When it comes to services for people with disabilities, how well do you think current public policies and practices in Minnesota meet your needs? What’s working for you? What isn’t? These are all questions the Minnesota Olmstead Committee would like to ask.

By October 2012, this committee must develop goals, recommendations, and a timeline that will become Minnesota’s Olmstead Plan. This Plan will be submitted to the State of Minnesota through the Minnesota Department of Human Services. The Minnesota Department of Human Services will begin to implement recommended changes in 2013.

You can help shape this plan by going to the Minnesota Olmstead Planning Committee’s website. The committee wants to hear from individuals living with disabilities, their families, service providers, and concerned community members.

The site is still being developed, but check back often for more information about the Olmstead Decision and ways that you can be a part of the conversation.

For the past six years, the Mental Health Association of Minnesota has partnered with Screening for Mental Health, Inc. to provide anonymous online screening for mood and anxiety disorders. Just in the last year, nearly 1,000 assessments were completed. This free online assessment only takes a few minutes to complete and screens for depression, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. At the end of each screening, a post-assessment is provided for the individual to review. Though not a substitute for a complete evaluation, it does help determine whether or not a consultation from a health professional or clinician would be helpful. For those who have limited or no health insurance, MHAM can help find a sliding fee clinic or other medical coverage options. To speak with an advocate, call 651-493-6634 or 800-862-1799 between 9am and 4:30pm, Monday through Friday. To take this mobile-friendly screening, visit the MHAM website.

MHAM is accepting nominations for the 2012 Gloria Segal Award for excellence in improving the lives of Minnesotans with mental illnesses. This award is given to honor the memory of Representative Gloria Segal. Representative Segal served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1983 until her untimely death in 1993. In her 10 years in the legislature, she worked tirelessly to change how people with mental illnesses are treated in Minnesota. She led the way in the passage of groundbreaking legislation such as mandating coverage of mental health treatment in group health insurance plans and the creation of the mental health division at the Department of Health and Human Services, the State Ombudsman’s Office for Mental Health, and the State Advisory Council.

The Gloria Segal Award is given to an individual who has improved the lives of a great number of Minnesotans with mental illnesses. Accomplishments may include:

• Empowering people with mental illnesses
• Clinically treating people with mental illnesses
• Championing key legislation
• Increasing resources for people with mental illnesses
• Creating or improving systems of care for people with mental illnesses
• Performing key research in the area of mental health
• Creating a popular book/movie/play or other work of art that significantly decreases stigma

The Gloria Segal Award has been received by Representative Mindy Greiling in 2009 and Robin Wold and Hope House in Bemidji in 2011.

Do you know someone who has significantly improved the lives of Minnesotans with mental illnesses? We invite you to let us know! Please provide a short narrative including:

• Name and phone number of the person you are nominating
• Your name, phone number, and email
• Nominee’s relationship to the mental health community
• Activities which improve the lives of people with mental illnesses
• Accomplishments in those activities

Nominations will be accepted May 15 through June 30, 2012. The award will be presented at the 3rd Annual Celebrating Recovery event on September 27, 2012.

Submit your nomination to edeide @ mentalhealthmn.org or via mail to:

Mental Health Association of Minnesota
Attn: Gloria Segal Award Nomination Committee
475 Cleveland Avenue N, Suite 222
Saint Paul, MN 55104

by Kim Lutes, MHAM volunteer

The Hennepin County Mental Health Advisory Council will meet on Thursday, March 15, 2012, at the Hosmer Library on 36th and 3rd avenue. This Thursday’s meeting is a special one because it is the first meeting of our 2012-2013 session. The council will welcome newly appointed members.  The formal meeting begins at 2:00, but members are encouraged to arrive at 1:30 for a brief gathering in honor of the new members. Since Thursday’s meeting marks the beginning of the 2012-2013 session, much of our time will focus on orienting our new members to the council– sort of like “Advisory Council 101”.  We hope this will also be a helpful review for returning council members.  In addition, Commissioner Jan Callison is scheduled to address the council. I look forward to a full meeting and a productive year.  Stay tuned for monthly updates on this blog.

by Anna Raudenbush, Client Advocate

There has long been a gap in mental health services for folks who don’t need emergency room level care, but cannot wait a couple weeks to see a provider.  Now St. Paul has a new service to fill that gap, the Urgent Care for Adult Mental Health center.  Located at 402 University Avenue East, the center is meant for anyone in Ramsey, Dakota, and Washington Counties who need immediate non-emergency mental health support.

