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Abstract #150105

Suzanne E. Shealy, PhD¹, Rachel L. Brink, LCSW, BCD², Cheryl Gonzales-Nolas, MD³, Wendy Hellickson, LCSW³, Lori A. Remick, RN, LCSW, CAC³, Jayne E. Stelley, CPRP³, Robert Villavisanis, MA, LMHC³, and Kelly M. Wicklund, BA⁴. (1) MHBS - Psychology (116B), James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, 13000 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa, FL 33612, 813-631-7135, ext. 4367, suzanne.shealy@va.gov, (2) Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Center MC 116A5E, James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, 13000 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa, FL 33612, (3) MHBS (116A), James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, 13000 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa, FL 33612, (4) Substance Abuse & Mental Health Office Program Office, Florida Department of Children and Families, 9393 N. Florida Avenue Suite 1000, Tampa, FL 33612-7236

Within the Veterans Administration Health Care System, measures are being taken to implement the Mental Health Recovery Model. Mental health recovery has been defined as “a journey of healing and transformation enabling a person with a mental health problem to live a meaningful life in a community of his or her choice while striving to achieve his or her full potential.” The James A Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa, FL is one of several facilities that received funding for a Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Center. Psychosocial Rehabilitation has been defined as a “process by which trained professionals work to help people with serious mental illness (SMI) to choose, get, and keep valued roles.”

The Veterans Administration Health Care System offers Homeless Outreach, Supported Housing, and Mental Health Intensive Case Management (MHICM), as well as Compensated Work Therapy, Supported Employment, and Vocational Rehabilitation Programs that serve as key mental health recovery agents. Collaboration with Dual-Diagnosis Treatment and Relapse Prevention programs supports the mental health recovery process for substance-abusing veterans with serious mental illness.

The James A Haley Veterans' Hospital is currently partnering with the Florida Department of Children and Families, NAMI, DBSA, and other community organizations to share training and intervention resources. Inter-agency collaboration offers more seamless coordination of care and greater breadth of opportunity for veterans, while maximizing each agency's resources. Our presentation will describe the components of our recovery-supportive system and describe challenges and successes that have been experienced during our (ongoing) process of implementation.

Learning Objectives:

• Define and list components of the mental health Recovery Model
• Describe a constellation of programs and community services partnering to implement the Recovery Model.

Keywords: Mental Health Services, Recovery

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.