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Strong Communities
Emplacement
Life Management Center of NW FL (LMC) provides behavioral health treatment services to Bay, Holmes, Washington, Jackson, Calhoun, and Gulf Counties in the Florida Panhandle. The agency is well-recognized for its competent staff who help to improve the lives of community members. LMC seeks to empower the community by initiating peer-support (self-help) groups for community members to adopt so that quality behavioral health management skills are more widely accessible.
A propos de vous
A propos de vous
Prénom
Rachel
Nom
Rackard
URL du site Web
Organization
Life Management Center of NW FL
Pays
États Unis, FL
A propos de votre organisation
Nom
Life Management Center of NW FL
Téléphone
850-522-4485
Adresse
525 E 15th St
Pays
États Unis, FL, Bay County
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Your idea
Name Your Project
Strong Communities
Country your work focuses on
États Unis, FL, Bay County
Describe Your Idea
Life Management Center of NW FL (LMC) provides behavioral health treatment services to Bay, Holmes, Washington, Jackson, Calhoun, and Gulf Counties in the Florida Panhandle. The agency is well-recognized for its competent staff who help to improve the lives of community members. LMC seeks to empower the community by initiating peer-support (self-help) groups for community members to adopt so that quality behavioral health management skills are more widely accessible.
Website URL
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
One in four will experience a diagnosible mental health condition in their lives, many of which can impair fucntioning. The concept of peer-support (self-help) groups is well researched and documented as an effective approach to improving the functioning of individuals and family members affected by mental illness. The interpersonal relationships built in sharing experiences with peers can be a powerful tool in promoting health and stability of community members. Peer-support groups have been shown to increase acceptance and understanding of mental health conditions, as well as to increase medication compliance and improve levels of self worth.
Despite their documented benefits, there are currently very limited support groups for individuals seeking assistance the rural counties of Northwest Florida. The Strong Communities Project would be unique to this area because it would dedicate funding to the development and initiation of peer-driven support groups in Northwest Florida. In preliminary efforts to assess the feasibility of such a project, Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) and LMC Program Director Ken Chisholm volunteered his time to begin a Suicide Survivors support group, which was then turned over to the community to maintain. This group has shown growth and remained active for several months since its initiation.
With funding from the Strong Communities Grant, LMC will provide the ground work needed to get peer support groups established, including marketing and dissemination of materials related to coping with and improving mental health. These initial steps will include identifying community needs and currently available resources, creation of publications and group materials, and initiation of group meetings. As the peer support groups establish their core base, peer facilitators will be identified and empowered to maintain the group, ultimately strengthening the community via the members' participation and ownership
Do you have a patent for this idea?
Non
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had?
Currently, LMC provides behavioral healthcare to the rural population of northwest Florida. These services include counseling, psychiatric services, case management, supported employment, psychosocial rehabilitiation and crisis intervention. In fiscal year 2008-2009, LMC provided services to 9,878 children and adults across the six counties served.
LMC is recognized by community members and service agencies as providing qualified and comprehensive treatment for a variety mental health and substance use problems as well as promoting healthy and stable families. The agency actively engages in efforts to enhance community awareness of mental illness including participation in community outreach and training projects. LMC intitiated Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training for local law enforcement, bringing the nationally recognized Memphis Model to this service area. The agency has also participated in local health fairs to increase community awareness and knowledge of how to access services to address mental health and substance abuse problems. LMC has recently established a Suicide Survivors peer-support group as an inaugeral effort towards development of peer-support groups in the local community.
Problem
Currently the only peer support groups available in the six counties served by LMC are substance-related (including Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous). As LMC works with consumers suffering from behavioral health disorders, the agency is frequently approached with questions regarding the availability of peer support groups to help people and their family members cope with their mental illness. With no real options available, these individuals are often left to cope with the psychological and social effects of mental health disorders on their own.
In a time of financial crisis and budget cuts, there is no funding available to support the efforts needed to go into implementing a successful peer-support group. However, more and more people in the local community could benefit from this kind of support. The Florida economy is predominately driven by tourism, which was already affected by the national recession. Now with the Deep Water Horizon oil crisis, tourism has diminished to unprecedented levels. This leads to lost jobs and hirer unemployment rates, resulting in increased depression and need for support from the community.
Actions
LMC provides a number of services to consumers needing treatment for behavioral health disorders. Many of these services are available on a sliding-fee scale to make them more accessible to low-income and uninsured individuals needing assistance. However, many individuals opt out of treatment because they cannot afford it. LMC constantly strives to identify funding sources to assist in providing services for individuals with mental health or substance use disorders. The agency has previously secured grants targeting Veterans and other high-risk populations.
Due to continued budgetary issues with the State, it has become increasingly evident that the community needs to adopt an attitude of self-sufficience and self-care. In response to the recent increase of suicides in the community, Ken Chisholm, LMHC (program director for LMC's Emergency Services and Inpatient Unit) volunteered his time to develop and implement a Suicide Survivors support group. That effort has proven to be well-received in the community as a peer facilitator has assumed responsibility for the group and continues to maintain it. This has also been a good learning experience for future efforts.
Results
With funding from the Strong Communities Grant, LMC will research community needs and available resources to assist with developing specific peer support group topics. Staff will then market the initiative and produce materials so that the information provided is helpful to the community participants. LMC will lead the first meetings of each group until an appropriate peer facilitator is identified to assume responsibility for maintaining the project.
