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The Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) promotes a recovery-oriented mental hygiene system. The OCA advocates on behalf of the 450,000 consumers of mental hygiene services in New York City, focusing on basic recovery principles, such as hope, empowerment and self-direction.
There are many ways to achieve this, such as employing peers with experience in the mental health and chemical dependency systems. Peers act as role-models for other consumers working toward recovery, helping teach them to navigate the social service system. Recognizing the important role that peers play, the OCA backs programs throughout the city that incorporate peer support into treatment.
In 2006, OCA launched the Recovery Pilot Project. Consumers of mental health services worked as program staff to foster recovery in two continuing day treatment programs, working alongside program staff to facilitate groups, assisting other consumers in developing recovery goals and linking them to community supports. Program staff expressed positive reactions to the pilot and plan to use peer staff again. DOHMH is looking at ways to expand this program in the future.
Employment is essential to the empowerment of many consumers. This fall, DOHMH is introducing an ongoing transitional employment position within the division itself that will be filled by two to three consumers working part-time.
Improving consumers’ physical health is another way to accelerate recovery. Research has shown that nearly half of consumers suffer from a chronic physical illness severe enough to limit daily functioning. On average, individuals with serious mental illnesses have a lifespan 25 years shorter than the general population, according to an article written by Judge David L. Bazelon at the Center for Mental Health Law.
Along with several community partners, the OCA is sponsoring a yearlong series of workshops on health and wellness focusing specifically on empowering consumers to take control of their own health, stress-reduction techniques, and the side-effects of psychiatric medications. Approximately 100 participants are attending each workshop.
The OCA is also working to reduce consumer smoking. In recent years, New York City has made smoking cessation a central focus of its public health efforts. Yet people with serious and persistent mental illness still smoke at rates much higher than the general public, rates as high as 85% among people who have schizophrenia, and at 60%-70% among those with bipolar disorder, estimated one study.
The OCA is helping to develop a program to reduce smoking among consumers in mental health programs. The program, which will progress with the help of DOHMH’s Bureau of Tobacco Control, is expected to go into effect this upcoming year.
The 2003 President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health called for recovery to be the “common, recognized outcome of mental health services” in the United States. Consumers of these services deserve an equal opportunity to lead productive, fulfilling lives. In order to improve physical and mental health services, a consumer’s cultural background such as religious beliefs, language, and attitudes toward mental illness and the mental hygiene system must be taken into account.
The OCA is working on several fronts to help providers increase their cultural competency by turning knowledge, information and data into treatment plans and making cultural presentations to both consumer and provider groups across New York City. The Office participates in the New York State Multicultural Advisory Committee, an advisory group to the New York State Office of Mental Health whose focus is cultural efficiency in the mental hygiene system.
Consumers are key participants in the OCA’s new initiative, a workgroup on cultural competency that includes consumers, providers, and DOHMH staff. OCA is holding monthly training sessions to help consumers participate in DOHMH’s advisory body, the Federation for Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Alcoholism Services. Consumers from all five boroughs are currently attending these sessions.
The OCA facilitates consumer involvement in the DOHMH’s Quality IMPACT program, which works to help improve consumer outcomes. OCA has worked on Quality IMPACT’s Cultural Competence, Co-occuring Disorders and Welcoming Clinic projects.
In late September, the OCA will host its second consumer art show at its own offices, featuring art created by consumers. Shows like this one help reduce stigma by displaying what people with mental illness are capable of producing while also building the consumer’s self-esteem.
An art show is only a small part of the solution, but these small steps, taken together, can help promote recovery.