Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News
September 1, 2004, Vol. 04-88

Addressing Stigma and Discrimination in Rural Communities

You are invited to participate in a free training session, via telephone, on Addressing Stigma and Discrimination in Rural Communities.

This training is presented by the Resource Center to Address Discrimination and Stigma (ADS Center), a program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services.

Date: Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Time: 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Eastern Time)

* The vast majority of all Americans living in underserved rural, and remote areas experience disparities in mental health services. Rural America makes up 90% of our nation's landmass and is home to approximately 25% of the U.S. population. Despite these proportions, rural issues are often misunderstood, minimized, and not considered in forming national mental health policy.

* Access to mental health care, attitudes toward mental illnesses, and cultural issues that influence whether people seek and receive care differ profoundly between rural and urban areas.

* Stigma is particularly intense in rural communities, where anonymity is difficult to maintain. The stigma attached to having a mental disorder in a rural area can lead to under-diagnosis and under-treatment of mental disorders among rural residents. Additionally, finding a mental health provider and accessing care is more difficult in rural areas than urban areas, with consumers sometimes spending more time traveling to see a provider than at actual appointments.

The speakers for this training will discuss personal experiences, research, and campaigns that have worked to combat stigma and discrimination in rural communities. These speakers are:

Anne B. Donahue
Ms. Donahue has personalized the fight against stigma through disclosure of her own battle with depression and history of hospitalization. As an attorney and youth advocate in the 1980s, she gave public addresses around the country on the work of Covenant House in New York City, a large, privately funded childcare agency serving homeless, runaway and at-risk youth. Her own experiences with mental illness in the 1990s led her to shift her career focus to mental health advocacy. She is currently a Vermont State Representative; editor of the statewide mental health newspaper Counterpoint; and public speaker for Vermont Psychiatric Survivors. Ms. Donahue is also a member of the legislative oversight committee on reform of the public mental health system and replacement of the state hospital, as well as on the public advisory committee on state hospital alternatives. Ms. Donahue has received several awards for her work.

David Lambert, Ph.D.
Dr. Lambert is President of the National Association for Rural Mental Health (NARMH) and is currently project director of the Rural Mental Health Outreach Project. He currently works in the Health Policy and Management Program, Maine Rural Health Research Center, Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine. Dr. Lambert has been involved in research in integrating primary care and mental health, dual diagnosis (mental health and substance abuse), increasing consumer involvement and voice, and best practices of mental health managed care in rural areas.

The presentations will take approximately 60 minutes, to be followed by a 30-minute period of discussion among the participants and the presenters. All participants will receive confirmation by e-mail after responding to this invitation. Before the call, participants will receive an online link to presentation materials and log-in instructions for the call.

The session is free to participants. Please also feel free to pass this invitation on to others who might be interested.

For more information, please contact Jennifer Melinn at info@adscenter.org.

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

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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.