The center is operated by the Mental Health Crisis Alliance, formerly EMACs, and managed by Ramsey County.  While they offer on-site support and walk-ins, they also operate a mobile crisis team for Ramsey County.

Going to a new place for mental health care can be nerve-wracking; it’s hard to feel comfortable when you don’t know what to expect.  Fortunately, the Urgent Care center is hosting monthly open houses on the first Friday of each month at 1PM.  These open houses are free and anyone can come, no RSVP required.  At the open house visitors will get to tour the new center.  This is a great way to get familiar with mental health services in Ramsey County and to learn how Urgent Care can be a resource for you.

You can find more information about Urgent Care for Adult Mental Health here.   For more information about the monthly open houses, you can call their front desk at 651-266-4008.

By Kim Lutes, MHAM Volunteer and Hennepin County LAC Member

I first heard about the Hennepin County Mental Health Advisory Council in an announcement in our local newspaper. My mom happened by it and clipped it out to give to me. She knew that I was trying to find meaning in my decades long struggle with mental illness. She thought it would be a perfect opportunity for me to use my experiences to help others by sharing my experiences and advocating for individuals living with a mental illness. I decided to go for it.

Each county in the state of Minnesota has the opportunity to form a mental health advisory council, sometimes referred to as a Local Advisory Council, or LAC. The purpose of a local advisory council is to advise county commissioners on issues of concern regarding the way mental health services are delivered in the county. The Hennepin County advisory council, which meets in the lower level of the Hosmer Library in Minneapolis, is composed of: six individuals receiving mental health services, six mental health care providers, six family members of individuals receiving services, two community advocates, and three representatives of underserved communities. Each member of the council brings his or her unique perspectives on issues discussed at meetings.

Members of the council are appointed by the county commissioners. I found the process intimidating, but rewarding. The first step was to complete an application. Once the application was reviewed, I got a call from the commissioner’s office to set up an appointment to go before the commissioners to be interviewed. This was the scary part. I had purchased a suit from a thrift shop, and arrived, looking like a professional. When my name was called, I had to stand at a podium and testify before the full council, the reasons why I would be a valuable member of the mental health advisory council- in three minutes.

One of the symptoms related to my mental illness is severe anxiety, which sometimes leads to full-blown panic. Needless to say, my anxiety went sky high. But, my desire to become a member of the council took over, and I was able to stand at the podium and tell the commissioners that I lived with a mental illness, I had used a lot of services provided by the county and that my experiences would make me an asset to the council. That was all I needed to say. My voice quivered the whole time, and sweat was dripping down on my power suit, but I did it!

When I was finished with my testimony, I took the elevator to the first floor. I needed to walk across the courtyard to get to my car. As I was walking, I looked up at the glass windows twenty-four stories above me, and remembered the last time I had taken this walk. It was the day, six years earlier, when I was going through the civil commitment process. I remember wearing an oversized sweatshirt, and jeans I had to hold up because I had lost a lot of weight and they kept slipping down. But, six years later, I stood in the courtyard in a power suit, having just testified before the Hennepin County commissioners, asking to be appointed to the Hennepin County Mental Health Advisory Council.

A couple of weeks after I went through the application process, I received a letter from the commissioner’s office saying that they had appointed me to a three year term on the council.

As January comes to an end, so do a lot of New Year’s resolutions. The University of Southern California School of Social Work recently posted a blog about some stats and tips on self-care resolutions. Of those who make a resolution, about 60% have kept their resolution after 1 month and 40% have kept their resolution after 6 months. Depending on the resolution, several factors may determine if a goal is successful or not. Self-care goals such as increasing physical activity, eating healthy foods, or setting time for one’s self can be difficult when life becomes busy and stressful.

