Sreenand Boddu

Subodh Potla
Maria Acevedo
Austin Li
Merelyn Thomas

1
 Table of Contents

Introduction & Background……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Proposal………….……………….………………………………………….……………………………………..……..………….

Plan…………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………

Staffing…………………..……………………………………………………..……………………………………..……………….

Budget…………………….…………………………………………..….…………………………………………………………....

Authorization Request……………………………………………………….………….…………………………………......

References…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………....

2
 Introduction & Background

Mental health is a prevalent issue in the United States. With our proposal, we at Tenet
Healthcare aim to make a difference in our community by introducing a community-based
rehabilitation program. Tenet Health is a great candidate to tackle this problem because our
consistent efforts to make the community a better place to live aligns with this program’s goals.
Furthermore, our program will begin as a pilot project that aims to shed light and provide
support for those who suffer from mental health conditions. One example is Brigitte DeHart,
who is a 58-year-old homeless woman who suffered from depression and drug addiction
(Farmer 2014). She represents one of approximately 40 million American adults who suffer from
depression and anxiety according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (Facts &
statistics 2016). Furthermore, the Anxiety and Depression Association of America states that
only about one-third of these Americans who suffer from depression and anxiety actually
receive some form of treatment for their mental health illnesses (Facts & statistics 2016).
Brigitte was then able to enroll into a rehabilitation facility hosted by Dallas Life, which was 10-
months long (Farmer 2014). However, once she graduated from the program, Brigitte was able
to learn how to cope with her illness and earn an associate’s degree (Farmer 2014). She is also
actively pursuing a career as a medical billing assistant, and volunteers with the same program
from which she graduated from (Farmer 2014). Looking at the progress that Brigitte was able to
make, we aspire to create change within individuals just like Brigitte and take a stand towards
raising awareness and providing support for those who suffer from mental health in Dallas/Fort
Worth.
Thus, the social need we are addressing is mental health awareness and support. In the
vast amount of mental health issues out there, the most prevalent disorders include mood
disorders and anxiety disorders (NIMH 2016). Mood disorders are characterized by either an
elevation or reduction in a person’s mood (PsychGuides 2017). Depression is an example of a
reduction in mood where a person feels unhappy, worthless, and helpless, etc. which results
from a loss of a loved one, life struggles, or injured self esteem. Anxiety disorders are
characterized by feelings of anxiety and fear due to various triggers (bad memories, family
problems, etc.). Anxiety can also be provoked through actions that one finds stressful, such as
public speaking and giving presentations (NIMH 2016). This can cause physical symptoms such
as an increased heart rate, shakiness, dizziness, etc.

Statistics
Mental health is becoming an increasing problem, as the number of cases are growing. We can
see this spike in statistics at a national, state, and community level.
National
In the US, 1 in 4 adults experience a mental illness every year (Metzinger 2016). Around 800,000
die by suicide because of their mental illness and only 25% of those with a mental illness feel
that others understand them (Metzinger 2016). 60% of adults with a mental illness do not

3
receive treatment (Metzinger 2016).

State
6.4 million Texans have a mental illness and would benefit from treatment (Holmes 2015). Of
those 6.4 million, 2.5 million live below 200% of federal poverty limit (Holmes 2015). 540,000
are eligible for, but not receiving community-based mental health services and only around
200,000 actually received treatment (Holmes 2015).

DFW
258,000 adults in DFW experienced a depressive episode within the past year (Substance Use
and Mental Disorders in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA, 2010)

Figure 1. Past Year Substance Use Disorder and Major Depressive Episode for the Dallas-Fort
Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), Texas, and the United States among
Persons Aged 12 or Older (Substance Use and Mental Disorders in the Dallas-Fort Worth-
Arlington MSA 2010)

4
 Proposal

Our idea to address this social need is to organize mental health counseling and support
groups in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area. We will partner with UT Southwestern and the Bridge for
facilities, staffing, and transportation. UT Southwestern is an established center for medical
services in the Dallas area with a large base of clinics and health care professionals. In addition,
Tenet Healthcare and UT Southwestern have a positive past working relationship such as in
2012, when Tenet Healthcare made a financial contribution to UT Southwestern’s William P.
Clements Hospital in Dallas. The Bridge is a homeless shelter located in Downtown Dallas that
will provide transportation to the participants who may need it. Brigitte participated in a 10
month long program that sought to reintegrate homeless participants into society through
career guidance and life coaching while treating addiction and mental health. Through the
CometsCare initiative, we will employ an 8 week curriculum based program to address the
social need of mental health specifically. According to research done by The National Institute
for Health and Care Excellence, 5 to 10 week long therapy programs have positive
improvements in participants (NICE 2009) .

