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Understanding Mental Health Recovery and Peer Support among Latinos and People who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing
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| Presenter(s):
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| Linda Cabral, University of Massachusetts, linda.cabral@umassmed.edu
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| Kathy Muhr, University of Massachusetts, kathy.muhr@umassmed.edu
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| Judy Savageau, University of Massachusetts, judith.savageau@umassmed.edu
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| Abstract:
Offering recovery-oriented mental health and peer support services to various cultural and linguistic groups is challenging. This study sought to better understand how persons with mental health conditions from two cultural groups - Latinos and Deaf and Hard of Hearing (D/HH) - access recovery-based services. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with persons with mental health conditions from both cultural groups. Language barriers posed the biggest challenge in accessing mental health services. There is a lack of qualified professionals who speak Spanish or use American Sign Language. Among both groups, the preference was to work directly with someone in the language they feel most comfortable with and to avoid interpreters. Access to adequate mental health services, not just recovery-oriented and peer support services, were not widely available for Latinos and persons who are D/HH. Public mental health systems need to adapt and expand services for these and other cultural groups.
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Evaluating the Role of the Peer Specialist in the Massachusetts Mental Health System
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| Presenter(s):
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| Linda Cabral, University of Massachusetts, linda.cabral@umassmed.edu
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| Heather Strother, University of Massachusetts, heather.strother@umassmed.edu
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| Kathy Muhr, University of Massachusetts, kathy.muhr@umassmed.edu
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| Laura Sefton, University of Massachusetts, laura.sefton@umassmed.edu
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| Judy Savageau, University of Massachusetts, judith.savageau@umassmed.edu
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| Abstract:
A growing trend nationally in mental health systems is for individuals with mental illness and experience with mental health services to work as Peer Specialists. Training programs have been established to develop this new workforce. A recently completed evaluation assessed factors that both help and hinder Peer Specialists in applying their learning from the Massachusetts training program. We sought feedback from peer specialists, supervisors of peer specialists, as well as people who receive peer specialist services. Interviews and focus groups were conducted separately with all stakeholder groups to better understand their experiences in supervising this new role, receiving this new service or being employed as a peer specialist. This study helped to inform the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health about the importance of having clear job duties for peer specialists as well as the value placed on this service by those working with peer specialists.
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The Recovery-Orientation of Mental Health Programs: Valuing Different Perspectives
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| Presenter(s):
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| Diana Seybolt, University of Maryland, Baltimore, dseybolt@psych.umaryland.edu
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| Laura Anderson, University of Maryland, Baltimore, landerso@psych.umaryland.edu
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| Lachelle Wade-Freeman, University of Maryland, Baltimore, lfreeman@psych.umaryland.edu
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| Abstract:
Recovery has increasingly been recognized in the mental health field as the primary goal of individuals receiving services. As such, it is important to understand the extent to which mental health service programs foster and promote the recovery of mental health consumers. As part of a training initiative sponsored by Maryland's Mental Health Transformation State Infrastructure Grant, this evaluation examined the recovery-orientation of several Psychiatric Rehabilitation Programs. The Recovery Self-Assessment (O'Connell, Tondora, Croog, Evans, & Davidson, 2005) was completed by both program staff and service recipients. The results showed significant differences in the way in which program staff and consumers rated the programs. The results will be discussed in terms of possible reasons for the differences as well as importance and value of including different stakeholder perspectives in the evaluation of mental health service programs.
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Families on the Border: Using Evaluation and Program Data to Understand Family Problems and Value Family Strengths for a Recovery-Oriented Model of Care
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| Presenter(s):
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| Judith Francis, Pima Prevention Partnership, jfrancis@thepartnership.us
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| Kara Jones, Pima Prevention Partnership, kjones@thatpartnership.us
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| Abstract:
Juvenile justice-involved adolescents entering substance abuse treatment tend to have multi-faceted family problems, and treatment programs often rely on these same families to provide direct sobriety support for their adolescent. Outpatient programs, where three-quarters of these youth are placed, face challenges in engaging families and providing resources to assist them. To learn more about the needs of their Latino and non-Latino participants, evaluators at one Arizona model program analyzed family context variables from pooled Global Appraisal of Individual Needs (GAIN) for 3,063 youth in similar programs in the four U.S-Mexico border states. Since GAIN family context data is limited, the evaluators undertook a client record review of rich narrative notes completed by clinical staff following intensive intake interviews with clients and family members. These data on family problems and strengths are matched with treatment outcomes to generate the nuanced understanding of families necessary to develop a recovery-oriented model of care.
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