What was the first “connect the dots” picture you’ve ever drawn? Can you remember the amazement at seeing seemingly random points spread across a sheet of paper coming together to form a complete big picture? Connect the dots pictures are an important experience for young children. And understanding that putting together small pieces of data to gain a better view of the ‘big picture’ is an important life lesson.   

it is not just children that benefit from ‘connecting the dots’. Managers in the health and human service field are surrounded by data and data points. But, the connection between these data points to form the ‘big picture’ that is needed for the best outcomes is often not revealed.  

For consumers with a behavioral health condition, the ‘big picture’ is often quite complex. Most of these individuals have a range of different clinical needs, developmental challenges, and environmental constraints. it is up to the clinical professional to recognize the resulting complexity (a.k.a. “connect the dots”) across a fragmented health care continuum.