Tenet Healthcare’s goal is to improve the health of people in the community, so this
program will help address an often neglected aspect of health. Furthermore, addressing the
issue of mental health will allow more clients to utilize Tenet Healthcare services, which will
help the company itself grow and expand its business. Through our program, we will bring light
to the issue of mental health in our society. This will allow those that are struggling with mental
health problems and that are afraid or ashamed to speak out to find a refuge and safe place to
discuss their struggle and find the best treatment for them. Based on the success of our pilot
program in the DFW area, we will reach out to the other major cities with affiliated medical
schools to create similar programs.

5
 Plan

Program Details

The 8 week curriculum based program will consist of a 2 week screening period followed
by the 6 week therapy period. Everything occurs on Saturday and Sunday between 8AM and
12PM. During the screening period, the three UT Southwestern licensed psychologists will
screen patients to find those with mild to moderately severe mental illness and enroll a
maximum of 30 participants. This screening is to make sure that the participants will benefit
from the program and not strictly need medication. It ensures that the participants will be safe
for their own well being as well as the other participants, program staff, and volunteers. For the
six weeks of therapy, we will split the participants in half. Group A (consisting of 15 participants)
does cognitive behavioral therapy with 5 medical student volunteers and 10 undergraduate
student volunteers. Group B (consisting of the other 15 participants) does group psychotherapy
with 3 psychologists. On Sunday, these groups will switch, and this process is repeated for 6
weeks.

Techniques

We will utilize two techniques through our counseling sessions: cognitive behavioral
therapy and group psychotherapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy aims to change negative
patterns of thought and behavior by challenging participants to find a positive perspective
(Martin 2016). This form of therapy is largely done through activities and discussions that the
medical student volunteers and undergraduate student volunteers will supervise. Group
psychotherapy on the other hand, aims to provide counseling to participants to find the root
cause of their behavior (Johnson 2017). It can get sensitive and highly personal, so it requires
trained healthcare professionals, so our three licensed UT Southwestern psychologists will do
this form of therapy. Using these two techniques, we plan to help alleviate the struggles of

6
 mental health disorders, while also bringing about awareness to the community since both the
Tenet staff and volunteers (medical and undergraduate students) are taking part first-hand.

Location

Our sessions will be held at the Union Gospel Mission Shelter Clinic that UT
Southwestern health care professionals work in. It is close to UT Southwestern itself as well as
The Bridge homeless shelter and the DART station for transportation needs. Union Gospel
Mission has an established relationship with The Bridge since many of the homeless members
seek medical treatment there during the weekdays. However, it is closed during the weekends,
so we chose this location because that when we plan to do our therapy sessions.
UT Southwestern
Parkland Hospital
Medical Center

Union Gospel Mission

The Bridge
Homeless Shelter

Benefits & Risks

7
 In terms of benefits and risks, we have broken down our benefits into 2 subcategories:
the community and Tenet. The major benefit to our program is that we are able to make a
positive impact in both of these area. Within the community, the support that we will provide to
those who suffer from mental health will be long-lasting and immeasurable. Moreover, we see
that our program will provide employee engagement with the community.
As is the case with any pilot study, our program also contains a few risks as outlined in
the chart. However, by hiring a security guard, encouraging participant turnout, and holding a
screening period for the participants, we hope to minimize these risks.

Program Timeline

8
 The timeline for our program will span a total of eight months. On March 9, we will pitch
our idea to Tenet Healthcare and on March 28 we will pitch to the Dallas Chamber of
Commerce. We will reserve the Union Gospel Mission site on June 21. On August 24 we will
begin recruiting staff and volunteers. This is the time when students begin receiving their
schedule for the fall semester so they can plan the days they will be available and can sign up to
volunteer. Likewise, many doctors and staff volunteers will also be making plans for the fall. We
will begin the program on September 23 with the screening sessions. Two weeks later, the
actual group therapy will begin on October 1. The program will end on December 9, and at this
time we will begin analyzing the results of our pilot program.

Marketing
In order to recruit participants for our program, we will be giving out flyers and
brochures throughout UTSW, Parkland and The Bridge. These places were chosen because they
see heavy traffic of people of lower socioeconomic status and they are already involved with the
project. Aside from flyers and brochures, we will also have staff from these places personally
refer participants to us if they believe they meet our criteria of mild mood disorder and low or
absent income.

Staffing

9
 In order for our Comet Cares initiative to run smoothly we will be utilizing staff and
volunteers from Tenet Healthcare, UT Southwestern and The University of Texas at Dallas.