Goal setting can be done anytime in the year, but its important to prepare. When setting a new goal, there are a few helpful tips to remember:

> Be realistic about your goals. Is this goal achievable? It’s important to challenge yourself, but setting a goal that is too complex can lead to frustration and be impossible to carry out. Goals should be simple and clear.

> Start with short-term goals rather than long-term goals. Achieving short-term goals can provide much needed confidence before setting a long-term goal.

> Track your goals. Write down your goal and keep track of how that goal is progressing. Ask yourself: What is working and what needs to be done differently?

> Don’t feel discouraged if you are unable to carry out a goal. Issues come up and things happen that you may have no control of. Revisit that goal when things become better.

Below are some resources on goal setting:

Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance – Setting goals for recovery

Mayo Clinic – Stress blog

Brought to you by MSW@USC: Masters in Social Work

People Incorporated Mental Health Services, the state’s largest nonprofit working exclusively in the adult mental health field, is expanding its care to children. The organization announced that it has acquired an array of programs supporting children’s mental health from St. Paul-based Children’s Home Society & Family Services (Children’s Home). The programs, which will continue without disruption, branch throughout a six-county metro area and currently serve about 1,000 clients.

The programs began operating as the new People Incorporated Children’s Services division on January 1. Services include individual and family counseling, early childhood mental health, school-linked counseling, day treatment for children, domestic abuse prevention, anger management, and parent support services.

For more information about the merger, please visit www.PeopleIncorporated.org.

I had a great trip yesterday to see the folks in Le Center for their LAC meeting. I’m headed back that way today for the LAC meeting in St. Peter. There’s lots to talk about with the upcoming session, but primarily, I enjoy getting a better picture of what people are doing around the state for their own recovery.

One member yesterday talked about how she had educated a physician on resources in the community, including the Resource Center where we met. I think that’s just such a testimony to the capability we all have to make improvements to the system, and why it’s so vital that the person stay at the center of all we do. And the refrain is common: the connections and networks of caring that are formed at resource centers, drop-ins, and community groups are a big factor for people. Breaking isolation and finding a place to belong is something we all strive for, and despite all the budget cuts we have faced, I am heartened to see how much effort is put into keeping those places alive.

Day on the Hill Bus Routes

We have a few more routes from last week, so please check and see if there is one near your community. If you are driving, please consider offering space to others in the community who could use some help getting there.

All buses are expected to arrive at Christ Lutheran Church by 9:45 am and will depart St. Paul around 3:00 pm.  Registration is required since space is limited.

The routes are:

• Baxter/Little Falls/St. Cloud (Matt Burdick at 651-645-2948 x107)
• Duluth/Cloquet/Pine City/North Branch/Wyoming (Matt Burdick at 651-645-2948 x107)
• Winona/Rochester (Matt Burdick at 651-645-2948 x107)
• Kerkhoven/Willmar/Atwater/Litchfield/Cokato.  Contact Teresa Emmen at (320) 894-7336
• Marshall/Redwood Falls/Fairfax/Gaylord.  Contact Teri Herder-Blahnik at 877-537-0831 for this route.  A 1$ donation is requested for this bus.
• Moorhead/Fergus Falls/Alexandria. Contact Maureen King at 218-385-3689.

If you can’t make it, please consider sending a mental health valentine to arrive that day. Our friends at NAMI spent some time coming up with some very witty ones to hand out, so we’d love to hear your contributions as well.  You have all felt some impact from the budget cuts already: let them know what it has meant for you and ask what they plan to do.

Rep. Greiling Set to Retire

Rep. Mindy Greiling has just announced that she will not seek re-election.  She has been an amazing advocate for Minnesotans with mental illnesses at the Capitol and will be sorely missed. She has served her district and state since 1993, and we recognized her many contributions with the Gloria Segal Award in 2009.

