Text Box: D & M Consultants, Inc.

WINTER  2004
Text Box: INSIDE THIS ISSUE Spotlight Solo Outcomes Assessment Management Report Satisfaction Survey Summary Incident Report Analysis Annual Barriers to Service Delivery Individual Program News from Ever-Glo Janitorial Program Updates

The spotlight for D & M Consultant’s Inc. winter newsletter is shining brightly on Ana.  Ana’s first year with D & M was in 1998 where she lived in the Royal Oak apartment program.  She moved to the lodge in the next year to work for Ever-Glo Janitorial Service.  Ana has been a very valuable asset to Ever-Glo.  She holds the position of Secretary for the business as well as the Supplies Coordinator.  Both of these jobs keep her busy but she still finds time to be the lodge finance officer as well.  And the bills always get paid on time!  Ana has earned the respect of her peers and co workers for her hard work and dedication.  One of her favorite hobbies is to crochet.  She makes beautiful afghans.  Ana’s favorite food is roast duck and she visits a vintage Chinese market to get some whenever she can.  Ana has a calm demeanor and she always greets you with a smile and kind words. Ana’s infectious personality and kind heart make her a favorite among her peers.  As this spotlight shines brightly on Ana, everyone at D & M  is very proud of her and wish her the very best to come. 

Text Box: CONGRATULATIONS Text Box: ACCREDITED Text Box: D & M Consultants, Inc. would like to extend our condolences to the family of Mark J. who recently lost his mother after a long battle with cancer. Text Box: SPOTLIGHT SOLO

 

 

 

 

D & M Consultants, Inc. set the following objectives for their performance indicators in 2003. They were: A) Satisfaction of services delivered.  Consumers surveyed gave a 96% rate of satisfaction.  Parents/Relatives returned surveys for a total score of 100% satisfaction. A new and revised survey sent to professionals/stakeholders was returned for an overall average score of 88.3%.  B) Effectiveness of services delivered.  Consumers were asked to give feedback on how empowered they feel while part of the D & M program.  A score of 82% was given.  Hospital free days for psychiatric reasons were calculated to show a score of 99.7%.  Educational workshops and training sessions were implemented throughout the year to assist with the goal of reducing the number of incidents by 5 from the previous year.  We met this objective with 80% reducing the number of reports by 4.  C)  Efficiency of services was determined with two objectives, to reduce service barriers by providing educational workshops to consumers and to maximize the occupancy of all available beds.  D & M met 13 out of 14 service barriers objectives.  We were just short of our minimum objective to maximize occupancy of 80%                   

Outcomes Assessment Management Report

 

 

 

Twice a year, D & M Consultants, Inc. asks consumers to give them feedback on the services they receive, surveys were distributed in both May and November of 2003.  Surveys returned are reviewed and responses are entered into D & M’s automated data collection system.  A scoring system is in place to determine the level of satisfaction.  The highest possible is 4.0.  Those who scored a 3.0 or above on the evaluated objectives indicate satisfaction with services received.  In May of 2003, the average overall program score for satisfaction was 3.14.  In November of this last year, the overall score was 3.29. 

 

As with the member/consumer survey, parents/relatives were presented with a satisfaction survey in June and December. The results of these two survey periods were: June 2003, average overall response was 3.35.  In December the average score was 3.51

 

Annually, D & M distributes a professional stakeholder survey to individuals from their funding sources.  Surveys this year were sent to case managers, nurses, psychiatrists, contract specialists and administrators from both Easter Seals of SE MI and Community Network Services. As with consumer/relative surveys, the information is reviewed, aggregated and entered into our data collection system.  The rating scale is 4.0 strongly agree to 0.0 strongly disagree.  The results from the survey this year were: Level of satisfaction with program 3.3, Consumers treated with dignity & respect 3.67, Elevated quality of life 3.1, Health & safety 3.0 Staffing 4.0, Management 3.6 and Programming 4.0. Areas of strength noted were: Staff promote independence and provide for consumer needs, staff have good communication skills with other team members, they are friendly, outgoing dedicated and responsible.  Suggestions for improvement were:  Provide additional transportation that is flexible to accommodate vocational and educational needs.    

