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LFS of Nebraska awarded a RWJF research grant

Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska, in partnership with UNL’s Public Policy Center, has received a $400,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Shirley Terry, COO of Healthcare 360 Integrated Care Clinic, says the grant will help LFS look at whether the services they offer through their Health 360 Integrated Clinic benefit clients and by how much. 

Terry says there will be one treatment group and two comparison groups.  The treatment group will consist of those already receiving behavioral health services through LFS as well as the Health 360 Integrated Care Clinic. 

Terry says the two comparison groups will be made up of those who are only receiving behavioral health services.

"We know that individuals with mental health illness die, on average, about 25 years earlier than others.  Most of the time it’s due to treatable, chronic medical conditions and they’re just not getting care for that.  And on the opposite side, nearly 7 of 10 clients with behavioral health disorders have at least one physical, chronic, medical condition.”

Terry says integrated care is when health care professionals look at all health conditions in a patient at the same time. 

She says Lutheran Family Service’s Health 360 Integrated Care Clinic gets 600-700 visits per month.  For more information, the website is LFSNeb.org.