Minds on the Edge: Facing Mental Illness

Help start the conversations rolling in the Tri-Cities by viewing this powerful media presentation produced by PBS and NAMI National at our next meeting on Tuesday, November 10th. Produced to inform people of what is not happening in America, it presents a thought provoking dialogue that points out huge gaps in services between our agencies. Many of us have already experienced them. It addresses the dilemma and concern that nationally we need to search for answers to this problem, as too many people suffering with mental illnesses in our society are ending up in our jails.

Let’s listen to the experts deal with this issue and then brainstorm some solutions. Refreshments will be available.

7:00 pm, Tuesday, November 10th
Shalom United Church
505 McMurray Street, Richland.

New Public Act 096-0181

Health Benefits for Workers with Disabilities
Assuring All Workers with Disabilities Continue to Have Access to Affordable Health Care

Health Benefits for Workers with Disabilities (HBWD) is a program that allows individuals with disabilities who work topurchase Medicaid coverage. This Program is mostly utilized by individuals who receive or received Social Security Disability Insurance and return to work. It allows them to afford Medicaid without a large spend-down and receive “extra help” in paying for Medicare Part D prescription drugs.

By law, enrollees in this Program are subjected to Continuing Disability Reviews. While very rare, some individuals are found to be medically improved through these reviews. When this happens, the individual loses eligibility for cash benefits for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Health Benefits for Workers with Disabilities (HBWD), if applicable. However, federal law does allow Medicaid Buy-In Programs such as HBWD to continue to cover these individuals under
a category called “medical improvement.”

When an enrollee is found to be medically improved, the resulting loss of medical benefit is devastating. These individuals have successfully made the transition back into the workforce and are using HBWD to obtain needed medications and healthcare to maintain that job. Then, after this Review and an unfavorable decision, they lose access to the very healthcare that made the work transition possible. This can easily lead to lose of the job and a worsening of their medical condition just at a time when they are transitioning back to being active members of their community.

Public Act 096-0181 assures that all individuals with disabilities who have successfully transitioned to employment can maintain eligibility to HBWD and its needed healthcare. Adding this category of coverage to Medicaid costs very little as only a small number of working individuals are ever found medically improved each year. Providing these individuals with continuing access to healthcare does allow them to continue working, paying taxes to the state, and feeling empowered and productive.

Media Opportunity: New MTV Series

The producers of MTV’s True Life, a respected documentary series, are developing a new documentary series that focuses specifically on young adults living with mental illness.

Producers are looking for 18- to 25-year-olds living in the continental U.S. who have been diagnosed with a mental illness and are willing to share their personal experiences with a television audience.

MTV expects to start filming this fall and a camera crew would follow participants going about their daily life over the course of two to three months.

Participants should be comfortable sharing the ups and down of living with their illness, including the effect the illness has had on their relationships with family and friends, side effects from medications, therapy and other ways to manage their illness and challenges they take on in their academic and/or professional lives.

If you would like to be considered, please send your name, phone number and a brief description of your experiences (250 words or less) to MTV via e-mail.  If you also would like to be considered for future media opportunities with NAMI, please send a copy to Christine Armstrong (christinea@nami.org) MTV producers will decide which.

Save the Date: Friday, October 23, 2009

Please join us for our monthly adult issues conference call with NAMI’s Medical Director Dr. Ken Duckworth and guest Andrew Sperling. Andrew Sperling is the Director of Federal Legislative Advocacy for NAMI. In this position, he leads NAMI’s legislative advocacy initiatives in Congress and before federal agencies. Mr. Sperling works on issues affecting the mental health community with a focus on improving the lives of people with severe mental illnesses.

The topic of his discussion will be “Healthcare Reform.” The call is toll free and scheduled from 11-12:30 Eastern Time on Friday, October 23rd. To access the call, please dial 1-888-858-6021; access number 309918. This call can be made from any phone.

If you have any questions, please contact Bianca Ruffin via e-mail. PLEASE NOTE: The November and December Adult Ask the Doctor calls have been re-scheduled to Friday, November 6th and Friday, December 4th to accommodate holiday schedules.

Insurance Barriers to Youth Mental Health Care

An author working on a book proposal about youth and mental illness would like to speak with the parent of a child/teen who has faced insurance hurdles when trying to access mental health services and supports for their child.

If you would like to share you story, please send a short description (250 words or less) of your experiences to Christine Armstrong via e-mail. Please include your name and phone number. NAMI will not release any personal information without your explicit consent and ultimately the reporter will decide which stories may be the best fit for this article.
October Adult “Ask the Doctor” Call with Guest Andrew Sperling

New Publication Examines What Happens to Medicaid Buy-In Participants After They Leave the Program

CMS just released the issue brief, Working with Disability, examining the prevalence and characteristics of Medicaid Buy-In participants who leave the program as well as their participation status in other public programs and their employment outcomes after disenrollment. It is available through the following link:
http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/pdfs/disability/WWDDisenrollees.pdf

PTSD Treatment Efforts for Returning War Veterans to be Evaluated

Joan Cook, Ph.D., of Yale University and colleagues have been awarded
funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to
evaluate the implementation of two evidence-based psychotherapies for
treating post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among veterans. The
grant addresses the NIH Challenge Grant topic “Strategies to Support
Uptake of Interventions within Clinical Community and Settings.”

