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FINDINGS
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Navigate the System
Now that the Affordable Care Act is up and running, most Americans who have been uninsured can get coverage—but the process can be daunting, especially to lowincome and immigrant populations. Why do I need insurance? What does the term “copay” mean? What’s a “deductible,” and how much does it cost? What’s an “exchange”? These are the kinds of questions that keep people from getting insurance and prevent navigators—hired by federally qualified health centers and social service agencies to help walk people through the process of getting health insurance—from providing the most effective enrollment assistance, say SPH faculty members Minal Patel and Richard Lichtenstein. In a project funded by the National Institute of Healthcare Reform, Patel and Lichtenstein are partnering with eight community-based organizations to develop a website to address these issues. The website will contain engaging videos aimed at educating and empowering vulnerable members of Detroit’s African-American, Latino, and Arab-American communities—with the goal of helping them enroll in Medicaid or private health insurance plans and using their insurance effectively.
Why do I need insurance? What does the term “copay” mean? What’s a “deductible,” and how much does it cost? What’s an “exchange”? To date, the team has identified key issues facing Detroiters, both with and without health insurance, and the group is now developing content. Topics include “enrolling in the right plan for you,” “how to identify a plan whose network includes your preferred provider,” and “what documents to bring when you visit a navigator.” The group will begin disseminating and evaluating their website next year and eventually hope to see it used nationwide. <
The original idea—an app to help people with HIV manage their health and well-being—won first place in last year’s SPH Innovation in Action (IIA) competition. But follow-up research showed that people living with HIV, as well as the case managers and community organizations who serve them, were in greater need of assistance navigating the health system at large—not just hospitals and clinics but “all those underlying things that go into good health, that people often take for granted until they actually need them or struggle to get them,” says Ryan Gourley, one of three members of the winning IIA team. Welcome to LivWel, the new web app under development by Gourley, a recent U-M; Ryan Sanii, a recent SPH graduate; and Maria Gosur, a graduate student in the U-M School of Information. Still in the early stages of development, LivWel is designed to provide a personalized, interactive way for people living with (or at risk for) HIV—and eventually others—to find and engage the social services they need. Web- and mobile-friendly, LivWel aims to reduce health disparities by being free and accessible to as many people as possible. For more visit www.livwel.co. <
LivWel is designed to provide a personalized, interactive way for people living with (or at risk for) HIV—and eventually others—to find and engage the social services they need.
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Connect Online Daniel Eisenberg, associate professor of health management and policy at SPH and faculty associate at the Population Studies Center in the U-M Institute for Social Research, is exploring use of online video in confronting mental health issues. Two of his projects, Tinyshifts and Athletes Connected, employ brief videos as a means of engaging students and student athletes on mental health topics. “I’m interested in large-scale, low-cost, population-level approaches to improving mental health,” Eisenberg explains. “Online video seemed like a great way to reach large numbers of young people.” While not a replacement for a full intervention, the videos help normalize the discussion of mental health topics, and ideally, guide individuals toward seeking more serious assistance. —Beth Miller <