D & M Consultants, Inc. would like to thank you for participating in our surveys and questionnaires we send out.

You are our customers and your input is very valuable to us.

SATISFACTION SURVEY RESULTS

D & M GETS GOOD GRADES ALL AROUND

D & M Consultants, Inc. Winter Issue Page  2

                                                                     D & M Consultants, Inc.  Winter Issue Page  3  

Whether you pick up a paper or have watched any television, you are bound to come across a story relating to Michigan’s economic woes.  It is estimated that Michigan’s unemployment rate is two percent higher than the national average and the Governor has already prepared Michiganian ‘s to expect to be in a deeper hole fiscally next year.  How do small business survive?  The fact is many do not and in Michigan that is a reality for many small business owners.  Companies are not setting aside money in their budgets for certain “line items” such as cleaning or janitorial services.  They are doing these tasks themselves by relying on the current workforce to chip in.  The larger problem is that when these companies do allocate funds for the above mentioned services, the competition is much steeper and the lowest bid is usually the winner.  The questions we have asked ourselves here at Ever-Glo is: How can we better ourselves, continue to grow as a business and remain part of the working community?

 

An idea was suggested that Ever-Glo and it’s employees begin to look into other business opportunities.  Buying a business that someone is selling or franchising into a pre-established company.

*One out of sixteen workers in this country are employed by a franchise and this market accounts for over one trillion dollars in annual sales.

Some of Ever-Glo’s employees have agreed to do research on what business opportunities are available in Michigan and to begin learning more about franchising and the opportunities available in this area.  In upcoming newsletters, we will outline our findings and report on how we are progressing.

 

* source: Wall Street Journal 12/15/03.

EVER-GLO….EVER CHANGING

A FINE ACT OF BALANCE

As a Crew Chief for Ever-Glo, I face different challenges each day.  I have been a Crew Chief for a long time now and I am always dealing with new situations.  My crew would have you think that keeping track of hours is my most important duty, but in fact that is just one of them.  I check the crews quality each night and I work on equipment if there is a breakdown.  Contracts may have special requests and I am in charge of assigning this work.  I also have to discipline people who do a poor job at work.  We try to work together to solve the problem.

 

As President of Ever-Glo, I also have things to do during the day.  I complete the weekly schedule and order supplies every Monday.  I am in charge of running our Officer and Business Meetings.  I also work with the Business Manager on other special projects. Recently, we have set goals for 2004. We want to add contracts, raise our attendance percentage and keep quality performance up. 

 

The biggest challenge I have is separating work from home.  Because we are close as a group it is sometimes hard to be the supervisor at work.  I have learned some good communication skills that help. 

 

CHALLENGES AS A CREW CHIEF

IN OUR COMMUNITY

D & M is proud to announce that our participation in one of our community service projects this year was a huge success.  We chose to adopt a family during the holidays through the Santa’s Helper program with Easter Seals of SE Michigan. Consumers, staff, friends & family donated over $280.00.  With these generous donations, we were able to help a family of three remember this as a better year.  Thanks to all for your kindness!  

The Walking Club is pleased to announce that the snow, sleet, freezing rain and temperatures below zero have not kept us from venturing out.  For the past few months we have enjoyed the warmth and window shopping of Northland Mall.  With Spring just around the corner, we are happy to provide you with our total miles since May of 2003. Ana-78, Chuck-71, Chris-69, Darrel– 68.5, Mark-68, Val-67, John-55, Jon-54, Jim-32, James-30.5, Sue-27, Brian-17 & Matt-13.5.   

Text Box: “People will try to tell you That all the great opportu nities have been snapped up. In reality, the world changes every second, blowing new opportunities in all directions, including yours.”

D & M Consultants, Inc. Winter  Issue Page  4

INFORMATION UPDATES
Text Box: NAMI Walks May 23rd, 2004 Belle Isle, Detroit 3.1 Miles Nationwide fundraising and mental health awareness walk to be held in 40 communities around the country. For more information call Dr. Hubert Huebel at 313-359-0253 or Kristina Zuick at NAMI Michigan 1-800-331-4264

Notice of Meeting

 

There will be a town hall meeting sponsored by

Oakland County Community Health on March 8th, 2004. Time is from 7-9PM and the location is:

Covert Center 1150 Scott Lake Road. Waterford, MI 48328

State Senator Deborah Cherry will be there along with members from the

Michigan Mental Health

Commission appointed by Gov. Granholm.

Michigan IAPSRS

 

14th Annual Conference

April 28th, 2004

Lansing Radisson Hotel

Featuring: Dan Fisher, MD, Ph.D,

 co-Director,National

Empowerment Center and member of the president’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health.

For more information

contact: Steve Szilvagyi

szilvagy@umich.edu

PROGRAM UPDATES

Kinsel Lodge

 

Kinsel has been a good home for me and my housemates. This past year our Lodge won the award for “Outstanding Lodge of the Year”. All of us have been busy . I graduated from OCC with a Degree in General Studies, Matt attended Schoolcraft College, Brian was enrolled in Baker College and Chris has stayed busy doing Officer work for Ever-Glo. We still have Zippy the house cat, he loves to wake Matt up for an early morning feeding.  Kinsel is the coolest place to live, the staff help me out in tough situations. We enjoy maintaining our home. I am looking forward to spring so we can plant some flowers.       

- John R.                 

Words from Tom

 

Last year on my birthday (October 8th), I attended “Power Day” at the State Capitol in Lansing. There I listened to speeches and saw lobbyists. The purpose of the rally was to tell Governor Granholm not to cut the budget for Mental Health Care. Also, while I was there, I stole away and took a self guided tour inside the Capitol Bulding. Inside I saw all these portraits of past Governors and said to myself “Gee, I know what he did.” Oh well, it was an interesting day. See you soon.

-Tom G.

Recreational Corner

 

A few of the recreational activities this year include bowling, lunches, and a special trip this summer. Fall will bring a trip to the cider mill to enjoy cider and donuts. As the Rec. Coordinator I encourage everyone to participate in as many activities as they can.

-Mark A.

Working Together

I have worked for Ever-Glo since August of 2002. Working on a crew is interesting and I have learned a lot about the janitorial business. As with any business, the more that you work together as a team the better and higher quality the job becomes. I am convinced that team work is the way to go.

-Eric S

D & M Consultants, Inc. Winter Issue Page 5
Text Box: 2003 INCIDENT REPORT ANALYSIS Text Box: REMOVING OBSTACLES TO SERVICE DELIVERY Text Box: One of the most effective tools D & M has utilized in the last few years is The Annual Self Assessment of Barriers to Service Delivery. This has been our guide as we work with consumers on how to remove obstacles that get in the way of progress towards fulfilling their goals and desires. We get input from consumers, gather information from Incident Reports and observe areas that impede one’s progress. And then we get to work! At D & M, we feel that knowledge is the first key to start knocking down those barriers. We set a goal this year to provide educational workshops for our consumers on topics relevant to issues that would be beneficial to them at home, work and in the community. The barriers we observed centered around communication, overpowering the stigma of mental illness and community interaction. We started the year with a medication in-service presented by Val. The importance of medication, proper documentation and common side affects was addressed. One of the most well received workshops was on anger management. In this workshop Jim and Rodney offered consumers the opportunity to talk about what makes them angry, what they do about it and most importantly how to handle anger effectively. Val and Rodney presented another workshop on Auto Care, what you need to know about taking care of your vehicle, including a maintenance list and emergency preparedness kit. Val gave a Recipient Rights in-service. This proved to be another good arena for consumers to discuss issues of concern. We ended our year with topics centered on communication. Jim and Rodney presented a refresher course on Social Etiquette and manners in the home and community. Many consumers shared stories and ideas on how to be more aware of their actions. The last workshop for 2003 was on Effective Communication. Sue gave consumers the opportunity to try out some acting skills, role playing on how to communicate effectively and not so effectively.

