The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #42425

Amy Tannery Campbell, JD, National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse, 1211 Chestnut Street, Suite 1207, Philadelphia, PA 19107, 215.751.1810 x292, acampbell@mhasp.org

The past few years have witnessed momentum in development of a national network of mental health consumer advocates agitating for changes in the services they receive and to the system in which they are delivered. In 1997, the City of Philadelphia answered this call for more accountability on the part of the system as well as incorporation of a consumer voice to reinforce the quality of services through participation in system planning and on-going evaluation.

A consumerist agenda in this context extends to consumers’ ability to be better informed, to self-advocate when services are denied, and to move the health care system forward by going to the population who use the services at issue. Philadelphia is a model inasmuch as it has incorporated this agenda in its own behavioral system reform, to activate a consumer voice and enhance opportunities for consumer education and advocacy within the system.

We propose to convene a panel to address how to incorporate the most affected of constituencies (the “public”) in mental health: the mental health consumer. The panel will include:

• Representatives from the Philadelphia Office of Mental Health and the Philadelphia Behavioral Health System’s Consumer Satisfaction Team; • A mental health care provider/advocate who coordinates services for consumers within the Philadelphia Behavioral Health System; and • A mental health consumer who experiences the quality of care, sufficiency and effectiveness of services, and expense of those services first hand.

Learning Objectives:

• Define key components of a model system vis-a-vis integration of a consumer voice in public mental health system design and implementation.
• Assess the feasibility of incorporation of this model's design and implementation in regions other than the model site and advise on how to apply lessons learned accordingly.
• Discuss best practices and obstacles of the model public mental health system and its activation of a consumer voice.

Keywords: Mental Health, Mental Health System

Related Web page: www.phila-bhs.org/

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: The Philadelphia Behavioral Health System will be the focus, but as a model and not to promote its services per se. Representatives from the Mental Health Association of Southeastern PA will also be on the panel but, again, for purposes of illuminating p
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: I am employed as the Program Director at the National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse.