January 14, 2013
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Amy LaFrance
Minnesota Community Measurement
612.454.4827
lafrance@mncm.org
Ashley Williams
PineappleRM
612.226.5389
ashley@pineapplerm.com
Barb Tabor, APR
Tabor Communications Consulting
651.230.9192
barbaratabor@comcast.net
Fact Sheet
Help and Healing Toolkit: Depression Resources for Care and Recovery
MN Community Measurement and the Minnesota Health Action Group are pleased to provide the
following information about their collaborative effort and design of the Help and Healing toolkit.
What is it? Help and Healing is a resource that combines knowledge from clinical practice with quality health
care improvement principles.
Who is it for? The toolkit is designed for health care professionals and individuals—including patients who
have depression and their loved ones.
What is the purpose? The goal of the Help and Healing toolkit is to help people with depression get better,
faster by improving depression care in Minnesota. Help and Healing provides evidence-based treatment
guidance for professionals and easy-to-use resources to speed recovery for people with depression.
Where can I get it? The toolkit can be accessed online at MNHealthScores.org/helpandhealing.
History and development of the Help and Healing toolkit
The project was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Aligning Forces for Quality Initiative
(AF4Q). The Foundation supports efforts to lift the overall quality of health care in targeted communities
throughout the country, reduce racial and ethnic disparities, and provide models for national reform.
The Help & Healing Toolkit helps providers with their reporting initiatives on depression.
MN Community Measurement set a goal of depression remission at six months, meaning that within six
months of beginning treatment for depression, a patient should be in remission. The Minnesota Health Action
Group added depression remission at six months to its pay-for-performance program, Minnesota Bridges to
Excellence, to encourage quality improvement in depression care.
Some of the resources in the Help and Healing toolkit build on an ongoing depression treatment initiative in
Minnesota. This initiative emphasized the concept of collaborative care, which aims to improve the treatment
of depression by enhancing the partnership between the provider and the patient, and that put patient
monitoring and data management tools in the hands of providers.
The resource is uniquely designed to build the relationship between patient and provider through tailored
materials that span the course of depression treatment. Help and Healing makes it easier for providers to
describe depression signs and symptoms, explain the importance of quality treatment plans, practice
evidence-based strategies to manage symptoms, and implement systems to better measure progress of care.
The toolkit can be downloaded at MN HealthScores (MNHealthScores.org/helpandhealing), a consumerfocused web site that features reports and resources about the quality of Minnesota health care, including
patient experience, depression treatment, and average cost of procedures.
About MN Community Measurement
MN Community Measurement (MNCM.org) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of health care in
Minnesota by publicly reporting quality results. A trusted source of healthcare quality measurement and public reporting
since 2003, MN Community Measurement works with health plans, providers, employers and consumers to spur quality
improvement, reduce healthcare costs and maximize value.
About the Minnesota Health Action Group
Formed in 1988, the Minnesota Health Action Group (formerly the Buyers Health Care Action Group) is a coalition of
private and public health care purchasers representing the interests of the organizations that pay for health care goods
and services—those that have the highest stake in ensuring health care dollars are carefully spent. The mission of the
organization is to improve the value of the health care system in Minnesota, driving for higher quality, lower cost and
better health outcomes for all. To learn more, visit MNHealthActionGroup.org.