Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News
March 1, 2007, Vol. 07-44

Mental Health News You Can Use...
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February 2007
Issue 15

This electronic update is written by SAMHSA's Resource Center to Address Discrimination and Stigma Associated with Mental Illness (ADS Center), a program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). We invite you to share this information with your friends and colleagues who share your interest in confronting stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness and to post this information in your own newsletters or listservs. Visit the ADS Center on the Web at http://promoteacceptance.samhsa.gov.

In this issue...

Archived SAMHSA ADS Center Training Teleconference

National Anti-Stigma Campaign (NASC): Media Outreach and Building Partnerships that Work

Online Resources

Research

Models, Programs, and TA Tools

Georgia Certified Peer Specialist Program

Developing a Stigma Reduction Initiative

ULifeline Fight the Stigma Video Contest

In My Experience.

"Stigma Brought Home" by Susan Gregg-Schroeder, Coordinator of Mental Health Ministries

*The contents of this informational update do not necessarily represent the views, policies, and positions of the Center for Mental Health Services, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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Archived SAMHSA ADS Center Training Teleconferences

The ADS Center conducts teleconference trainings on topics related to advancing knowledge about stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness including how to counter it. These events are 90-minutes in length, during which time presenters, mental health consumers, family members, researchers, and other representatives share knowledge, insights and experiences.

Through a toll-free number, you can access past conference sessions for 'playback,' at your convenience. You also can download the training presentations in PDF or PPT form from the ADS Center Website to follow along with the presentation.

Our featured teleconferences in this issue focus on cultivating effective media relations and communication tools to attract and sustain partnerships to promote stigma reduction activities and successes. You will find a description of two training events below. We invite you to visit the Training Archive on SAMHSA ADS Center's Web site to obtain instructions on accessing this and other teleconference recordings.

National Anti-Stigma Campaign (NASC): Media Outreach and Building Partnerships that Work

Media Outreach

One of the fastest and most effective ways to communicate to a widespread audience is through the media. But how do you get them to carry your messages when there are so many other Public Service Announcements (PSAs) for them to show? The key is in cultivating effective media relations. This workshop will help you understand the fundamentals of media outreach so that you can promote the NASC campaign in your region.

In this teleconference, speakers:

• Provide an update on the NASC campaign activities.
• Describe strategies for building media relations.
• Identifying ideas for approaching local media.
• Discuss how and when to customize PSAs.
• Explore how NASC materials and information may be used to jumpstart additional anti-stigma efforts.

Building Partnerships the Work

Research has proven that the contact approach is one of the most effective means to build partnerships and reduce psychiatric stigma and discrimination. Many organizations face challenges when attempting to attract partners from consumer groups, businesses, local government agencies, and other organizations. You need communication tools not only to attract partners but also to help work with these partners to promote your activities and successes.

In this teleconference, speakers:

• Discuss the benefits and challenges of the contact approach and how it can be used to build partnerships.
• Explore how NASC materials and information may be used to jumpstart additional anti-stigma efforts.
• Discuss the effectiveness of participatory dialogue that highlight the contact approach to reduce stigma and discrimination.

Online Resources

Active Minds On Campus
http://activeminds.org/

Active Minds is a student-run program that addresses the stigma surrounding mental illnesses among college students. Since 2001, Active Minds has grown from a single chapter at the University of Pennsylvania into 19 chapters based at colleges and universities across the country. These chapters support mental health awareness, education, and advocacy designed for students in higher education. Active Minds also serves as a liaison between college students and the mental health community.

Project R.I.S.E.
https://www.talkingquality.ahrq.gov/content/reportcard/search.aspx

The main goal of Project R.I.S.E., Resolving Issues through Support and Education, is to provide a welcoming environment in which black students can comfortably discuss problems that all college students face. The issues can range from body image to more serious problems like depression.

ULIfeline
http://www.ulifeline.org/

A program of the Jed Foundation, ULifeline is an anonymous, confidential, online resource center, where college students can search for information regarding mental health and suicide prevention. Their Website has enhanced student features, and a new component called Counseling Central, built exclusively for college mental health and student affairs professionals.

