Substance abuse

What is unique about QPR is that it is a new idea that asks of all of us the following question: "Since suicide is preventable, will you give an hour to save a life?"

Through providing carefully-selected educational content to help change attitudes, together with skills training, QPR gatekeeper training breaks down stigma and taboo and asks of our basic humanity toward one another, "Will you step in and ask a distressed loved one or friend or coworker, 'Are you considering suicide?'"

This brave, bold, informed, single, compassionate question changes the equation between people and opens up the path to healing. QPR cuts through the fears and misunderstandings about suicide that have haunted us for the last 2,000 years.

That QPR has been thoroughly researched and found to be safe and effective we can now hope to achieve something the Talmud says, "Save one life and you save an entire world." Our mission was to create a new bridge between people suffering so greatly they are considering self-destruction and those in their lives willing to learn to save "entire worlds."

Knowing that another 2,700 people around the world will kill themselves the day you read this, inspires us all to marshal our efforts to fight against stigma, taboo, fear, ignorance, and premature death by one's own hands.

Because we have created and tested this concept for more than 10 years via millions of dollars in federal and state-supported research, QPR is now a registered best practice and widely available to anyone interested in learning to prevent suicide.

With increasing attention to the problem of suicide in our military services, we concur with the following:

"It is always the right time to do the right thing," Martin Luther King, Jr.

FacingUs.org is an interactive community that provides a safe haven for those living with mood disorders and offers inspiration and encouragement to anyone seeking personal wellness. Its innovation can be found in its:

Accessibility: FacingUs.org is a web-based program that provides tools and inspiration that is accessible when, where, and how individuals need them.

Empowering Content: FacingUs.org puts tools -- like wellness plans, journals, tips, health calendars and more -- into the hands of individuals so that they can become active participants in their own recovery.

Impact on System Change: FacingUs.org offers tools that mental health consumers can use to partner with their clinicians --- tools, such as the Wellness Plan and Wellness Tracker, that move beyond symptom management, incorporating life-goals and overall health as a driving force in treatment.

Ability to Provide Hope and Inspiration: FacingUs.org is a perfect reflection of DBSA's tag line, "We've been there. We can help." which exemplifies the power of peer support. Visitors can find inspiration from individuals like themselves --- video personal stories of recovery, artwork and music --- all from peers, who have shared the same challenging journey.

To support the individuals living with a mental illness who have fallen through the cracks. The individuals who are not functioning enough to maintain employment and live independently, those who may or may not qualify for disability, those who face barriers to obtaining healthcare and medications necessary. Individuals who are stuck in the revolving door of being in crisis, to being stabilized inpatient, and eventual deterioration due to lack of support once discharged. To provide safe living quarters,employ staff for crisis intervention and to monitor medication and after care compliance, work with other community agencies to link participants to support groups, substance abuse treatment, adult education, vocational rehab, financial counseling, job training, etc. to link to volunteer and employment opportunities.

To date, there has been no other multi-state initiative to address tobacco cessation with behavioral health clients through peer-delivered services. Consumer-driven and peer support models have proven successful in increasing coping skills and aiding in recovery for mental health clients as well as persons with substance abuse disorders. The key element in peer support programs is the delivery of services to behavioral health clients by behavioral health clients. There is preliminary evidence that a peer support model can also be applied to effectively address smoking and tobacco use. The self-help model has continuously been shown effective for smoking cessation in the general population; however, there has been little exploration applying this model to the behavioral healthcare sector. The first peer-to-peer program for tobacco cessation that we are aware of is the Consumers Helping Others Improve their Condition by Ending Smoking (CHOICES) program developed by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). CHOICES employs mental health clients as peer advocates, educating smokers with mental illnesses to increase motivation to quit as well as providing linkages to treatment. In consultation with CHOICES, the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center, and state partners, we developed an embedded Peer-to-Peer Tobacco Cessation Program. This sustainable model augments provider services. The program trains paid peer advocates to address smoking cessation as a key component of their other roles and responsibilities. Within community centers and clinics, peer advocates not only build motivation but offer ongoing tobacco cessation services and community education.

There are no attempts in my city to reach and reintegrate homeless youths into the mainstream. Through the provision of basic needs at the center (food, safety) trust can be developed with youths so that they become willing to accept assistance to reintegrate (housing, job, education), and also to regain hope.

Without a drop-in center, how can any city hope to have any impact on homeless, street living kids? A drop-in is a necessary bridge between the streets and the mainstream.

Nothing like this presently exists and it will revolutionize mental health treatment. Most patients only see their provider once a month. This provides daily contact, treatment, support and encouragement like never before in partnership with the mental health center and practitioner.

The cornerstone of MOVE is community. As these issues are often kept in secret and in darkness, the driving force of MOVE is the community discussion and interaction. Because of the limited size of MOVE conferences, difficult topics are presented in a personal setting that allows for participants to have an active voices throughout the conference. Feedback, questions, and reflection are encouraged, which leads to a dynamic format where ideas are shared between participants and staff. It is the challenging interaction around these difficult issues that makes the MOVE experience unique. Often education about issues like addiction, self injury, depression, or eating disorders comes in a classroom format, with one-sided lectures. Since these issues are so rarely talked about, we believe that there is much to be learned in hearing from each other. The MOVE Community Conference is an invitation into a conversation where attendees not only learn from the presented material, but attendees and staff both learn and grow from the experiences and ideas of the present community as they interact with the information and topics being presented. This is what makes MOVE powerful and impactful for all present. It is also this format and context that empowers participants to return home and engage their own communities with more than just facts, but an honest and compassionate understanding of common, yet difficult struggles.

