Discrimination Against People With Mental Illnesses
MHA Recieves SFHC Grant
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Mental Illness in the Workplace
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Mental Health America of Arizona
2018 SEEDS CONFERENCE
Awareness, Advocacy, Achievement
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Glendale Community College, 6000 W. Olive Ave, Glendale, AZ 85302
Mental Health America of Arizona's upcoming Seeds Conference seeks to highlight cutting edge practices and approaches used to address current and emerging issues in behavioral health. Through critical conversations, we will enhance Awareness, Advocacy, and Achievement as it pertains to mental health and recovery. This years Seeds Conference will focus on innovative strategies and interventions being used within the Education System, Workplace, and Community.
Submit Your Proposal to Present at the Conference HERE
PROPOSALS ARE DUE JANUARY 31ST, 2018
The Association for the Chronically Mentally Ill
Never Say It Might Have Been: Seizing the Moment to Require Services for the Most Seriously Mentally Ill at Arizona's Proposed Psychiatric Center of Excellence
Arizona has an historic public health opportunity to use 93 acres of state-owned, deed-restricted land in the heart of Phoenix to create a 21st century psychiatric center of excellence ("Center"). Under HB 2043, passed in our last legislative session, the Center will be a public private partnership ("P3"), and the Arizona Department of Health Services ("ADHS") will consider the public's voice at a public hearing with both live and on-line participation. As always, the devil is in the details. Determining what psychiatric services should be provided necessarily means prioritizing among populations receiving psychiatric services and specific services. The possibilities are endless: community mental health clinics, emergency/urgent psychiatric services, private practice condos, a private pay hospital, more beds for stabilization and civil commitment. But who is in greatest need? Who has the fewest alternatives? Who has been left behind in the current behavioral health system?
End this discrimination against people with mental illness and provide them with care...
Ten years have come and gone since the federal Mental Health Parity and Addictions Equity Act was passed. National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) fought long and hard for the rights outlined in this landmark legislation - covering mental health and addiction care at the same level as other health care.
And yet, all these years later, equal coverage continues to remain elusive and people with mental health conditions still face discrimination by their health insurance providers.
SFHC is a partnership between MHA, NAMI Valley of the Sun, Family Involvement Center and the EpiCenter.
Strong Families Healthy Communities (SFHC) is developed to improve access to community based mental health treatment and resources for patients of SJHMC. This will be done through partnering with the SJHMC Care Coordination and Case Management Departments to become a care coordinator extender; offering on-site patient and family psychoeducation and support; offering provider education related to identifying early warning signs of mental health needs and understanding available system resources; and creating a single point of contact for all SJHMC patient referrals. The SFHC single point of contact is the FIC Parent & Family Assistance Center Helpline.
Leveraging the resources of the Parent & Family Assistance Center, a certified Parent & Family Support Specialist will work one-on-one with each SJHMC patient referral to uncover needs and goals while connecting the person and their family with the appropriate supports. This involves addressing social determinants of health, including addressing unmet needs such a helping the person obtain food, transportation, safe housing, and secure shelter.
MHA will:
Increase self-awareness of among individuals living with mental illness through the use of our mental health screening tool.
Increase capacity in our mental health system through the use of our advocacy training, which will be available to patients and their family members.
Increase knowledge of community mental health resources with resource cards placed throughout the emergency room, which will also be provided to the providers at St. Josephs.
Health Insurers Are Still Skimping On Mental
Health Coverage
It has been nearly a decade since Congress passed the Mental Health Party and Addiction Equity Act with its promise to make mental health and substance abuse treatment just as easy to get as care for any other condition. Yet today, amid an opioid epidemic and a spike in the suicide rate, patients are still struggling to get access to treatment.
Statistics show that 1 in 4 adults has a diagnosable mental illness. More than 50 percent of those with mental illness are not being treated. How does this impact their workplace? Stress and depression are two of the largest causes of absenteeism in our workplace. It impacts our bottom line and causes difficulties for our employees. According to research by Harvard University Medical School, untreated mental illness costs the U.S. at least $105 billion in lost productivity each year. Despite the prevalence of mental illness and the high cost to employers, most workplaces do very little to improve their organization's mental health. Employers can cut their costs, increase theiremployee's health and create a productive, appreciative and respectful workforce by building mental health in their workplace. Here are some ways employers can support people living with mental illness:
Talk about it. Bring in an expert who can discuss mental health, along with stigma associated with it.
Learn to recognize it. It is important that employees learn to recognize they're experiencing a mental illness. If they don't recognize it, they will continue to suffer in silence. Employees can take advantage of a free, anonymous mental health screening atwww.mhaarizona.org.
Assist employees in addressing mental health issues. Create policies that support emotional wellness and treatment. Provide employees with available resources. Bring in an expert who can train managers on supervising those with mental illness.
Foster and model a healthy environment. Encourage exercise, offer stress reduction workshops, allow for breaks and discourage the need to respond to work-related email from home. Management should model a healthy environment for its team.Create and enforce work-life balance policies.
Provide easy access to Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). EAPs can support employees in dealing with mental health issues, along with stress related pressures.
Make reasonable accommodations. Just as we accommodate an employee with back injuries, we need to accommodate those with mental health needs. Some accommodations could include switching around their work schedule, providing a safe work station or approving a leave of absence. We need to learn how to create an environment that works for people who have specific needs.
Check your insurance coverage. Ensure you are pro
viding adequate coverage. The Federal Parity Law requires health insurance plans to provide coverage to cover behavioral health benefits and physical health benefits equally. Cutting dollars for mental h
ealthcare can often increase overall medical costs.
Promoting a mentally healthy workplace can be one of the most beneficial steps an employer can take to improve its organization - start today!
If you're curious if you have a Healthy or Unhealthy Work Environment, take the free, work health survey on the Mental Health America (MHA) website. For more resources on Workplace Wellness, training services that we provide, and for more information on our upcoming annual 2018 Seeds Conference that will have an employment track, visit the MHA-AZ website atwww.mhaarizona.orgor call Executive Director Kristina Sabetta at 480-982-5305.
2018 Faith and Mental Health Conference
January 26 & 27, 2018
Glendale Community Center, 5401 W. Ocotillo Rd, Glendale, AZ 85301
