We were pleased to read the recent essay by Bommersbach et al. entitled “Behavioral Health, Local Health Department Accreditation, and Public Health 3.0: Leveraging Opportunities for Collaboration.”1 As the nation faces the opioid epidemic and continues to address long-standing challenges related to substance abuse and mental illness, it is critical that health departments apply to behavioral health their expertise in promoting their communities’ well-being.
We also appreciate the authors’ proposition that health department accreditation is a powerful tool that could bolster collaborative efforts to promote behavioral health. Throughout the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) Standards and Measures2 are requirements that health departments actively engage to assess the community’s health needs and assets and work collaboratively to address them. Behavioral health issues are commonly identified as priority areas in community health improvement plans (CHIPs). For example, in an analysis of 158 CHIPs from health departments that were accredited in or before 2016, 46% tracked indicators relating to substance abuse and 39% included indicators related to mental health.3
As health departments across the country increasingly understand the importance of behavioral health in their work, it is appropriate for the PHAB standards to evolve to reflect this. In their essay, Bommersbach et al. recommend that PHAB hold a think tank to discuss how to do so. We are excited to report that PHAB held just such a think tank in May 2018, as part of our multiyear process to develop Version 2.0 of the Standards and Measures.4 In that meeting, which brought together experts from practice and research, we reached conclusions very similar to the ones in their essay. In particular, participants agreed that there are opportunities to weave examples related to behavioral health throughout the Standards and Measures. PHAB intends to develop guidance to help health departments identify opportunities to include behavioral health examples when submitting documentation to demonstrate conformity with the Standards and Measures. We encourage individuals who are interested in helping PHAB shape the next version of the Standards and Measures and ensure it reflects the importance of behavioral health to follow and participate in our work on Version 2.0. For more information, please see http://www.phaboard.org/version-2-0.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
The authors are staff at the Public Health Accreditation Board; they have no conflicts to declare.
REFERENCES
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