There is very limited research on health and wellness programs of this nature for women with Co-Occurring Disorders who may also be overweight and have medical complications. Currently the Centers for Disease Control estimate 1/3 of Americans are obese (Ogden CL, Carroll MD, McDowell MA, & Flegal KM. 2007). This program has the potential to impact thousands of women in recovery.

The proposed plan for delivery of mental health resources to the United States fire and EMS services, Initiative 13, represents the first time that the emergency response professions have coalesced to deal with behavioral health issues on a national level. Currently, provision of and funding for mental health services for the emergency response professions is determined at the local or state level. Though mandated in industry health and safety standards, there is no existing national standard of care, so programs vary widely in terms of approach, funding, and accessibility. The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF), through its Everyone Goes Home® program, is the driving force behind the movement to ensure that psychological care is available to emergency responders whenever and wherever needed, and that the assistance delivered represents the best practices under current evidence-informed standards. Development of the NFFF’s strategic plan for Firefighter Life Safety Initiative 13 (ensuring accessibility of behavioral health resources and counseling for firefighters and their families) employed a consensus process involving behavioral health researchers and representatives from key organizations and standards bodies, including the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the National Fire Protection Association, the National Association of Emergency Medical Services Physicians, and the North American Fire Training Directors. Together these industry experts were able to outline a plan to develop and deliver practical and affordable state-of-the art assistance to fire and EMS providers.

The Center’s “Just Practice” model of collaborative counseling is based on a paradigm that conceptualizes people’s life struggles in a way radically different from the objectivist and dualistic “classic realism” paradigm underlying the entire “mental health” services system. Rather than imitating the “medical model”, the co-founders of the Center chose for the “Family Empowerment Program” model as epistemological alternative a rigorously relationship-focused paradigm
With the relationship-focused and context-centered perspective the Center teams (2 professionals) working with urban youth and their families living in disadvantaged areas of New Jersey are able to view the young people within their intimate relational network (family and kinship network, neighbors, personal friends), their school context, their peer group, and their community.
The relational and contextual model emphasizes the teams’ and families’ curiosity, openness to learn from others, ability to respond personally and to act collaboratively. The ensuing mutual relationship between Center teams and families focuses on discovering strengths and resources to remove obstacles and to enhance lives. Working towards and with a thriving non-violent justice-oriented community is part of the Center teams’ tasks. “Just practice” seeks to heal relationships and strengthen communities through working toward justice.
The Center teams’ work with adolescents and families in 20 disadvantaged urban school settings flourishes at the margins of the so-called “mental health system”. The Center’s leadership is convinced that this model and its epistemological foundations constitute a viable alternative to the medical model with broad applications to people’s behavioral, emotional, or cognitive difficulties.

The psych navigation process would transform traditional health systems in that, by working collaboratively, hospitals, outpatient providers and clinics would foster a more cohesive relationship. Patients and their families would experience more compassionate and effective continuity of care with a goal of eventually moving closer to preventative care for patients as well as tighter support and education for families regarding managing symptoms and illnesses. This would help in decreasing the utilization of the emergency department by providing an equal or lesser level of care geared towards the patient's individual needs and symptomatology. Starting with the Emergency Department as the point of entry to the hospital, the psych navigator would assist the patient (and their family) by providing continuity for the patient across levels of care. For example, if a patient presents to the Emergency Department with an overdose of alcohol and pills, the Psych Navigator would be able to obtain information from the patient (if possible) and family members or friends present with them as well as from the ambulance crew that may have transported the patient. This information would combine with a review of the patient's progress with the Emergency Department team and reviewing any prior visits to the department that the patient may have had. As the patient transitions to an acute care unit or medical unit, the Psych navigator would be able to follow the patient throughout their hospital stay and monitor the patients symptoms and behavior while fostering a relationship geared to explore the precipitants to admission (and having the opportunity to assess and explore additional information which may not been obtained on admission), resources available for the patient and their family and needs for treatment (based on the patient's stated goals and review of symptoms). The recommendations upon discharge would be specifically geared to the patient's individual needs and goals.

Mental Health First Aid is a groundbreaking public education initiative that focuses on three key elements: recognizing the warning signs of a mental health emergency, increasing skills to help individuals reach out to those with mental health challenges, and providing an engaging framework for understanding how professional and self-help supports can help. The program helps members of the public to better understand the real struggles a person with mental illness is experiencing, which is both powerful at combating stigma and crucial in supporting those with mental illnesses. The program is unique in its approach to give regular members of the public the confidence to provide support, offer comfort, and help with recovery on those with mental illness – and has the power to bring communities together in ways they never would have connected otherwise.

Mental Health First Aiders, from social workers to the general public, are equipped to build trusting relationships that help them to help persons in need. Mental Health First Aiders are trained to connect people to professional care and are NOT intended to diagnose or treat mental health problems.

Harbor City Services (HCS) operates as a social enterprise -- it is a for-profit business with a social mission. They have operated successfully since 1987. Partnering with a social work researcher allows best-evidence practices to come into community settings in a timely manner since we know that many interventions, such as the one proposed, get to the people that need them most in an extremely delayed manner. This project would have immediate impact on the current and future employees of HCS and contribute to many positive social outcomes.