CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News
November 3, 2003, Vol. 03-101

SUMMARY OF THE SAMHSA/CMHS REGION III CONSUMER/SURVIVOR MEETING HELD IN PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of the Health and Human Services (HHS) held the Region III Consumer/Survivor Meeting last July in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Philadelphia meeting was the eighth in a series of regional consumer/survivor meetings across the country designed to identify the needs, issues, and concerns of people with mental illnesses and gather input and suggestions for CMHS activities. Mental health consumer representatives from Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia were invited to give presentations on the most pressing needs of mental health consumers in their states and communities.

A meeting summary below highlights the reports of the consumer representatives and provides a prioritized list developed by the participants of the overall consumer/survivor issues for the region.

Region III Meeting Summary

The daylong meeting began with a welcome from guest speaker Joe Rogers, the host state representative for the region and the president and chief executive officer of the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

This was followed by the presentations of the consumer representatives from Region III and the ensuing discussion. Each speaker provided a report on the most important needs of mental health consumers in their state or district. This information was a result of investigations and formal and informal surveys of consumers in their communities.

Some of the findings of the meeting include a universal and strongly expressed need for consumer-run drop-in centers, adequate compensation for consumer staff, and the need to secure more support and funding for these services. Consumer-run drop-in centers are essential to providing effective crisis intervention services, as well as providing education to both consumers, mental health workers and the public on advocacy and adequate training.

A second major issue presented by the consumer representatives focused on the transformation of the mental health behavioral system. The participants stated that changes need to occur to improve public and private insurance coverage of mental health services, to offer a choice of providers, to gain affordable insurance and improve access to mental health professionals. Altering the system to be less driven by the medical model will assist consumers in accessing the community-based services they need as well as determining their own recovery process.

Housing and employment are two other enormous barriers to recovery in mental health. The state representatives reported that consumers need affordable, subsidized and alternative housing along with the ability to change housing requirements when transitioning into the community from a more restrictive setting or into adulthood. Consumers also need flexible and supportive employment opportunities, as well as training, in order to facilitate their road to recovery.

Consumers need more input into their treatment, through education, advocacy and self-determination. Consumer representatives stated consumers have a right to be treated with respect and dignity. However, stigma and discrimination continue to be barriers to consumers playing this important role in their mental health treatment.

After thorough discussion by State and District consumer representatives regarding their current mental health systems, they compiled a list of needs, wants and possible solutions. They identified and ranked the following top five to be the most pressing in the region:

• more funding and support for consumer-run services;
• recovery education;
• alternatives and complementary services to the medical model;
• models that emphasize respect, choice, and self-determination; and
• housing.

For more information, please contact Chris Marshall, Consumer Affairs Specialist, CMHS, by phone at 301-443-2792, or by email at cmarshal@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.