Final Practicum Report

Institution

Course Code: Title

November 30, 2023.

Final Practicum Report

Introduction

The practicum site was the Anne Arundel County Community Action Agency (AACCAA), which is the primary anti-poverty agency in the county. Created in 1965 as a result of Congress passage of the Economic Opportunity Act, the AACCAA is tasked with funding local communities to address disparities in healthcare, childcare, employment, and education. The agencys primary purpose is to design and implement interventions to assist low-income residents to become self-sufficient (AACCAA Needs Assessment, 2021). The AACCAA envisions to become the recognized leader in addressing poverty and improving the quality of life in the communities of Anne Arundel County (AACCAA Needs Assessment, 2021, p.6). The agency serves the Anne Arundel community through six programs:

i) Youth Development Services serves children and young people aged between 5 and 24 through educational, preventive and therapeutic services, workforce training, and behavioral health program (AACCAA Needs Assessment, 2021).

ii) Returning Citizens Program supports ex-convicts to become productive community members through workforce training, psychosocial support, and access to rehabilitation services (AACCAA Needs Assessment, 2021).

iii) Health and Wellness Program uses awareness and prevention initiatives to eliminate health disparities for low-income households (AACCAA Needs Assessment, 2021).

iv) Early Head Start offers child care and hands-on education to toddlers aged between zero and three to foster positive development (AACCAA Needs Assessment, 2021).

v) Energy Assistance serves eligible low-income households in the county by supporting them to reduce their electricity and heating bills (AACCAA Needs Assessment, 2021).

vi) Asset-building Initiative empowers residents to achieve independent living through education programs around home ownership, employment, credit repair, banking, and budgeting (AACCAA Needs Assessment, 2021).

My overall goal for the practicum was to design a community-based resource guide that the agency could use to communicate information on essential services and resources to the public, and which community members could access on the agencys website. The primary aim of the resource guide was to bridge the gap between community members and available services by centralizing information on available resources and services, leading to a healthier community.

In addition to designing the resource guide, I sought to accomplish two other deliverables. The first was developing an evaluation proposal that could be used to examine the efficacy and impact of the agencys health and wellness program in reducing mental health among low-income individuals. An evaluation plan would indicate what aspects of the program worked, thus enhancing efficiency in resource allocation by allowing the program managers to commit resources in activities that work (Harris, 2016). Further, an evaluation plan would enhance the quality of the evaluation process, thus helping to build trust among community members and funders (Harris, 2016). The second was conducting a literature review of scholarly sources on the barriers that low-income families face in accessing education and child care. The findings of the literature review will go a long way towards identifying the communitys unique needs and designing programs that address the identified needs. To effectively deliver on my assignment during the practicum, I had to synthesize agency annual reports, collaborate with beneficiaries and staff, and conduct literature evaluations, all of which gave me a complete picture of the agencys impact on the target community.

The public health problem that the practicum project addresses is mental health issues among low-income individuals and households in Anne Arundel County. Mental health remains a fundamental health concern in Maryland, particularly for low-income households without insurance coverage. Data from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) shows that 20 percent of American adults experience a mental illness every year (NAMI, 2021). 2021 data indicates that 181, 000 adults and 1 in every 6 teenagers in the State of Maryland experienced a serious mental illness in that year alone (NAMI, 2021).

Unfortunately, access to mental healthcare services remains a serious challenge for the entire Maryland population. In 2021, for instance, less than 50 percent of adults suffering from mental illness in Maryland were able to access mental healthcare (NAMI, 2021). Cost was cited as the main barrier to access by 33.7 percent of adults who were unable to access mental healthcare services in the state (NAMI, 2021). The shortage of mental health professionals also limits access to care, particularly for low-income families. According to the AACCAA needs assessment report, Anne Arundel County had 1,180 mental health professionals in 2021 (AACCAA Needs Assessment, 2021). This translates to a patient-provider ratio of 490:1, which is lower than the state and country averages, which stand at 360:1 and 270:1 respectively (Brown, 2022). At the same time, the shortage of Spanish-speaking psychiatrists and counselors continues to pose access-related issues for non-English speaking households in the county, who make up 19 percent of the total population (Brown, 2022).

It is important to assess mental health issues because these issues affect individuals, cmmunities, and families, impacting their quality of life (NAMI, 2021). Mental illness increases the risk of school non-completion, suicide, and involvement in crime (NAMI, 2021). High school students with depression are two times more likely than their peers to drop out of school, and people with a history of mental illness are three times more likely to be sent to prison than their peers (NAMI, 2021). In Maryland alone, over 180,000 adults reportedly had suicidal thoughts in 2021, and 650 lost their lives to suicide due to mental illness (NAMI, 2021).

The main topic addressed during the practicum period was the barriers that low-income families face in accessing education, healthcare, and child care. The reviewed literature identified the main barriers to effective healthcare utilization as lack of parental education, insurance-related complications, poor relationships with healthcare providers, and distrust in the healthcare system. Lazar and Davenport (2018) found that parents with low education levels were less likely to sacrifice resources to meet their families healthcare needs, particularly...

Short-term: Improved knowledge on coping strategies among program participants

Do individuals increase their knowledge of coping strategies as a result of participating in the health and wellness program?

Pre-post results of tests assessing participants knowledge on coping strategies

Document Review: comparing pre-post test results from workshops on coping strategies

90 percent of participants report increased knowledge on coping strategies after 3 months as a result of participating in workshops and training sessions

Medium-term: Strengthened mental well-being among low-income residents among program participants.

Do individuals strengthen their mental well-being by participating in the health and wellness program?

Participants mental well-being scores as measured by Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale administered by agency counselors at intervals of 6 months (Frick et al., 2020).

Document Review: Reviewing records of a sample of participants selected randomly and comparing mental wellbeing scores over time.

75 percent of participants report improved mental wellbeing scores after 12 months of participating in the health and wellness program.

Medium-term: Increased awareness and utilization of mental health among program participants.

Do individuals demonstrate increased awareness and utilization of mental health services as a result of participating in the health and wellness program?

Mental health utilization rates, such as Participants self-reported use of resources related to mental health (Tannenbaum et al., 2009)

Document Review: Reviewing participants mental health utilization records and using chi-square and ANOVA to compare rates pre and post-intervention

Mental health utilization rates among program participants increase by 60 percent by the end of one year.

Outputs

Output 1: Participants are engaged in individual and group counseling

How many participants have benefited from individual and group counseling sessions in the health and wellness program?

Counselors records of participants attending each therapeutic session

Document Review: Review records of therapeutic sessions to obtain the number of participants in each session

1,500 residents take part in individual and group counseling sessions in 1 year.

Output 2: Support group sessions are delivered to victims of mental disorders.

How many support group sessions were held to assist victims of mental disorders?

Support group attendance registers

Document Review: Review support group attendance registers to verify the number of sessions delivered

Two support group sessions are held every week to support victims of mental disorders

Output 3: Resources are distributed to households to educate them on topics related to health and wellness.

How many households in the county received resources educating them on topics related to health and wellness over the past year?

Signed lists of beneficiary households.

Document Review: Review beneficiary lists to obtain numbers of households served

Focus group discussions with participants to rate the quality of distributed resources

1,500 households receive resources educating them on topics related to health and wellness every year.

Output 4: Low-income residents know about and engage in the agencys programs.

What percentage of low-income target group residents know about and engage in agency activities?

Survey results

Surveys in the county to determine the proportion of the population that knows about the agencys activities.

50 percent of the low-income population in Anne Arundel County…