Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News
August 26, 2003, Vol. 03-78

ADS CENTER SPOKESPERSON TRAINING

COUNTERING DISCRIMINATION AND STIGMA AGAINST PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESSES

Dear Colleague:

You are invited to participate in a free, one-day media spokesperson training sponsored by the 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).

The training, which will take place on September 29, 2003, at The Gallup Organization, 901 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20004, is for advocates who would like to improve their skills in dealing with the media. Each participant will be responsible for his or her own lodging, transportation and other expenses. The training will be presented by Vanguard Communications, a Washington, D.C., consulting firm that develops and implements social marketing campaigns. Vanguard is the lead subcontractor on the Elimination of Barriers Initiative, another CMHS project that, like the ADS Center, has as its goal the reduction of discrimination and stigma associated with mental illness.

Following completion of the spokesperson training, participants will:

• Be able to more confidently and effectively present information to desired target audiences via media and other public speaking opportunities;
  
  
• Deliver effective, persuasive messages to counter discrimination and stigma to specific target audiences;
  
  
• Recognize the role of mental health stakeholders (consumers, family members, providers, professionals, administrators, advocates) in communications efforts;
  
  
• Be more comfortable responding to challenging questions and crisis situations;
  
  
• Communicate in people-first language;
  
  
• Overcome the fear of public speaking.

(If someone else from your organization would be more suitable for this training, please forward this message.)

Space is limited. To be considered, participants must complete the attached enrollment form and send it back to the ADS Center by September 8th. This will help us make the training more useful for participants. Participants will be chosen on a "first come, first served" basis, also taking into account geographic, racial, ethnic, and gender diversity.

For questions on this training, please contact Kevin Karg, 800-688-4226, ext. 290, or chtemp@mhasp.org.

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The Resource Center to Address Discrimination and Stigma (ADS Center)

In order to help us assess your communications experiences in preparation for the ADS Center spokesperson training, please take a few minutes to answer the following questions.

Please return the completed form by September 8, 2003, to Kevin Karg via e-mail chtemp@mhasp.org; fax (215-636-6312); or mail (Kevin Karg, MHASP, 1211 Chestnut Street, 11th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107).

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call Kevin at (800) 688-4226, ext. 290. Thank you in advance for your participation.

Name:
Title (if applicable):
Organization:
Address:
City, State and Zip:
Phone: (day) (eve.)
Fax:
E-mail:

PERSONAL INFORMATION (This information is optional. The intent is to ensure diversity.)

1.  Please describe yourself by checking all that apply:

Consumer/Survivor/Ex-Patient
Family Member
Researcher
Mental Health Professional
Advocate
Service Provider
Other

2.  Gender

Male
Female

3.  Race/Ethnicity (Please note: The categories below are the ones used by the U.S. Census Bureau.)

White
Black or African American
American Indian or Alaska Native
Asian
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
Hispanic or Latino
Two or more races

SPECIAL ACCOMMODATIONS

4.  Please indicate any special accommodations or assistance you will need for this training.

MEDIA ACTIVITIES/EXPERIENCE

5.  Has there been any media coverage of your organization in the past year?

No    Yes (please describe below)

6.  Overall, the coverage has been:

Mostly positive, Less than positive, Mixed

7.   Please indicate if you have initiated contact with any of the following media to discuss the discrimination/stigma related to mental illnesses.

Daily newspapers
Weekly newspapers
Local magazines
Newsletters
Professional journals
Radio stations
Television stations
Cable stations
Other

8.  Are you the main person at your organization who participates in interviews with the media?

No    Yes

9.  On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 signifying no experience and 5 signifying a lot of experience), please rate your experience with media interviews.

1   2   3   4   5

10.   Which of the following media skills do you need to improve upon? Developing a message.

Controlling your message
Creating sound bites
Answering questions
Handling hostile interviews
Crisis communications
Being persuasive
Reducing nervousness
Knowing your rights as an interviewee
Identifying challenging questions
Other, please list

11.   Which of the following speech/presentation skills do you need to improve upon?

Reducing nervousness
Developing stories/vignettes
Creating dialogue
Being persuasive
Developing deeper eye contact
Improving body language
Knowing your audience
Handling questions and answers
Using visuals
Other, please list

12.  Have you contracted with a public relations vendor or do you have available to you professional communications resources?

No    Yes (please describe below)

CURRENT INITIATIVES

13.  Are you part of an organization, or working with an organization, that is leading an anti-discrimination/anti-stigma initiative?

No    Yes (please describe below)

14.  Please list the audience(s) that you would like to reach with your overall (current or future) anti-discrimination/anti-stigma efforts (e.g., employers, service providers, educators, etc.).

15.  What are the three most important points about mental illnesses/mental health that you think your audience(s) should know?

1.


2.


3.

Thank you for your time and input. Before returning your completed form to us, please make sure to keep a copy for your files. Please use the space below to provide us with any additional information you feel would be helpful to us in planning the spokesperson training.