Research

Carling, P. (1994). Return to community: Building support systems for people with psychiatric disabilities. New York: The Guildford Press.

Davidson, L, Chinman, M., Kloos, B., Weingarten, R., Stayner, D., & Tebes, J. (1999). Peer support among individuals with severe mental illness: A review of the evidence. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 6(2), 165-187. [Schizophrenia Bulletin abstract]

Leung, D. & DeSousa, L. (2002). A vision and mission for peer support - stakeholder perspectives. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, 7, 5-14.

Mead, S. & M.E. Copeland. (2000). What recovery means to us - consumers' perspectives. Community Mental Health Journal, (36)3: 315-28. [NLM/Pubmed abstract]

Solomon, P. (2004). Peer support/peer provided services underlying processes, benefits, and critical ingredients. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 27(4): 392-401.

Wright, A., P.D. McGorry, M.G. Harris, A.F. Jorm, & K. Pennell. (2006). Development and evaluation of a youth mental health community awareness campaign - The Compass Strategy. BMC Public Health, 22; 6:215. [NLM/Pubmed abstract]

Models, Programs, and TA Tools

Georgia Certified Peer Specialist Project

Georgia is a history-making state when it comes to using peer support to reduce discrimination and stigma associated with mental illnesses. Georgia developed the first certification process in the nation for Peer Specialists. It also was the first State to be able to bill for statewide peer services under the Medicaid Psychiatric Rehabilitation Option.

In 1999, Georgia established consumer-operated Peer Centers after realizing the benefits for individuals, families, and communities when people who have mental illnesses connect with one another. Consumers long have recognized the impact of peer support--the kind that happens on the front porch steps of a neighbor's house or in the evening when you call a friend who "knows." Consumers wanted that same powerful support to be available in accessible, meaningful ways that broaden the continuum of care offered by traditional models. Consumers spoke and the State of Georgia listened and then developed an action plan.

The Georgia mental health community believed that the ideal models to promote recovery from a mental illness were people who were willing to openly share their stories of recovery and willing to share tools they used to succeed. Hearing these stories does more than aid in recovery; it also helps to reduce the stigma and discrimination that accompanies mental illnesses.

In December 2001, the vision for a certified peer support program became reality; approximately 35 current and former mental health consumers completed their training and became the first class of Certified Peer Specialists. Now, over 200 peer specialists are providing approximately $6,000,000 worth of services per year.

What is a Certified Peer Specialist (CPS)? A consumer who provides peer support services; serves as a consumer advocate; and provides consumer information and peer support for consumers in emergency, outpatient or inpatient settings. The CPS role models competency in recovery and ongoing coping skills.

The CPS performs a wide range of tasks to assist consumers in regaining control over their own lives and over their own recovery process. Throughout the course of their work, CPSs:

• Motivate their peers to develop an expectation of recovery.
• Encourage regular self-monitoring of symptoms.
• Help their peers to develop self-management skills for symptom control and problem solving.
• Activate consumers to be more informed partners in care and more effective self-advocates.
• Motivate and assist consumers to reclaim work and other rewarding social roles.
• Teach consumers how to communicate more effectively and efficiently with providers so that treatment plans reflect their unique wants and needs.

All CPSs undergo training that prepares them to promote hope, personal responsibility, empowerment, education, and self-determination in the communities in which they serve. The Peer Specialist Certification Project conducts ongoing training at least two times a year and holds quarterly continuing education seminars and workshops for those already certified and who are required to stay abreast of emerging best practices in mental health recovery.

Under the CPS Project, recovery from a mental illness is no longer only about what clinicians do to consumers. It has become, with the assistance of CPSs, what consumers do for themselves and each other.

For further information about the Georgia Certified Peer Specialist Program, you may access the project Web site at http://www.gacps.org/Home.html or contact Beth Filson, Project Manager, at 2 Peachtree Street, 23-442, Atlanta, GA 30303; e-mail: emfilson@dhr.state.ga.us.

