142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

315804
Mental Illness: Comprehensive Solutions to Systemic Problems

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 10:50 AM - 11:10 AM

Janet Hays , Save Charity Hospital, New Orleans, LA
The intended purpose of readapting the million square foot Charity Hospital Building in New Orleans as a mental health complex is to design a model where the real estate is fashioned into creative spaces to be used by entities dedicated to the advancement of mental health care and research.

Organizations and facilities within the building will constitute a nerve center that acts as the driving force for a long-term comprehensive strategic master plan dedicated solely to addressing systemic problems concerning mental illness, homelessness and inertia in workforce development.  To date, at least 6 components have been identified - some of which are already in place:

 

  • Inpatient mental health facilities including rehabilitation programs that negate the need to incarcerate sick people.
  • Outpatient facilities - that already exist in the form of clinics.
  • Independent living and supportive communities with doctors and nurses on site. 
  • Preventative and creative programs for holistic and spiritual health.  
  • An aggressive marketing campaign to alleviate stigma from mental illness.
  • Urban Cooperative Development-- An initiative that gives under-resourced - and perhaps under-educated people - access to business ownership.

The project will be funded with public and private dollars. This type of complex could serve as a national model as the country grapples with how to shift funding for health care back from the corrections department to Health and Human Services.

Learning Areas:

Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related research
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Describe factors that contributed to a 90% national reduction in public psychiatric beds since policies of deinstitutionalization began. Explain what inpatient facilities are currently available to people with mental illness. Discuss the need for a long-term comprehensive plan that can be a driving force in dealing with systemic problems of mental illness, homelessness and, inertia in workforce development.

Keyword(s): Mental Health Treatment &Care, Human Rights

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a long-time human rights advocate and community organizer. Currently I am the outreach coordinator for the SaveCharityHospital.com group and administrator of the website. I am also co-coordinator of Foundation For Louisiana’s equity caucus group to address public safety issues.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

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.