 

Members of the safety committee as well as staff from D & M are committed to their goal of incident report reduction.  2003 is the second year in a row that the annual incident report analysis verified progress toward this goal.  Aggregate data from all four programs for the year 2003 reflects that there were no incidents reported in the following categories: Abuse, Neglect, Sexual Harassment, Exploitation, Blood Borne Pathogen Exposure, Medication Refusal, Aggression and Physical Intervention.  Incidents were reported in the following categories: Serious Injury/ER Care (4), Vehicle Accidents (1), Medication Error (11), Self Abuse (3) and miscellaneous (3).

 

The largest category of incidents generated was from medication error.  In all instances, this involved an individual missing medication at the prescribed time.  In the category of serious injury/ER care, two instances resulted in transport to ER for psychiatric admission.  One was the result of prescribed medication changes which caused the need for hospitalization due to negative affects of the change and the other instance resulted from an individual who stopped taking their medication and became symptomatic.

 

The information collected for the incident report analysis is very important for the safety committee and staff at D & M.  This analysis becomes the guide for the work we need to do in the next year.  Not only do we see areas of strength, for example, no incidents were reported from safety issues, but the analysis gives an overall picture so we can put emphasis on strengthening areas that need it.  This is one of the tools we use to make sure the services we provide are the best they can be.    

Text Box: D & M Consultants, Inc. is a 501c3 Not-For-Profit Corporation holding contracts with Community Network Services and Easter Seals Adult Mental Health Services Text Box: Service Sites Service Sites Premier Lodge: 25071 W. 10 Mile Rd. Southfield, MI 48034 (248)352-4995 Kinsel Lodge: 24803 Kinsel Rd. Southfield, MI 48034 (248) 357-6426 D & M Apartment Program: 1923 Crooks Rd. Apt. # 18 Royal Oak, MI 48073 (248) 584-3007

D & M Consultants, Inc.

25071 W. 10 Mile Road

Southfield, MI 48034

SOME “THINGS” TO TALK ABOUT

 

News about Headaches

 

A recent study at Lane College has pointed out that Digestive trouble is the number one cause of headaches.. It is reported that some food compounds are vasospastic, which causes arteries to constrict blood flow.  This affects the central nervous system and can cause head pain.  If you’re prone to headaches, avoid dairy products, chocolate, wheat gluten and high-fructose corn syrup. 

 

Save on Drugs!

 

If the prescription drugs you need are not covered by your insurance, you may find savings on the Web:

Pillbot.com and DestinationRX.com; you can search online pharmacies.  BenefitsCheckup.org; lists discount programs available in more than 30 states.  TogetherRX.com discount card backed by seven drug companies.

 

 

 

 

              

CONGRATULATIONS

 

Congratulations to Jan Hurst, Clinical Director for Progressive Residential Services (PRS is a sister company to D & M).  Jan is now a Certified Care Manager; this title will allow Jan to identify high risk patients and assess opportunities to coordinate and manage patient’s total care needs. 

40 YEARS OF CMH!

 

Mental Illness strikes one in five, does not discriminate and is more common than cancer, lung and heart disease.  Not long ago, “afflicted” individuals were placed in hospitals. After the development of several medicines that helped manage mental illness and promote recovery, it became clear that successfully living in the community was possible for many patients.  The result was the beginning of the Community Mental Health Movement in 1963.
Oval:

We’re on the Web…

www.dmconsultants.org