Mental Health Promotion and Education Implementation Group

Mental Health Promotion and Education Implementation Group Charter

Current Situation

• Stigma related to mental health issues is pervasive throughout the state. Research indicates stigmaleads to delays in seeking help, hinders public acceptance of evidence-based mental health care, and leads to lack of support for people with mental disorders from others in the community.
• Mental health literacy in Missouri is lacking throughout the state and across the lifespan.
• There are no consistent media messages or social marketing efforts in Missouri promoting the principle that mental health is essential to overall health.
• Collaborative public education with sister agencies and partner organizations is limited and pocketed.
• Prevention lacks clear definition and agreed upon standards within Departments and across Departments in the state.
• The concept of prevention is generically accepted without the understanding of the length of time necessary, the cost benefit ratio, and the importance of comprehensive, coordinated prevention actions.

Desired Outcomes

This workgroup will successfully oversee statewide coordinated efforts to promote understanding that mental health is integral to overall health and should be treated with the same urgency as physical health. The workgroup will examine the capacity in the state to deliver preventive, community-oriented, population-based mental health services within the framework of a public health approach to mental health, and make relevant policy recommendations. Strategies to eliminate barriers to public acceptance will increase mental health literacy, reduce stigma, and move the system to one that is  proactive rather than reactive. Strategies to enhance community understanding of the relationship of mental health to overall health will result in a changed infrastructure, new policies, and fresh opportunities for all persons to live, work, learn, and play in Missouri communities.

Scope

• Develop and implement strategies designed to increase mental health literacy and reduce stigma including the development of a social marketing campaign.  Identify and incorporate existing efforts into a coordinated approach.
• Conduct initial review of current prevention efforts and make recommendations for a shared prevention framework and system.
• Establish Subcommittees identified as necessary by the workgroup to actualize the charter; Subcommittee participants may contribute both interest and expertise in specific content areas. Incorporate existing Mental Health First Aid Advisory Committee into existing structure and modify/expand membership as appropriate.
• Establish a 5-person exploratory team to study how best to advance a public health approach to mental illness prevention and mental health promotion. The initial charge is to establish a dialogue with existing prevention oriented groups to determine the optimal vehicle for advancing prevention in Missouri.  Subsequent tasks could include recommending an operational definition of prevention; reviewing existing prevention plans for commonality and gaps; then, developing recommendations to present to TWG. Consulting with practitioners across department and disciplines is encouraged.
• Review scope of work for each Subcommittee to ensure consistency of message with no duplication.
• Incorporate “Mental Health is Essential to Overall Health” as the desired outcome of each Subcommittee.
• Assimilate issues of sustainability into the plans and activities of each Subcommittee.
• Identify policy, financing and structural changes to recommend to TWG.

Resources

• Priority recommendations of the Transformation workgroups, especially “Mental Health is Essential to Overall Health” and the TWG
• MIMH Anti-Stigma Report
• SAMHSA Media Initiatives, i.e.  Mental Health:  It’s Part of All Our Lives, What a Difference a Friend Makes
• NAMI In Our Own Voice
• Capstone Program at Missouri School of Journalism
• Missouri Prevention Partners’ draft Child Abuse Prevention Plan; Missouri’s Suicide Prevention Plan; any additional existing statewide prevention oriented plans; ADA SIG Advisory Committee and Plan
• Journalism Department at Lincoln University
• Missouri Mental Health Foundation
• Transformation Needs Assessment
• Washington December 2007 publication: Mental Health – A Public Health Approach; Developing A Prevention-Oriented Mental Health System in Washington State.
• Research on Mental Health First Aid Program; experience of other countries in implementing MHFA

 

August 21, 2008