Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News
June 7, 2005, Vol. 05-87

Free Teleconference Training: Decreasing Stigma Associated with Mental Illness in the American Indian and Alaska Native Communities

You are invited to participate in our free teleconference training, "Decreasing Stigma Associated with Mental Illness in the American Indian and Alaska Native Communities."

This teleconference training is sponsored by the SAMHSA Resource Center to Address Discrimination and Stigma (ADS Center), a project of the Center for Mental Health Services of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The session is free to participants.

Date: Thursday, June 23, 2005

Time: 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Eastern Time)

To register for this teleconference, please complete the form located at stopstigma.samhsa.gov/regpage.htm. Also, feel free to pass on this invitation to others who might be interested. For more information, please contact America Doria-Medina by email (promoteacceptance@samhsa.hhs.gov) or by telephone at 1-800-540-0320. Please note: Registration for this teleconference will close at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 22, 2005.

Training Summary

Access to mental health services within the American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities is hampered both by internal stigma-the reluctance of members of these communities to seek mental health services; and external stigma-prejudice, and misinformation about AI/AN traditional healing practices held by outside providers.

The speakers for this teleconference training will:

Discuss the unique factors in the AI/AN communities that may contribute to stigma associated with mental illnesses.
Describe efforts to address stigma in AI/AN populations.
Discuss efforts to address stigma directed toward AI/AN persons with mental illnesses by providers.
Share effective models or approaches to address stigma toward AI/AN persons with mental illnesses by providers.
The training will be provided by:

· Donna Grandbois, MS, RN, Clinical Instructor in Psychiatric/Mental
Health Nursing and The Family in the Community Case Management
course at the University of North Dakota, and a member of the Turtle
Mountain Chippewa Tribe;

· Daniel Bill, Clinical Manager of Outpatient Services for the Yukon-
Kuskokwim Health Corporation in Bethel, Alaska, and a Yupik Alaska
Native; and

· Commander R. Andrew Hunt, MSW, LICSW, Community Development
Specialist, Indian Health Service, National Indian Child Welfare Association
(NICWA), Portland, Oregon, and a member of the Lumbee Tribe.

Speaker presentations will take approximately 60 minutes and will be followed by a 30-minute question-and-answer period. Anyone who responds to this invitation will receive confirmation by e-mail. Prior to the teleconference, participants will receive an online link to presentation materials and log-in instructions for the call.
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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.