Where policy and people meet
An AHCJ summit on mental and behavioral health
Scroll down for a recap on what happened at AHCJ’s 2024 fall summit in Washington, D.C.
What happens when good intentions meet the reality of the challenging, real world of mental and behavioral health access? At this 1.5-day AHCJ summit at Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, D.C., we explored that question and provided a closer look at the experiences of people striving to provide support and those who need it.
Here are some of the topics we covered:
- How a 988 technology tweak could make a big difference to people in crisis.
- The role physicians could play in suicide prevention with their patients who have access to firearms.
- How to report on unhealthy alcohol use in a country where drinking is the norm.
- What people on the front lines are doing to improve cultural competence and fill gaps in the continuum of care.
Session summaries and audio recordings
Thursday
Friday
HIPS Development Associate Shareese C. Mone and Development Manager Bo Belotti talk to journalists. Photo by Kevin Ridder
HIPS Development Manager Bo Belotti speaks to journalists. Photo by Kevin Ridder
HIPS ID Clinic Manager Phyllis Bijole speaks to journalists. Photo by Kevin Ridder
HIPS Development Associate Shareese C. Mone shows off the strength of HIPS. Photo by Kevin Ridder
Fall summit field trip gave close look at a D.C. program for sex workers, drug users
There are roughly 1 million sex workers in the U.S., but there is “scarce investment” in services for those who aren’t street-based, according to a recent Lancet study. Honoring Individual Power & Strength (HIPS), a harm reduction community-based organization in Washington, D.C., came into being in 1993 to help improve health care access for drug users and sex workers. HIPS emphasizes providing “non-judgmental harm reduction services, advocacy, and community engagement led by those with lived experience.”
Last year, HIPS provided more than 10,000 services to sex workers and drug users at the organization’s sites and on the streets. According to its 2022 impact report, HIPS has worked in recent years to provide equitable access to mpox and COVID vaccines.
On the free field trip, participants heard about the wide variety of services HIPS provides these often stigmatized communities including, education, clinical care, housing support, harm reduction counseling, peer support groups, shower facilities, community lunch, substance use treatment, and more.
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