Developing a Stigma Reduction Initiative

Mounting a stigma reduction initiative requires a significant investment, in terms of both human and financial resources. It is a full-time job, especially in the early planning stages. It is hard work. Yet it is also gratifying. Developing a Stigma Reduction Initiative is a resource kit intended to raise awareness of mental health and help counter the stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental illnesses. Users are invited to use the kit with event planning, partnership development, outreach to schools and businesses, mental health resources, marketing to the general public, and grassroots outreach. You may download the tool kit by visiting the 'Featured Pages' section at http://promoteacceptance.samhsa.gov.

ULifeline Fight the Stigma Video Contest

ULifeline is inviting college students to counter stigma associated with mental illnesses with a video contest! The goal of the 2007 Fight the Stigma Video Contest is to recognize a student whose video promotes awareness, education, and de-stigmatization in mental health promotion and suicide prevention. The scholarship is made possible through several of The Jed Foundation's memorial funds in honor of loved ones who died by suicide.

The time limit for videos is between one (00:01:00) and two minutes (00:02:00) in length. Videos must be in .wmg, .avi, or .mov format and must be submitted electronically along with the entry form to scholarship@jedfoundation.org by midnight on April 15, 2007. Submissions will be screened for responsible and positive portrayals of mental health. A panel will review the videos, and entries will be judged on how well they communicate the experience of the individual living with his/her illness.

For more information and contest details, please visit ULifeline.

In My Experience.

Stigma Brought Home
By: Susan Gregg-Schroeder, Coordinator of Mental Health Ministries

I recently went through the anxiety of waiting for the results of a biopsy for possible breast cancer. Gratefully, the biopsy turned out to be benign. But the ten days of waiting and wondering brought forth many feelings.

Many of us who experience a dramatic interruption in our lives, for any reason, come away with a deeper appreciation of what is really important in our lives. We often find ourselves looking more closely at what we spend our time on and what is important in our lives. This can result in a change in our priorities...a deeper appreciation of family and friends, a closer look at our daily work, pursuing those dreams and passions we have put on hold.

What struck me most from this experience was the outpouring of support and the stories of hope. The reality of facing breast cancer affects us all at some level. Some of the most unlikely persons offered comfort and helpful information. I heard from spouses and children of women who faced this health crisis. My hair dresser and others called to check up on me as I waiting for the biopsy results. And they rejoiced with me when the biopsy showed no malignancy. I knew that if the results had been different, these people and many more would have been there for me and for my family. These responses brought me comfort and hope that I could face whatever lay ahead.

But the other realization was how stigma prevents persons and families struggling with mental illness from receiving this same kind of support and hope. As a person living with a mental illness, it is rare that I or my family members reach out to others when I am going through a difficult time. We know from experience that people do not want to hear about it because they do not know what to say or how to offer support. And so we are mostly left alone in our suffering.

Both cancer and emotional disorders are treatable illnesses. The technologies of medical science were readily available to diagnose and treat, if necessary, my physical illness. I felt no shame.

I came away feeling sad that I would not have the same kind of care and support the next time I experienced an episode of depression. My family and I would once again feel isolated and virtually alone. Our society must work to erase the stigma and fear associated with illnesses of the brain. We all need the support of others who will walk beside us during our difficult times.

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About the ADS Center

SAMHSA's Resource Center to Address Discrimination and Stigma (ADS Center) helps people design, implement, and operate programs that reduce discrimination and stigma associated with mental illnesses. With the most up-to-date research and information, the Center helps individuals, organizations, and governments counter such discrimination and stigma in the community, in the workplace, and in the media.

Subscribe to receive this update by sending an e-mail to promoteacceptance@samhsa.hhs.gov, or by calling an ADS Center representative at 800-540-0320. To comment on the materials included in this update, please send e-mail to promoteacceptance@samhsa.hhs.gov, or write a letter to Resource Center to Address Discrimination and Stigma Associated with Mental Illness; Informational Updates; 11420 Rockville Pike; Rockville, MD 20852. To unsubscribe from this distribution list using the subscribed e-mail account, click here. To unsubscribe your address from a different e-mail account, send a message to Majordomo@listserve.shs.net with the following command in the message body: unsubscribe stopstigma [Your E-mail Address].

SAMHSA Resource Center to Address Discrimination and Stigma

http://promoteacceptance.samhsa.gov

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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.