28. April 2012 by admin.

Report on Council Feedback

Addition of statement on “behavioral health” to “Stigma and Discrimination” in NAMI’s Public Policy Platform

Final Report – April 25, 2012

Fifty-three individuals responded with feedback.

• 17 percent are state presidents,
• 28.3 percent are executive directors,
• 13.2 percent are Consumer Council members,
• 15.1 percent are Veterans and Military Council members and
• 26.4 percent are not affiliated with any of the four councils.

Leaders were given three options to describe their opinion of the proposed changes: “Support“, “Support with reservations” and “Do not support“.

• 83 percent (44 individuals) said they support the changes,
• 11 percent (6 individuals) said they “support with reservations” and
• 6 percent (3 individuals) did not support the changes.

Comments:

1. Reviewed by our Board. Looks good to us.
   ~ Gay H, executive director, NAMI Pinellas (Fla.)
2. Everything in the revisions represent every activity that NAMI is involved with, which is all improving the lives of all people with mental illness.
   ~Anonymous Consumer Council member
3. I wholeheartedly agree with the proposed revisions. Unfortunately, the military forces need to do so much more to help our active duty members before they become veterans.
   ~Char C, Veterans and Military Council member
4. I am glad the board is going to put this through. I think it should have been done years ago. Good Job!!!!
   ~Tom S
5. Strongly support NAMI stance on excluding the words “behavioral” when referring to individuals with mental disorders.
   ~Anonymous
6. I wholeheartedly agree with the statement on behavioral health!
   ~Barbara C

1. I do have a small issue with the choice verbiage. I know a lot of behaviors and actions are hard to control but I also don’t think we can say that not taking personal responsibility from their actions is correct either. As a consumer I can’t always control my actions but in some cases I can and there are consequences for my actions. On the issue of serving in the military I do think you have to take someone’s mental health situation into consideration. Factors that can cause a person to obtain standing effects from war, or already having a pre-existing condition can be a major factor. I think it can more detrimental to a person serving than not continuing in the military.
   ~Anonymous Consumer Council member
2. I agree 100% with the statements in the policy and the rationale behind it, specifically that the term “behavioral health” is stigmatizing. Virginia is moving towards the term “behavioral health” and it concerns me for the very reasons expressed in the proposed policy revision.
   ~Mira S, executive director, NAMI Virginia
3. I agree 100%.
   ~Linda W
4. Although there is a large segment of those who have mental health conditions who can tie them to biological factors, this excludes many who – develop mental health issues as a result of their environment and trauma. In addition, this focus on biology has been proven to have a more stigmatizing effect on some in that it puts things, in the “medical model” framework. Meaning, there is a “disorder” (another stigmatizing term) that is permanent, leaving an individual “damaged.” The statement can be improved by including positive alternatives. It starts out by stating what they condemn, but what is missing is what they would praise or want to see. (For example, condemning the linkage with violence is appropriate – but there is a need to follow that up with the need for more positive portrayals showing people living well, and living successful lives.) The term “behavioral health” – does not move the conversation forward because it does not offer a more positive alternative. Overall our feeling of the statement is that it sounds overbearing, rather than positive – which is really where we need to go here. My hope for the completion of the statement is that, moving forward, peers would be driving its language and purpose.
   ~Anonymous executive director
5. I think it is time to move beyond the word stigma. Stigma is a very much misunderstood word, and historically a stigma is owned by the person who is different.. the reality of mental illness is much of our community is at best ignorant at worst discriminatory. Lets call it what it is. and not use language that most folks don’t understand, whether intentional or not.
   ~Greg G, executive director, NAMI Lee County (Fla.)
6. I agree with the proposed revisions and the reasoning for making them.
   ~Sherry C
7. Behavioral Health does not describe the situation at all. If a person is mentally ill they are mentally ill.
   ~Jerry F
8. I have always been uncomfortable with the term “Behavioral Health.” Thank you for clarifying why that term is not acceptable.
   ~Deb N, executive director, NAMI Central Iowa
9. I fully agree with the NAMI statement; the term, “behavioral health”, implies that mental illnesses are only behavioral and can be overcome.
   ~Jackie S
10. re: Behavioral Health - Change may hurt more than helps. The meaning that emerged through the years does not indicate that mental illness behavior is willful. Term behavioral health refers to health maintenance and prevention of illness.
    ~Carole J, executive director, NAMI Lake County (Ohio)
11. This is a great and much needed addition to our Public Policy. The term “Behavioral Health” is very stigmatizing and says nothing about mental illness being about moods, thoughts, perceptions etc. We could take it one step further and support the development of another term that more aptly describes these disorders.
    ~Carol C, executive director, NAMI Montgomery County (Pa.)
12. Yeah! We hate the term “behavioral health” and are working on getting all our hospitals to stop using it.
    ~Anonymous executive director
13. Comment from board member: If NAMI is going to condemn the use of Behavioral Health they are obligated to come up with what terms are acceptable.
    ~Anonymous executive director
14. This belief statement is too one-sided identifying only the brain/body perspective of mental illnesses. perhaps a more balanced statement, or softer wording could be used to leave open the fact that diagnosed individuals are responsible to work on recovery and be planful in attending to early warning symptoms to avoid destructive behaviors that we have demonstrated in the past and continue to be responsible for today.
    ~Catherine R, Consumer Council member
15. If this is something that is adopted as a NAMI position, I think that would be wonderful. I would hope that you will notify all NAMI orgs and affiliates so that we can use this policy as a guide for our work. I wonder if this position is adopted, how that will effect the information that NAMI publicizes and the collaborations that NAMI makes with other orgs? Behavioral Health is used currently so widely by other groups. If this is NAMI’s position, will we still promote and support initiatives, trainings, resources, etc that use the BH term? Thanks.
    ~Anonymous executive director
16. Yes!!! Finally! Finally someone speaking out against the term “behavioral health”! Your thoughts on this issue express my thoughts exactly! The use of that term is very stigmatizing and connotes that we consumers “behave” bad.(P.S.- I am a member of Nami and also of Nami Connections, though am not on any council. )
    ~Marsha A
17. Looks good to me.
    ~Anonymous Consumer Council member
18. I support the position. Would be helpful if we had a proposal for those who improperly portray and discriminate against those with mental illness on how they could address the mental illness issue without stigma or discrimination. I must admit that I do not have the words for the proposal, but would be eager to either see what others have proposed or work to create a sound and well considered proposal.
    ~Mike S
19. Behavioral Health for State of Louisiana is still at such a stalemate as for as Stigma. Meaning, treatment by with and for workers not wanting to be involved in Co-Occurring treatment. Federal dollars are and have been discriminating across disabilities, with mental health organizations creating Stigma over said dollars.
    ~Denver N, Consumer Council member