Personnel Quantity Roles

Tenet Healthcare Employees 16 Registration, Logistics, etc.
UTSW Licensed Psychologists 3 Group Psychotherapy & Screening
UTD Student Volunteers 10 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
UTSW Medical Students 5 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

We will utilize 1 Tenet Healthcare employee for each day of the weekend for 8
consecutive weeks, or 16 total employees. As a compensation for their time and effort, Tenet
Healthcare employees will receive $50 gift cards at the conclusion of the program. At Tenet
Healthcare, employee involvement in the community is an aspect of our company that we value
and would like to encourage through this program.
3 Licensed Psychologists will be hired from UT Southwestern to conduct the screening
process in the beginning of our program and to also plan and administer the group
psychotherapy session to all participants. These psychologists will be supervisors over the
program and will be compensated $3200 for their work.
Tenet Healthcare strives to bring awareness towards mental health. In order to
encourage youth involvement towards this cause we have decided to include student volunteers
in our program. These volunteers will consist of 10 undergraduate student volunteers from UT
Dallas and 5 medical students from UT Southwestern Medical School. Our undergraduate
volunteers will be recruited from pre-health student organizations from UT Dallas such as Alpha
Epsilon Delta, Molding Doctors, and HOSA. Two undergraduate students will be working
alongside 1 medical student to organize and conduct the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy sessions.
Prior to beginning their service, these student volunteers will undergo a detailed orientation
and training seminar to understand their specific duties, protocol, and how to behave around
participants in unique situations. Student volunteers will gain volunteer hours, internship credit,
and valuable experiences that they will be able to write about on their resume. We believe that
by allowing these volunteers to get a first-hand experience working with those struggling with
anxiety and depression, the stigma around mental health would be decreases and students
would be left with a lasting impact that would be shared to the rest of the community. In
addition we will be able to build a good working relationship between the companies of Tenet
Healthcare, UT Southwestern, and UT Dallas

Budget

10
 Psychologists $9,600
Staffing (3 total)

Security $720
Guard

Employee $800
Gift Cards
($50 for 16
employees)

Location Union Gospel $3,200

Rental Mission
Facility

Marketing Flyers $75

Brochures $125

Transportation The Bridge $400

Shuttles

Total $14,920

Our total budget will come out to $14,920. Tenet Healthcare will pay for 50% and the
Dallas Chamber of Commerce will pay for the other 50%. The staffing expense will cover the

11
salaries for three psychologists, a security guard and fifty dollar gift cards to compensate Tenet
Healthcare employees. This will be the bulk of our expense since the program doesn’t use up
many resources besides human labor. The next largest expense is the price to rent the Union
Gospel Mission Facility. This will take up about a quarter of our budget.
The last two components, Marketing and Transportation, only make up 4% of our budget
combined. The marketing cost is the price of printing out flyers and brochures to recruit
participants. The transportation cost is the price of using The Bridge’s shuttle service to
transport participants between The Bridge and Union Gospel Mission. While the Union Gospel
Mission is a regular destination for their shuttle service, we believe it is fair to compensate them
since it usually does not make these trips during the weekend.

12
 Authorization Request

Through our CometsCare community outreach initiate, we strive to make a difference in

our community and provide awareness and support for those who suffer from mental health
conditions. By signing below, you will be taking a stand in support of mental health and are
hereby granting permission to support our proposal.

Name (Print):___________________ Signature:__________________ Date:_________

13
 References

Holmes, L. (2015, January 14). 19 Statistics That Prove Mental Illness Is More Prominent Than
You Think. Healthy Living. Retrieved April 12, 2017, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/01/mental-illness-statistics_n_6193660.html

Metzinger, J. (2016). Texas Mental Health Numbers. Mental Health America of Greater Dallas.
Retrieved April 12, 2017, from http://www.mhadallas.org/wp-
content/uploads/2014/12/TEXAS-MENTAL-HEALTH-NUMBERS.pdf

Substance Use and Mental Disorders in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA. (2010). The
NSDUH Report. Retrieved April 12, 2017, from
https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUHMetroBriefReports/NSDUHMet
roBriefReports/NSDUH-Metro-Dallas.pdf

Substance Use and Mental Disorders in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA. (2010).
Substance Use Chart. The NSDUH Report. Retrieved April 12, 2017, from
https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUHMetroBriefReports/NSDUHMet
roBriefReports/NSDUH-Metro-Dallas.pdf

Famer, L. (2014, November). Dallas Life provides shelter, programs to area homeless. The Dallas
Morning News. Retrieved April 14, 2017, from
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/rockwall/2014/11/21/dallas-life-provides-shelter-programs-
to-area-homeless

Facts & statistics | Anxiety and Depression Association of America. (2016, August). Retrieved
April 14, 2017, from https://www.adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2009, October). Depression in adults:
recognition and management. Retrieved April 18, 2017, from
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg90/ifp/chapter/treatments-for-mild-to-moderate-
depression

Martin, B. (2016, July). In-Depth: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Retrieved April 18, 2017, from
https://psychcentral.com/lib/in-depth-cognitive-behavioral-therapy/

Johnson, B. (2017). Psychotherapy: Understanding group therapy. American Psychological

Association. Retrieved April 19, 2017, from http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/group-therapy.aspx

PsychGuides. (2017). Mood Disorder Symptoms, Causes and Effect. Retrieved April 19, 2017,
from http://www.psychguides.com/guides/mood-disorder-symptoms-causes-and-effect/
National Institute of Mental Health. (2016, March). Anxiety Disorders. Retrieved April 19, 2017,
from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml

14
15