Strategies for promoting evidence-based PTSD treatments in the
military are urgently needed as more and more soldiers returning from
Iraq and Afghanistan struggle with this disorder.  PE (prolonged
exposure) involves helping people confront their fear and feelings
about the trauma they experienced in a safe way through mental
imagery, writing, or other ways. In CPT (cognitive processing
therapy), the patient is asked to recount his or her traumatic
experience, and a therapist helps the patient redirect inaccurate or
destructive thoughts about the experience.

Dr. Cook and colleagues will partner with the Northeast Program
Evaluation Center, which monitors all VA mental health programming and
patient outcomes, and the National Center for PTSD, which oversees the
dissemination of PE and CPT nationally among VA providers. They plan
to monitor and assess the efforts of more than 250 mental health
providers in residential PTSD treatment settings via online
questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and on-site observations.

The NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research program is a
new initiative funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). This program will support research on 15
broad Challenge Areas that address specific scientific and health
research challenges in biomedical and behavioral research that would
benefit from an influx of significant two-year funds to quickly
advance the area.

More can be found on research topics at NIMH’s Challenge Grant webpage.

Mental Illness Awareness Week

October 4 – 10

Mental Illness Awareness Week

Education Need to Build Stronger Communities

In 1990, the U.S. Congress established the first week of October as “Mental Illness Awareness Week”  (MIAW) in recognition of NAMI’s efforts to raise mental illness awareness.  Since 1990, mental health advocates across the country have joined together during the first week of October to celebrate.

About 60 million Americans experience mental health problems in any given year. One in 17 lives with the most serious conditions.

NAMI is serving this year as national outreach partner for two PBS-TV documentaries, one or both of which will be airing.

The first is When Medicine Got It Wrong, the story of NAMI’s grassroots origins and founding as a national organization.  The second is Minds at the Edge, a “Fred Friendly Seminar” about current issues in the mental health care system.

Minds on the Edge is schedule to be viewed as follows:

Spokane on PBS World   KSPSDT2

Sunday, October 4, at 5am, 11am and 6 & 10pm

Seattle on KCTS-SD  Friday, October 9 at 12 noon

National Consumer Supporter Technical Assistance Center: Webinar Series on Organizational Development and Business Management for Peer-Run Organizations

NCSTAC is pleased to announce that registration is open for our new series of webinars on Organizational Development and Business Management for Peer-Run Organizations.  This five part participatory series will begin in October of this year and will be broadcast every other month as part of our ongoing technical assistance to consumer-run organizations and services.

Leading authorities on:

• Consumer-Run Nonprofit Basics,
• Governance: The Role of the Board,
• Management: The Role of the Staff,
• Fundraising and Capacity Building
• Sustaining Your Consumer-Run Nonprofit Organization

will present live via teleconference and web interface.  These 90 minute modules will provide ample time for questions and discussion.

Participation will be available through registration.  In order to register please email phendry@mentalhealthamerica.net and include your name, how many people will be attending, contact information, and please put Webinar Registration in the subject line. There is no cost for participation and copies of the course information will be available on our website.  For detailed information on the first webinar please see below.

We look forward to providing this useful information to your organization.  For information on our technical assistance publications please visit our website at www.ncstac.org

The first in our series of Organizational Development and Business Management for Peer-Run Organizations series of webinars, Consumer-Run Nonprofit Basics will be presented on October 20, 2009 at 2:30 – 4:00 PM, EST.

Campaign for Mental Health Recovery (CMHR) for Voice Awards Presented This Month

The 2009 Voice Awards will take place at Paramount Pictures Studios in Hollywood on Wednesday, October 14. Screenwriters, producers, and actors will join SAMHSA in celebrating the winning productions, as well as honoring leaders of the mental health recovery movement who raise awareness of mental health, expand public understanding about mental health problems, and promote social inclusion of individuals with mental illnesses in communities throughout the United States. This invitation only event includes:

• Red carpet arrivals
• Theater-style awards presentation
• Refreshments and after-party

The Voice Awards honor writers and producers who have given a voice to people with mental health issues by incorporating dignified, respectful, and accurate portrayals of these individuals into film and television productions.

The event will celebrate nominees that include The Soloist, Michael Clayton, Lars and the Real Girl, “90210,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “United States of Tara.” The Voice Awards also will celebrate the achievements of mental health consumer leaders who are working to promote the social inclusion of people with mental health issues and the real possibility of recovery.