Seattle Indian Health Board's project, COVID-19 Behavioral Health Response, will focus on reaching American Indians and Alaska Natives, including those experiencing homelessness, in Seattle/King County, Washington State. Services will include culturally-attuned evidence-based practices embedded within our agency's Indigenous Knowledge-Informed Systems of Care, which combines skills, services, and cultures to holistically integrate primary care, behavioral health care, dental care, Traditional Indian Medicine, housing, nutrition, and other social services. Seventy percent of participants will have SUD, SMI, or co-occurring SMI/SUD.
To remove barriers to safe, COVID-era care among members of our target population who are unhoused, our project will use social distancing therapy rooms and safe therapy rooms with our clinic location. Social distancing therapy rooms allows people to see providers face-to-face from a safer distance, and safe therapy rooms connect people to telehealth through a phone or tablet to reach a physician in a separate location within our clinic or from a confidential space in their home. We plan to develop other safe therapy rooms at our satellite clinics and with community partners who serve our clients, such as King County Work Release. We also plan to identify HIPAA-compliant technology to facilitate access to group therapy.
People served through COVID-19 Behavioral Health Response will access culturally attuned MH and SUD counseling, a new Level 2 Intensive Outpatient Program, Medication Assisted Treatment, Traditional Indian Medicine, and Recovery Support Services. Case managers will help our clients access the services that will support them in their SUD recovery goals and to manage SMI.
This project will ensure that urban AI/ANs in Seattle/King County may access the behavioral health services necessary to their wellbeing during this crucial time. It will also reach our catchment area's healthcare professionals, who have been on the frontlines of COVID-19 response since patient zero was identified in the greater Seattle are in January 2020.