Behavioral Health @ National Conference on Health Communications, Marketing and Media
This year at the 5th National Conference on Health Communications, Marketing and Media, the visibility of behavioral health is higher than ever before. Not only is SAMHSA the co-chair of this year’s conference but there are multiple sessions discussing behavioral health communications.
This year’s conference theme – Listening for Change – frames the dialogue that SAMHSA is creating with the public. This dialogue, fueled by the revolution in health communications technology, is making citizen engagement the foundation for improving health and wellbeing. This conference is part of SAMHSA’s engagement strategy. By listening to each other we can be more effective in shaping change. Communications plays a vital role in the success of new health care delivery structures, adoption of health information technology, adoption of scientific advances in prevention, treatment and recovery support services, and implementation of health reform. The current need to address behavioral health needs are apparent and are only increasing.
- By 2020, mental and substance use disorders will surpass all physical diseases as a major cause of disability worldwide.
- Almost one fourth of all adult stays in U.S. community hospitals involve mental or substance use disorders.
- People with serious mental illness have shortened life spans compared to the general population, on average dying at age 53.
- Up to 83% of people with serious mental illness are overweight or obese.
- 44% of all cigarettes in US are consumed by individuals with a mental or substance use disorders.
The data shows that behavioral health is essential to health and there is much to be done. Communications is a critical part of success. By working together across agencies and disciplines with the public we can advance the health and well being of the nation by listening for change.
During the three days, make sure to follow @samhsagov on Twitter for live tweeting from Atlanta. Some of the panels to look out for during the three days are:
Tuesday, August 9th, 2:00 – 3:30 pm - Opening up Health Data and How to Make It Public Friendly
Learn about the efforts currently underway to make data publicly available via Data.gov and the Community Health Data Initiative. From there learn what efforts SAMHSA has taken in first making data publicly available and the next step in making data public friendly. Also go beyond the data and learn what health professionals are doing “on the ground” in terms of improving health in their communities through the use of social media.
Wednesday, August 10th, 1:15-2:45 pm - Promoting Integration of Behavioral Health Screening into Primary Care: Three Innovative Communications Approaches
Hear from experts in health care regarding the integration of behavioral health into primary care. Integration requires innovative approaches to helping physicians (and allied health care personnel in the “health home” now widely advocated as key to successful health reform) learn about and use simple, effective screening tools for identifying mental health and substance abuse problems.
Wednesday, August 10th, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm - Does Behavioral Health Have a Place in New Media?
Find out how people in the field have been using new media to connect to the behavioral health community on topics such as SAMHSA’s Recovery month, using mobile technology to address serious mental illness and smoking cessation, and how mental illness is portrayed on YouTube.
Thursday, August 11th, 8:00 – 9:30 am - Creating Positive Change in How America Thinks about Behavioral Health SAMHSA’s Communications Plan
Hear from SAMHSA leadership on this interview-style panel to explore how a strategic communications plan is leading SAMHSA’s move into the future – where behavioral health is fully integrated with health in the United States, and seen as such by the American public as well as providers and service recipients.
“By 2020, mental and substance use disorders will surpass all physical diseases as a major cause of disability worldwide.”
I find the above incredibly difficult to believe. All physical diseases? Just sitting at my desk and thinking of all physical diseases there are, this statement just boggles my mind. I’m curious what data was used to come to this conclusion.
Integrating behavioral health as part of the routine physical is key to prevention and recovery. It ensures universal access to behavioral health screenings which can be limited due to limited access to resources.
I agree with David, these figures are somewhat incredible. I wonder if they are referring to independent diseases and not an aggregated universal disease statistic.
I am hopeful that medical doctors will be willing to work with clinicians in the field who are already providing comprehensive substance abuse screenings & assessments rather than trying to provide these services themselves. My experience has been that medical doctors receive inadequate training and have limited experience dealing with the bio-psycho-social elements of addiction.
In the past 3 years I have learned so much that the numbers are not a shock at all. The issue often lies with the lack of awareness on the part of providers of what should be routine questions as part of ANY visit with patients. After I told my provider my son died by suicide, he didn’t even ask if I was depressed, grieving, NOTHING! I find that is often the case with many in the medical field. And not just older providers like mine but those just entering the medical field and specializing in family practice ignore the problem. If they aren’t being taught to screen every time, to ask if something is bothering them, then we will never advance. And here we live in an ‘industrialized’ country, yet I see we are much farther behind others like Canada and Australia in regarding to mental health, well-being and prevention.
Then the issue of stigma of behavioral health and inability of the general public to understand what it is shows that, as a society, we are in the dark ages. How is that we can talk about AIDS, gender issues, oral sex and STDs but not about mental illnesses and suicide? Clearly there needs to be introductions of the subjects in the classrooms, beginning at age of 10-11. This is when many issues begin to arise (gender identity, bullying, disorder onsets ) and education is essential for awareness and understanding.
Substance abuse goes hand and hand with behavioral health because people do self-medicating, even though they aren’t aware why they are doing it.
Thinking that America is advanced in this field makes me afraid for those countries who don’t have the resources or whose culture prevents the discussions of behavioral health and wellness.
This pessimistic vision of ever increasing disability does not need to come true. I think every single problem in the mental health field can be summed up in one word: medicalization. In Western Lapland, the Open Dialogue Model has virtually eliminated schizophrenia. We can do the same here. The 40 fold increase in youth bipolar illness is an American only phenomenon. British soldiers have much lower rates of PTSD than Americans. Let’s have an honest dialogue about long term medication effectiveness.
Lets develop healthy approaches to emotional suffering that address people’s needs for contribution and meaning and friends and exercise and personal satisfaction. Let’s look at past trauma experiences – not all suffering is genetic. We have developed peer hospitalization alternatives that cost 1/10 as much, and peer support with higher rates of recovery, warmlines that are cheaper than hotlines and send much fewer people to the hospital. We have peer support centers. We already know what works. Let’s fund this 1% instead of the 99% that is increasing disability.
How would you define recovery? Last week the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released their own proposed definition and 10 guiding principles to recovery as part of its Recovery Support Strategic Initiative. SAMHSA has been working with behavioral health stakeholders to develop the following definition: “A process of change through which individuals work to improve their own health and wellbeing, live a self-directed life, and strive to achieve their full potential.” As part of this definition, SAMHSA has outlined four essential dimensions to a life in recovery:
Health: overcoming or managing one’s disease(s) as well as living in a physically and emotionally healthy way.
Home: a stable and safe place to live.
Purpose: meaningful daily activities, such as a job, school, volunteerism, family caretaking, or creative endeavors, and the independence, income and resources to participate in society.
Community: relationships and social networks that provide support, friendship, love, and hope.
The conceptualization of best practice in behavioral health treatment has evolved from symptom relief to rehabilitation to, now, recovery. This “reconceptualization” has evolved the service delivery system in fits and starts—from asylums, to hospitalization, to deinstitutionalization, to the current movement for increased community-based care (see Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care: Understanding Their History Helps With Positioning Your Services premium members).
We have come a long way since 2003 when the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health released their report, Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America premium members, which began with the statement: “we envision a future when everyone with a mental illness will recover.” I think everyone will agree that we still have quite a ways to go.
What do you think of SAMHSA’s definition of recovery? Agree? Disagree? Now is your time to be heard. Until August 26, 2011, you can provide feedback to SAMHSA through the Definition of Recovery Forum. And at OPEN MINDS, we would love to hear your thoughts as well, visit us at http://www.openminds.com.