1. We deal with the behavioral stigma with our state legislators. It is time that they, and the general public, learn that mental illness is a disease, not a behavior.
2. ~Margaret Ballard
3. I never liked the term “behavior health.”
   ~Tom W
4. I agree with the statement, but I don’t think this is a battle worth fighting when so many other things are more important and when we can’t do anything to people who continue to use the term, some of whom are our friends.
   ~Anonymous state president
5. The term behavioral health has bothered me ever since it became the new in terminology. Thank you for addressing this and hopefully leading the charge to get rid of it.
   ~Kim S, president, NAMI Oregon
6. Excellent!
   ~Patti Jo S, president, NAMI Wisconsin
7. Stigma, which family members endure, was brought up at one of our recent meetings. Should a statement be made concerning the stigma that family members face?
   ~Anonymous state president
8. NAMI further believes that mental illness is a medical condition, biological in nature, which involves psychological processes such as cognition, emotion, temperament and motivation and which disrupts a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life. NAMI does not favor using the inaccurate term “behavioral health”, as the very term obscures and hinders effective treatment and can add to the stigma and discrimination endured by people living with a mental illness and co-occurring disorders.
   ~Silvia A, executive director, NAMI Puerto Rico
9. Very well done; thank you. I do, however, have two comments: 1) Some times mental illness is used; other times the term mental illnessES is used. Perhaps, the terms should be consistent throughout the document. 2) It is said that NAMI “believes…”. I would respectfully suggest using a stronger word such as CONVINCED.
   ~Sherry G, president, NAMI New York State
10. The stigma and nonsense must stop; lives are being lost because of it….mine almost several times. I am a former missionary to Guatemala for twenty years and showed no signs of Bipolar until an MA at University of Penn. I finished the MA and returned to the field. I ended up in Wi by accident but have become “manic” (fine) in my advocacy.
    ~Julie S, chair, Wisconsin Consumer Council
11. This is well put together and seems like a lot of time and effort was put into this to get the wording just right. It’s clear concise and should make sense to any one that is reading this.
    ~ James B, Veterans and Military Council member
12. I do not think that ‘primarily biological’ is correct; rather it be worded ‘primarily biological and environmental’.
    ~Kyle L, Veterans and Military Council member

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22. April 2012 by admin.