She has been a critical part of the push to make community mental health a priority and was the chief author of the 2007 mental health funding/reform bill.  This legislation set the high water mark of our state’s commitment to mental health care, and promised progress towards more care in the community and support for meaningful recovery.

We hear that she plans to stay involved with the mental health community, and I’m grateful that her voice will still be on our side.  Please consider sending a note of thanks to her office, and let her know how much her advocacy is appreciated.  Her contact information can be found here.

SOS Redesign

Last week, the Mental Health Legislative Network heard from Assistant Commissioner Maureen O’Connell on a variety of issues, including SOS redesign.  She stressed her continued involvement in and attention to the SOS system, including St. Peter.  The group sincerely thanked her for her candor and efforts to reach out to advocates, even if we still have some concerns about the redesign process.

“Redesign” has been a recurring headline, and I am anxious to see more details about how DHS proposes to change SOS.  Bottlenecks at intake and discharge are still major issues, and we need to make sure the resources dedicated to the CBHH facilities are being wisely used.  The state needs to ensure access to regional options for clients who require secure hospitalization, but that does not necessarily mean that the state must directly provide those beds.  I am encouraged by their solicitation of feedback from regional stakeholders, and hope we will have better answers this time around.

Hospitals Report Community Contributions

The MN Hospital Association has put out their data on community contributions they have made in the past year.  These numbers will likely see hot debate, as the squeeze on the health care system continues.  Including under-compensated care, notably the difference between the payment given by MA and the cost of the treatment, the hospitals recorded $2.28 Billion in contributions to the community.

More reliance on emergency care and uncompensated care is certainly an expensive way to deliver health care, but it does not appear to be directly affecting the health of the hospitals.  With hospitals in the Twin Cities seeing record profits, it appears that they have found ways to pass those costs on.  It is ultimately the public that pays, in longer wait times and higher insurance/medical costs.  Lawrence Massa, CEO of the Minnesota Hospital Association, is quoted as saying that Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and payment for outcome, not procedure, will continue to change this equation.

As a state, we will need to decide whether ACOs and the like will simply be tools of cost containment, or if they will be leverage to get better health care to more people. Perhaps part of the question ought to be about what a health care outcome is, and if our needs will be reflected in this new math.  It might be easy to see if a diabetic patient has had better control over their blood sugar, but we will need to make the idea of recovery more visible so our outcomes can be counted too.

In the coming weeks, college students will be returning home for the holidays. For many, this break provides a time to catch up and relax with old friends and spend some quality time with family; yet for some, deep sadness and emptiness prevents them.

A recent national study conducted by the American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA) reported that 31 percent of college students reported feeling “so depressed that it was difficult to function” at some time in the past year. In 2009, 8 percent of 18-25 year olds had a major depressive episode, but less than half received treatment according to a national survey.

Everyone feels sad or down from one time to another, but for individuals affected by depression, the symptoms are serious and long lasting. A person with depression may feel: sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, guilty, worthless, helpless, irritable, and/or restless. They may also experience one or more of the following:

• Loss of interest in activities
• Lack of energy
• Problems concentrating, remembering information, or making decisions
• Problems falling sleep, staying asleep, or sleeping too much
• Loss of appetite or eating too much
• Thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts
• Aches, pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems that do not go away

Depression is common and for most people, depression can be treated successfully. If you feel that you may have depression, try to be seen by a health professional as soon as possible. If you are a friend or relative encourage your loved one to seek help. It may be necessary to make an appointment and to go with them. If you have no insurance, having trouble finding a health professional, or need additional resources accessing treatment, please contact MHAM at 651-493-6634 or 800-862-1799 to talk with an advocate.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, get help quickly.
• Call your doctor.
• Call 911 for emergency services or go to the nearest hospital emergency room.
• Call the toll-free, 24-hour hotline of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

For more information and resources on depression, visit the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) website or click on the selected NIMH publications below:

Depression
Depression in Women
Men and Depression
Depression and College Students: Answers to college students’ frequently asked questions about depression