On the CMHS Front
Brief updates on various activities
Consumer-Psychologists Dialogue Meeting. A meeting between invited consumers/survivors and psychologists took place this past summer in Washington, D.C. Participants explored means of partnership-building. This meeting was the second in a series of dialogue meetings being supported by CMHS. The first was a successful consumer/survivor-psychiatrist meeting. A consumer/survivor-psychiatric nurse dialogue is being planned for later this year. For more information, contact Carole Schauer (301) 443-8304 or e-mail: cschauer@samhsa.gov.
CMHS National Advisory Council Consumer/Survivor Subcommittee. The new subcommittee on consumer/survivor issues will report to the CMHS National Advisory Council on the specific needs, issues and concerns from consumer/survivor perspectives that the council can consider when developing recommendations and advising the CMHS director. A subcommittee planning group has been formed based on nominations received from a cross-section of consumer/survivor organizations. The planning group will research possible criteria for individual subcommittee membership selection and necessary characteristics of the group as a whole. The planning group will also research possible processes to identify and select potential members and procedures to determine initial membership tenures. For more information, contact Policy Analyst Paolo del Vecchio, (301) 443-2619 or e-mail: pdelvecc@samhsa.gov.
Regional Consumers/Survivors Meetings. Consumers/survivors from the Midwest met in Kansas City, Mo., during the summer and consumer/survivors from the Northwest met in Seattle, Wash., this past fall. Both groups identified the most pressing needs and issues that confront mental health consumers/survivors on their regional, state and local levels. Summaries of both meetings are available. For more information, contact, Iris Hyman, (301) 443-9824 or e-mail: ihyman@samhsa.gov.
Consumer/Survivor Training Video for Psychiatric Residents. CMHS is supporting the production of a video which will focus on first person consumer/survivor accounts and will be used to raise awareness and knowledge on service delivery issues among residents of psychiatry training programs. Contact Carole Schauer for more information at (301) 443-8304 or e-mail: cschauer@samhsa.gov.
Restraint and Seclusion. CMHS has recently undertaken a number of activities surrounding the use of restraint and seclusion practices in psychiatric facilities. These issues have gained increased interest and attention primarily as a result of an investigative report entitled Deadly Restraint, published in October in the Hartford Courant For more information, contact Paolo del Vecchio at (301) 443-2619 or e-mail: pdelvecc@samhsa.gov.
Solutions to Homelessness Symposium. The CMHS Homeless Program Branch and other federal agencies sponsored a joint symposium to review nearly two decades of research on solutions to homelessness. The meeting participants reviewed 11 commissioned papers that summarized work in epidemiology, housing and health services. The papers are being revised based on input from the symposium, and a joint report from the Departments of Health and Human Services and Housing and Urban Development will be issued in Spring 1999. For more information, contact Walter Leginski (301) 443-3706 or e-mail: wleginsk@samhsa.gov.
"Hope and Remembrance" Video Developed. The Emergency Services and Disaster Relief Branch in CMHS announced the availability of a new video which focuses on the effects of a disaster's anniversary on its victims/survivors and shows how mental health services can help people at such a time. For a copy of this video, contact the Emergency Services and Disaster Relief Branch at (301) 443-4735.
Cultural Competence Standards in Managed Care for Underserved/Under-represented Racial/Ethnic Groups. This consensus document synthesizes the findings of four work groups - which included consumers/survivors -who developed cultural competence standards and guidelines for people of African descent, Asian and Pacific Islanders, Latinos and American Indians, and Native Alaskans and Native Hawaiians. Contact the National Mental Health Information Center to obtain a copy. See "Where to Turn."
Consumers/Survivors and Families: Making a Difference in the American Public Health Association (APHA). CMHS and consumers/survivors from the field organized a training for more than 40 consumers/survivors and family members on increasing involvement in the APHA prior to their annual conference in Washington, D.C., this fall.
School-Based Youth Violence Prevention Initiative. Congress appropriated $40 million dollars for CMHS to support a school-based youth violence prevention initiative. Plans are being formulated for CMHS to be on of the leading Federal agencies to respond to youth violence in America's schools. For more information, contact Information Center, see "Where to Turn."
"Healthy People" 2010 Draft. The public/private initiative will define the nation's agenda to promote health and prevent disease. As with "Healthy People 2000," the new version will contain a section dedicated to mental health. A draft of Healthy People 2010" was released in September 1998 for public comment. Following review, comments will be incorporated in the final document for release to the public in January 2000. (For more information see Healthy People 2010 web site at www.health.gov/healthypeople.
People of Color Consumer/Survivor Meeting. This fall, consumers/survivors from across the nation gathered in Washington, D.C. at a meeting supported by CMHS to address the impact of health care reform and managed care on people of color.
First International Conference on Deafness and Mental Health. Nearly 500 mental health providers and consumers/survivors, who were hearing and deaf, from 27 countries participated in the first ever CMHS-Supported World Conference on Mental Health and Deafness at the Galludet University, Washington, D.C. in October 1998. The meeting focused on improving access to appropriate mental health services for the national and international deaf community. For more information contact: Carole Schauer at (301) 443-8304 or e-mail: cschauer@samhsa.gov.
Consumer Affairs Bulletin
Volume 4, No. 1, Spring 1999
CMH99-5023
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