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27. March 2012 by admin.

via and e-mail:

fyi:  Judge Steve Leifman briefs Congressional staff on MIOTCRA.

Congressional Staff Briefed on Law Enforcement Responses to People with Mental Illnesses

Washington, D.C. — Law enforcement officials, judicial leaders, and behavioral health experts came together on March 6 to brief Congressional staff on the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (MIOTCRA) and the collaborative criminal justice-mental health programs that it supports. Dr. Fred Osherof the Council of State Governments Justice Center, Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County (MD) Department of Police, Inspector Bryan Schafer of the Minneapolis (MN) Police Department, and Judge Steven Leifman of Miami-Dade County Court spoke to key stakeholders and staff from numerous congressional offices, representing members of both parties.As some of the nation’s foremost experts on implementing collaborative criminal justice-mental health programs, the panelists each shared their perspectives and/or experiences. Their testimonies underscored the fact that programs supported by MIOTCRA and similar grant initiatives are contributing in significant ways towards ending the cycles of arrest and incarceration for people with mental illnesses.

From left to right: Inspector Bryan Schafer of the Minneapolis Police Department,Judge Steven Leifman of Miami-Dade County Court, Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Department of Police, and Dr. Fred Osher of the Council of State Governments Justice Center.

Dr. Osher opened the dialogue with an overview of the issue. He addressed major factors involved in the high rates of incarceration among people with mental illnesses, including limited access to community-based treatment and high rates of homelessness and substance abuse. Dr. Osher then highlighted the initiatives that MIOTCRA funds through its Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program to bridge the gaps across service systems. In addition to community- and corrections-based treatment programs, MIOTCRA has also supported jurisdictions across the U.S. developing or expanding programs such as mental health courts, crisis receiving centers, and specialized law enforcement responses such as crisis intervention teams (CITs).

Chief Manger and Inspector Schafer offered their perspectives on implementing specialized police-based response programs. Modeled after the widely recognized model in Memphis, TN, the Montgomery County CIT program provides officers 40 hours of training to help them better identify mental illnesses and deploy de-escalation tactics. Chief Manger spoke to the benefits he has seen from the CIT program, in public and police safety and in outcomes for people with mental illnesses.

Inspector Schafer emphasized the importance of programs that encourage information sharing between mental health and law enforcement agencies, which often do not have a clear understanding of how the other system handles and treats people with mental illnesses after the initial contact has been made. Creating connections across systems is a crucial component of MIOTCRA’s grant program, as they allow agencies to share resources and improve the quality and access to services. Inspector Schafer reported that leaders in Minneapolis are also planning crisis receiving centers and a program that pairs mental health professionals to co-respond to calls with local law enforcement officials, modeled after a similar program already in place for calls relating to domestic violence.

Judge Leifman from Miami-Dade County, FL, which has one of the highest rates of mental illness of any urban region in the U.S., provided his unique insight into how collaborative programs that divert individuals from arrest or jail can reduce local government spending. To address the prevalence of people with mental illnesses involved in the justice system, Miami-Dade county officials expanded its jail diversion program to include a CIT program and post-arrest diversion for both misdemeanor and felony charges. According to Judge Leifman, the diversion programs today redirect approximately 500 individuals each year from jail to treatment services. The CIT program — now the largest in the country — has trained over 3,500 officers to date. The impact of this training initiative has been astounding: As Judge Leifman testified, two of the county’s law enforcement departments responded to 10,000 calls involving an individual with a mental illness last year, yet only 45 arrests resulted from these calls. Furthermore, the judge discussed how prior to the implementation of the CIT program, the county experienced eight to ten shootings during encounters between officers and individuals with mental illnesses per year; in the past eight years, there have been only such two instances.

The briefing was co-hosted by the offices of Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Al Franken (D-MN). The Council of State Governments Justice Center co-sponsored the event with the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, the National Association of Counties, and Mental Health America.

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13. March 2012 by admin.

I am happy to pass this on - NAMI FLA is ranked in the top 5 for it’s educational programs!  Now this could be for a few different reason.. First due to all the hard work and dedications of all the volunteers… A point that should not be over looked at all is the fact that Florida is in the top 5 worst states for spend for mental health services… We are left to fend for yourself many times and that is where NAMI is picking up the slack and actually helping our peers!  Still this is such a huge need so i encourage you all to get involved with your loval NAMI… Even it it’s just to become a member and get a newsletter.  The more memeber NAMI has the more grants they can get…  Let’s face it, who is more likely to get financial help the guy that says he want to start a support group or an organization that has thousands of members wanting to help other find recovery?  Number do matter!It’s our voice!

 http://www.nami.org/template.cfm?section=Become_A_Member

I am proud to share the NAMI National Education Report with you.  Florida is #2 in the country for the number of Basics classes held, #5 for Family to Family, 2nd (tied) for Connections groups, and #2 (tied) for the number of P2P classes held.  National is not tracking Provider ED but I know we are either 1st or 2nd.  Considering Florida is 50th in MH funding this is AWESOME! 

