Mental health “recovery movement” gets boost from consumer groups in Washington
June 11, 2009
By Rena Shawver
Changing the mental health service delivery model to incorporate recovery and resiliency as core principles is as much of a social movement in Washington State as fighting for minority rights and equality. To promote this shift in thinking, four consumer groups across the state have formed and have begun implementing regional organizing initiatives (ROIs) in support of this monumental undertaking.
The individual projects being sponsored through the ROIs are being spearheaded by each of the area’s Regional Advisory Groups, all of whose members are individuals with the lived experience of mental illness. Two ROIs are located in Western Washington, one representing King/Pierce counties and the other the greater north end of the state. Two other ROIs are located in Eastern Washington, one representing the greater Spokane area and the other in central Washington. Together, these four groups give the initiatives statewide representation.
“Through local projects that promote consumer voice and leadership, these groups are laying the groundwork to create a unified voice for mental health consumers,” says Jill San Jule, formerly of the Mental Health Transformation Project. She served as technical advisor to the ROIs and currently is the Manager for the Recovery and Resiliency Unit at OptumHealth Pierce Regional Support Network.
San Jule says transforming the mental health care system really amounts to a collective movement to empower people with mental illness to take charge of not only their own personal care, but the future direction of mental health care delivery and support. “When you have people learning new ways of managing their own health, supported by individuals who believe in their capability to do so, there is less demand for costly crisis services. This is fiscally sound policy.”
Each group met over a five-month period and came up with projects that would meet their shared vision of incorporating the principles and practices of recovery and wellness into every aspect of the mental health system, from policy change to services to case management.
The goals of the ROIs include:
- Creating and maintaining regional coalitions and partnerships.
- Influencing policy development.
- Building leadership capacity.
- Promoting recovery and wellness.
- Uniting consumer voices for system change.
With individual $15,000 budgets, the four ROIs came up with plans to accomplish in the next six months. Some of those projects include:
- Building a website to educate consumers on resources in their community as well as general education on mental health and wellness. The website will serve as a portal for employment opportunities, peer counselors, local services and recovery information statewide.
- Replacing grave markers to identify anonymously buried Western State Hospital patients and bring dignity to their memories. Through the Grave Concerns Association, the Dignity for 50 project will replace 50 grave markers at the hospital’s historic cemetery to include the person’s name, birth date and date of death instead of the current markers, which carry only a number.
- Compiling, printing and distributing literary publications consisting of recovery-focused peer contributions to provide better public understanding of mental illness. North Sound HOPE will provide opportunities for contributors to express themselves and build leadership skills while changing public perceptions about mental illness.
- The creation of a training manual that encompasses the goals of the ROIs: expanding regional coalitions and partnerships, building an adult consumer leadership capacity, promoting wellness and recovery and uniting the voices to impact system change by encouraging and mentoring people to be involved on advisory boards and other committees.
- Training adult consumers to become certified Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) facilitators as well as the development of a core group of consumers to work together to develop consumer run/operated services.
The ROIs hope to instill the belief that recovery is possible, to give people the tools they need to become more resilient and mentor others to get involved, building new leadership across the state.
“Once you have so many people involved and moving in one direction, there’s no going back. We are truly heading towards the tipping point,” says San Jule.
For more information on the ROIs, contact Judy Gosney or Kathy Zimmerman at the Mental Health Transformation Project.
