Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News
February 12, 2007, Vol. 07-35

Consumer Perspectives at the Alternatives 2006 Conference: Blazing the Trail to Recovery through Transformation

The following presents findings reported by consumer scholarship recipients who attended the October 25-29 Alternatives Conference in Portland, Oregon.

Barriers to transforming mental health care:

• Stigma—at all levels, that is, a lack of understanding of the lives and needs of mental health consumers and a lack of advocacy against negative stereotyping.
• Lack of access to treatment for persons in many communities-including persons of color and individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersexed.
• Lack of funding for treatment, on the community and individual level.
• Lack of health insurance parity.
• Lack of consumer voice. There is a need for more effective involvement in mental health programming and care at the local, State, and Federal level.
• Learned helplessness, lack of education for self-efficacy or awareness about treatment options and treatment management and lack of independence and social isolation are personal barriers to transformation.

Strategies for transforming mental heath care:

• Promote and establish peer run services as a central strategy for transforming mental health care.
• Provide transformation grants to peer run organizations.
• Assure consumers involvement at every level and stage of program planning, design, implementation and funding.
• Promote and establish services that include employment support, leadership development, advocacy training, and opportunities to advance skills in the community.
• Conduct evaluation of mental health services, with public disclosure of results, and rewards for providers who utilize best practices in their care.
• Promote the power of consumer stories was strongly promoted as a tool against stigma to make change in the perception and practices of individuals throughout the mental health care system.

National policy recommendations:

• Support research on peer services and best practices.
• Develop fidelity scales for consumer-run evidence-based practices.
• Promote Medicaid reimbursement for peer services.
• Fund Peer Support Centers for Wellness and Recovery.
• Promote insurance parity legislation.
• Establish Leadership Academies in each State.
• Promote mentoring relationships between States.

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The Center for Mental Health Services is a component of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, United States Department of Health and Human Services.