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The Journey Of Native American People with Serious Mental Illness
Executive Summary
Conference Overview
A broad range of people attended the conference, representing a variety of constituencies and perspectives, including consumers, family members, direct service providers, mid-level mangers, administrators, National and State mental health leaders, and tribal political and spiritual leaders. Chairing the conference was Scott Nelson, chief of Mental Health and Social Service Programs for the IHS. Keynote speakers were Peterson Zah, President of the Navajo Nation, and Cecelia FireThunder of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine Ridge, South Dakota.
Native American ceremonies opened the conference. Native American spiritual leaders offered opening and closing prayers, and conference attendees participated in a Pow Wow during the first evening of the conference.
In his keynote address, "Cultural Considerations in Mental Health," President Zah admonished the participants to get to know the Indian communities in which the work and to embrace Native healers as co-providers, themes that resonated throughout the conference. He also placed the mental health agenda within the larger context of health care reform in America.
In her luncheon address, Cecelia FireThunder emphasized important aspects of traditional Native American healing process — listening, touching and holding, storytelling and humor, and using rituals and celebrations — the human side of mental health service delivery.
Other key presentations includes:
- Reports from National, State and Tribal Programs — Representatives of the Indian Health Service, the Center for Mental Health Services, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, and the Navajo Area IHS described the mental health services provided by their organizations and made suggestions as to how those services could be improved.
- State Service System Improvement Project — Representatives from six States described their efforts to improve mental health services to Native Americans using CMHS grants awarded trough States to the Alliance for the Mentally Ill.
- Model Programs — Presenters described the Puyallup Healing Forest Day Treatment Program, the New Mexico Case Management Project, and a proposed New Mexico Native American Mental Health Facility.
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