There are SO many toxins, foods, and provable medical conditions that can create SYMPTOMS that appear to be "mental illness" (because most of us have brains) and so many people are being tossed into this "mental illness" mosh pit, it must be mandated that along with informed consent that ALL these real diseases and factors that mimic and can appear to be symptoms of "MI" are ruled out before people are damaged with lifelong bugus labels and damged with toxic ineffective drugs. People have a RIGHT to be treated for the toxins, or real diseases processes that may be affecting them. these include deficencies, thyroid, adrenal, MS, brain tumors, brain injury, lime disease. The lists are very long and instead of jumping to the catch all labels du jour, like bipolar, we must DEMAND tests and know what those tests are and be shown PROOF that those tests were done before submitting to the "chemical imbalance" lie that rakes in billions and disables hundreds of thousands for no reason other than greed, laziness and medical bias supporting the MI band wagon.

At first glance, the emphasis on data collection as a means to demonstrate the viability of any given project or program seems to be a sound method for judging results. The concern lies not within the collection of data as a practice, but the methodology of the data collection. Concerns arise regarding what data is considered relevant and what entities or workgroups are making this determination.
Also, the tendency of grant recipients or other program beneficiaries to gradually adjust a program or practice to best meet the quantitative measures deemed “effective” cannot be ignored. This is not to say individuals “game” the system; rather, it is an unintended consequence of attempting to meet SAMHSA goals. For example, if a program’s merit is judged on patient numbers or overall participation, the quality of individual participation may suffer. There are many possibilities, and the nature of measurable goals necessarily involves an element of ranking or perceived importance. With this in mind, we are not asking that quantitative measures be excluded from program measurement, but rather, they be taken into account within a larger spectrum of evaluation. Benchmarks are a necessary component in program appraisal, but you can’t judge “quality”, as SAMHSA’s stated objectives indicate, without invoking a certain measure of qualitative data as well.

Evangelyn "Angel" Dotomain, MBA
President/CEO
Alaska Native Health Board

I do think your priorities sound great! However re: #6 and #7 --
Local Consumers are again expressing concern, as they did in the 1990's, about the dangers of the widespread use of technology and computer systems and data which seriously compromises their confidentiality.

They are organizing to advocate--but we don't have enough staff to support their efforts!
There are many examples of this problem, but here are 2 from my experience here at MHA/Maui.

Under Quality AND technology
1) A consumer who has been repeatedly turned away from our Maui Mental Health Center--had bad experiences with the way they were treated even trying to qualify and maybe at the assessment too (possibly had to go through Hawaii Disability Rights Ctr. to finally gain access--but were too mistrustful to go to our MH Center or talk with their staff--calls our crisis or ACCESSLINE (or I call for them because their homeless and suicidal) and they or I are told that they "refused services"--which simply means that they were trying to manage their anger with the last MH Center or ACCESSLINE staff who yelled at them and they quietly turned and walked aways (I have seen this and heard them being yelled at on our telephone).

2) An answer to a letter of complaint through the existing channels is copied to so many involved Depts. and State or State funded agencies that they will all know the family or person involved in their many community roles--even if their name is NOT mentioned in the reply to the letter. (We are a small State and a semi-rural islande and we all wear so many hats! It is important for our roles as advocates or as family members not to impact on our jobs, for example.)

I hope this consumer/family perspective with our Maui experience helps your planning.