychological; Maryland; United States > US
• ISSN: 1075-2730; 1557-9700
• DOI: 10.1176/appi.ps.201500036

The Maryland Resilience Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC), a recent quality improvement initiative for children’s mental health services providers, is aimed at bridging the gap between resilience theory and mental health service practices. Six provider teams across the state attended resilience training sessions and incrementally implemented practice improvements at their agencies. Group discussions and surveys administered to teams before and after the BSC indicate that the BSC facilitated breakthrough changes in the areas of resilience-enhanced assessment and treatment practices, as well as family and community resilience. This column presents quantitative and anecdotal outcomes and makes recommendations for the provider community.