For today’s blog post, I’d like to highlight a very exciting pillar of the AYAH National Resource Center’s programmatic work: the Adolescent and Young Adult Behavioral Health Collaborative Improvement & Innovation Network. Yes, that’s quite a long name; let’s lovingly refer to this project as “the CoIIN” for the rest of this post.  We at AMCHP, in partnership with the National Improvement Partnership Network (NIPN), are thrilled to have the privilege of administering the CoIIN (for those that are unfamiliar: what is a CoIIN?) because it’s a shining example of how state MCH programs are at the forefront of making sure the rubber does indeed meet the road in efforts to improve AYA well-being.  You can read the full announcement of the CoIIN project for more details, but here’s the 30 second version:

• Who’s involved?  There are a total of five multi-disciplinary state teams participating in the CoIIN (Indiana, Minnesota, South Carolina, Wisconsin, and Vermont).  AMCHP and NIPN serve as technical assistance supports to all five teams.
• What are the state teams trying to achieve? They’re working to increase the rate of major depressive episode screenings among patients aged 12-25 using an age-appropriate screening tool with documentation of a follow-up plan if the screen is positive.
• What’s the approach? Simply put, each state has two teams: a public health team and a clinical team. The clinical team will work directly towards improving screening rates in their settings using a quality improvement methodology, while the public health team will work on improving the systems that surround clinics in order to remove barriers to screenings for both providers and the families they serve.
• Still curious?  Check out the official CoIIN announcement and/or contact Anna Corona (acorona@amchp.org) or Iliana White (iwhite@amchp.org).

We will be sure to sprinkle updates on this exciting CoIIN work throughout this blog over the next year.  Be on the lookout for guest writers, and if we have some brave souls—video updates! Let us know your thoughts below, or on Twitter by using the #ScreenToInterveneForAYAs and tagging us in your post @AMCHP_GrowingUp!