 Please make sure your facilitators are getting their reports to Carol.  This data is so very important.  Lynne Saunders called from National this morning and let me know that we are doing a fantastic job with our programs, I thanked her and said but…………..I want Florida to be #1! 

We should be offering our programs in every community throughout Florida.  How can we help make this happen?

 

Kudos to all of our volunteers and a huge “Good Job” to Carol!

 

 

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12. February 2012 by admin.

NAMI would like to hear from you… Answer a survey.

here are the question they would like to know about:

Access to Medication 

Access to Medication
Exit this survey

1. Does your mental health plan enforce prescription limits to mental health medications? In other words are there monthly or a yearly number of mental health prescriptions that you can have filled?

2. If you have been incarcerated, were you released from jail without medications?

3. If you have been incarcerated, were you given medications while in jail?

4. Have you had to skip medications for lack of money to pay for your prescription(s)?

5. Have you ever received free medications from pharmaceutical companies?

6. Have you ever received free medications from pharmaceutical companies?

7. Have you ever used coupons or certificates to obtain medications?

8. Are you aware of programs that offer free medications? If yes, what programs do you know of?

9. If your health care insurance company (HMO, Medicaid/Medicare) changed formularies were you able to stay on your current medication or did it result in a medication change?

10. Has the use of a preffered drug list (formulary) had an impact on your medication access?

11. Has the process of preventing the prescribing of a new medication until a specific medication, an entire medication group, and generic medication has failed (”Fail-First” rule) impaired your ability to adhere to your treatment?

12. Have barriers to medications had an impact on your recovery?

13. Did the health insurance company (HMO, Medicaid/Medicare, etc.) provide your doctor with the PDL policy, the steps the physician is required to prescribe a non-formulary medication?

14. If your physician has prescribed multiple medication for the same diagnosis (polypharmacy) have you had challenges getting access to the medications?

15. If yes, please designate which HMO or insurance company denied access.

16. Patients often have to fail on one or more drugs first before being able to take the drug first before being able to take the drug their physician wanted to prescribe them in the first place. Have you ever had trouble getting access to the medication you needed because of “step therapy” or “fail first” requireements?

17. Sometimes formularies change, and consumers do not know about it. Has the medication you have needed ever not been included on the new formulary?

18. Were your difficulties with “step therapy” and continuity of care due to
Were your difficulties with “step therapy” and continuity of care due to   managed care, like a HMO or a PPO, Medicaid or Private insurance

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5. October 2011 by admin.

Attention all Florida Artists… NAMI in connection with Assist The Able Trust is holding a contest… See info below.

Holiday Card Contest

Assist The Able Trust in celebrating the December holidays and New Year by creating a greeting card front piece.

Open Call to Florida Artists!

1st Prize, $150

2nd Prize, $75

3rd Prize, $50

Contest Opens: Friday September 30, 2011

Entry Deadline: Thursday, November 3, 2011 at 5 PM

Format: Original Artwork on paper no larger than 8 ½ X 11 OR on a JPEG file between 750KB-1MB on disk. Artwork should be sent along with an “About The Artist” statement of 50 words or less. The Statement should provide a personal statement about the artist, the submitted piece of art, the holiday season, and disabilities. Both submitted Artwork and Statement should be labeled with the Contact name, complete address, phone number and email of Artist.

Attention: Original Artwork will be returned only if accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Not responsible for lost or damaged pieces. One Artwork Submission per Artist. Artists must currently maintain a Florida address. Artists with disabilities encouraged to apply. Artwork submitted in formats other than outlined above will not be considered.

Selected Artwork: Images of the top 3 Selected pieces will be retained for any use by The Able Trust for up to 2 years from the date of selection. Winners will be notified after November 14, 2011 of their selection.

Send To: The Able Trust; Holiday Card Contest; 3320 Thomasville Rd, Suite 200; Tallahassee, FL 32308. Arriving no later than 5 PM November 3, 2011.

Questions:

850-224-4493 or info@abletrust.org

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26. September 2011 by admin.

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