By Trudie Bruno, Customer Success Manager
At Aunt Bertha, every single organization, community program, and user holds a very special place in our heart and, more importantly, in our network! Without this network, we could not connect people needing help (Seekers) with the programs that serve them. In the success story below, we highlight the partnership between UMass Memorial Health Care and Reliant Medical Group (UMass Reliant).
UMass Reliant is a partnership with a unique background that serves Worcester County, MA, an ethnically and linguistically diverse community spread across central Massachusetts. The partnership formed with a vision of improving the health of their communities by bridging the gap between community partners and patients with collaboration across the continuum of care.
The UMass Reliant project currently serves thousands of people through their platform, and partnership workshops have engaged many community based organizations (CBOs) in their service area, promoting collaboration across the continuum of care with more innovation yet to come. We celebrate their momentum and also emphasize the importance of learning from their key areas of focus:
Design a clear, strategic vision.
Before UMass Reliant discovered Aunt Bertha, their team set the stage for success by laying out a clear vision. They gathered input from their local CBOs and the ultimate goal of the project was shaped by the collaboration and inclusion of their community.
Collaborate in new ways.
Collaboration was a focus across the full span of the project, from vision to execution. The partnership is formed by a collaboration between two distinct health systems—UMass Memorial Health Care and Reliant Medical Group. Two health organizations in the same service area may typically be fierce competitors, yet in this story two such systems have partnered with each other, putting the community first and promoting collaboration across the continuum of care.
Connect and engage with CBOs.
UMass Reliant made a strategic investment by including CBOs in the design of the project and promoting CBO engagement in training, program claiming, and closing the loop on referrals. The partnership has continued to emphasize outreach to CBOs, providing trainings and support to program staff using the platform.
Meet the community where they are.
UMass Reliant recognized the linguistic diversity in their community and the associated need for program information available in many languages. A key requirement for them in selecting the Aunt Bertha Platform was the ability to present information in over 100 languages.
Spread the word.
UMass Reliant emphasizes promoting the communityHELP platform with their community. Most notably, they printed colorful notecards in more than seven languages with information about the platform for staff and CBOs to distribute.
The UMass Reliant partnership and the ultimate product delivered through communityHELP is uniquely powerful thanks to dedication to a strategic vision, collaboration across the project, CBO outreach and buy-in, and promoting the resource in the community. There is still more work to be done, including designing additional incentives for CBOs, regular workshops and trainings, and tailoring programs to specific community needs. We’re excited to follow their progress and network growth!