Through the Strong Communities project, LMC intends to increase education and support available to the community while empowering citizens to help themselves cope with the effects of mental health and substance use problems. Anticipated effects of this project include decreased behavioral health crises among the mentally ill and substance abusing population, challenging the stigma associated with behavioral health disorders, as well as increased awareness, improved community cohesion, support, and efficiency. Through these efforts, LMC expects to see an overall improvement in the citizen's reports of successful functioning as well as an increased sense of self worth and value to the community.
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
In order for these efforts to be successful, LMC must ensure the peer support groups are professionally developed, meet the community's needs, and easily adopted by citizens to maintain. Simply put, this project needs to be done "right" if it is going to be effective. This will require staff time in planning, developing materials, and marketing the project so that there is a good response from the community.
As the peer support groups are started, professional facilitators will be present to provide information and guide development until an appropriate peer facilitator can be identified. This approach will help establish a strong foundation on which the project is built, improving the credibility of and community support for the group. Once peer facilitators have adopted responsibility for maintaining the group, LMC staff will be able to back out of the primary role to serve as a secondary support and source of consultation for peer facilitators.
With this approach, the peer support groups will become self-sufficient and able to grow over the next several years. LMC anticipates that this new approach to support for individuals and family members affected by behavioral health issues will become a low-cost, citizen-driven option for individuals needing support in their community.
What would prevent your project from being a success?
The main issue that would prevent the success of this project would be lack of support and participation from the community. Considering LMC's broad community-base and recognition in the counties served, the primary cause of lacking community support would be a project that was not properly implemented.
In order to ensure the greatest success, LMC will need to have adequate staff time and resources dedicated toward the planning, development, and marketing for each group implemented. With funding from the Strong Communities Grant, LMC will be able to support the resources needed establish the ground work for a series of peer support groups that the citizens of the local community can then adopt and maintain to strengthen the community and support available to its members.
How many people will your project serve annually?
101‐1000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$1000 - 4000
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
Non
Viabilité
A quel étape votre projet en est-il ?
En place depuis moins d'1 an
Votre organisation est-elle une
organisation à but non lucratif
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Oui
If yes, provide organization name.
Life Management Center of NW Florida
How long has this organization been operating?
Plus 5 années
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Oui
Does your organization have a non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Non
Does your organization have a non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
Non
Does your organization have a non-monetary partnerships with government?
Non
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
Currently the only partnerships LMC maintains with area NGOs, businesses, and government are on a contract basis - these entities solicit behavioral health treatment services from LMC to address the needs of high risk populations including the severely and persistently mentally ill, families experiencing abuse, and at-risk juveniles. LMC also provides local forensic services for mentally ill consumers who are currently or have a history of incarceration related to their illness.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
As is typical of most private not-for-profit organizations, increasing funding is the greatest action needed to grow the Strong Communities project and the organization. LMC is constantly working to identify additional funding so that the agency is able to help a greater number of consumers with a wider range of concerns.
A second important action to help grow the Strong Communities initiative is to increase citizen participation and commitment. This includes conducting outreach and marketing activities to empower the community in taking a more proactive approach to mental wellness. By securing community support, citizens will feel a greater responsibility and commitment to keeping the project successful.
A third step that LMC actively engages in to help grow the organization is expansion of specialized services. This includes identifying training opportunities to increase staff competencies, as well the agency's current initiative to implement more evidence-based practices into the treatment model.
The Story
What was the defining moment that you led to this innovation?
In 2009, local media and the medical examiner's office reported that there had been a significant increase in the number of suicides in the local area. This sparked interest as to why some people chose suicide as an alternative to facing the stressors of life, as well as generated discussion regarding the effects of suicide on surviving friends and family members.
In order to address the grief and stigma faced by suicide survivors, LMC Emergency Services and Inpatient Program Director Ken Chisholm, LMHC decided to volunteer his time into researching the development and implementation of a peer-driven support group. No such support groups had been offered in the Bay County area, and the concept was well-received by the community. Since its first meeting, the Suicide Survivors Support Group been adopted by a local community member as the facilitator, has continued to meet regularly, and expanded its particpation. Based on the emotional responses of participants, it has been clear that there are a number of individuals in this community who could benefit from the support and education a peer-driven support group can offer. This initial effort targeted a very specific group of individuals and, based on the community's response and participation, LMC can only assume other peer support groups would gain an even great following.
Based on the results of this initial effort, the dwindling economy, and unique stressors that are being placed on individuals and families in this trauma-stricken era, LMC recognized the benefits of a more proactive and innovative approach to addressing mental wellness in the Florida Panhandle. LMC is motivated to help citizens help themselves, ultimately empowering and strengthening the community by providing a wider range of free resources for individuals affected by mental health conditions.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
Ken Chisholm, LMHC has dedicated more than 26 years to the field of behavioral health treatment. He started as a mental health technician for the residential program at LMC, then became a mental health technician in the psychosocial rehabilitation program. As he advanced his education, he secured a position as an emergency screener/crisis counselor where he worked with individuals and families experiencing mental health and substance-related crises. Up until this time, Ken had witnessed first-hand the devastating effects of a mental health disorder, and as he gained further experience in emergency services these effects became even more evident.
From emergency screener, Ken advanced to become a component director and now program director for the Emergency Services and Inpatient Treatment programs at LMC. He has spoken to innumerous individuals and family members experiencing various stressors, coping with challenges, and desiring support and direction. He is trained in Critical Incident Stress Debriefing and frequently called upon by local businesses to provide crisis counseling to address traumatic experiences.
Based on his experience as well as the trends in the community, Ken decided it was time to take action and implement a peer-driven community support group to help individuals in need. Now with the groups success, there are a number of other target populations that could benefit from stength and support a strong community group can offer.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Through another organization or company
If through another, please provide the name of the organization or company
