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NAMIWALKS
PA 2008
NAMIWALKs
2008 will be held in Harrisburg on Saturday,
September 20th at the State Capital. Please
mark your calendars and plan to attend. This will be our
best effort to date. We need your support and look forward
to working with you.
The
NAMIWWALKS for the Mind of America is a nationwide fundraising
and mental health awareness program that will be held in
more than 70 communities around the country in 2008, including
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
These Walks will raise awareness about Mental Illness as
biological brain disorders, combat stigma associated with
severe mental illnesses and promote mental health services
NAMIWALKS provides to thousands of families here in Pennsylvania
and across the country.
Form
Your Team Contribute
Now
NAMIWALKS
PA Archives
In
Our Own Voice
Educational Program Updated
In
an effort to maintain a unified front for NAMI PA and
In Our Own Voice, standard forms and
marketing tools are being offered to assist in planning
local presentations. Please complete the “IOOV Affiliate
Information” in our IOOV websection. Affiliates
should report on all presentations via the “IOOV
Presentation Report Form”. By reporting every presentation,
we increase our chances to receive funding. The “IOOV
Audience Evaluation Form” helps presenters to better
their program and comments can be a valuable marketing
tool!
These
forms and more can also be found at the In Our Own Voice
websection, along with marketing ideas, sample letters,
applications for Presenter Trainings, and more. Please
visit this site often to get updates about this award
winning presentation: In
Our Own Voice
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Save
the dates at the 2008 Conference: 
"Today's
Family and the Faces of Mental Illness: A Life's Journey."
Wednesday,
October 29th -
Sunday, November 2nd, 2008
Radisson
Penn Harris, Harrisburg
Call
for Presenters
This
year's Annual Conference will again be held at the Radisson
Penn Harris Hotel in Camp Hill.The 29th is usually used
for special workshops. The Criminal Justice Symposium is
held on Thursday and the full conference begins on Friday
the 31st. Please mark your calendars now. Details to follow.
Annual
Conference Archives
Author
Tom Wootton, keynote speaker at the NAMI Pennsylvania Annual
Conference 2007, posted video recordings of his address
on Bipolar Illness, Depression and controlling rage to the
popular website youtube.com
here
.
Tom Wootton is the author of "The Bipolar Advantage".
He developed new concepts that he integrated into the first
Bipolar In Order workshops in 2002. Since that time he has
developed a series of workshops dealing with depression
and bipolar. He is considered a leading consumer advocate
and speaker and has been giving talks to consumer groups,
mental health leaders, and doctors. He is giving keynote
speeches to conferences nationwide on mental health. Tom's
approach to dealing with mental illness and his professional
and engaging speaking style have made his talks a 'must'
for consumers, family, friends, mental health workers and
therapists.
Further
Information on Tom Wootton
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Announcements
and Updates
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Statewide
Spring/Summer Teacher Trainings
Note: All statewide educational trainings are available to
any NAMI member in the state with an interest, subject to
the educational requirements of the course (i.e., Family to
Family Teacher Training is only open to graduates of the Family
to Family Course).
Family
to Family Teacher Training
Spring/Summer
Class June 27th-29th
This training is designed for individuals who have taken the
Family to Family course and are interested in teaching the
course in the future.
When: Spring Class June 27th-29th
Where: Cranaleith Center, Philadelphia
Peer
to Peer Instructor Trainings
Spring/Summer Class July 21-23
This 3 day training is designed to educate consumers to
be mentors for consumers in healthy living with a mental
illness. Applications must come through the affiliate to
the state office. Note: a three member team is required
to teach Peer-to-Peer.
When: July 21, 22 & 23
Where: Western Pennsylvania, address tbd
In
Our Own Voice Presenter Training
Spring/Summer
Class June 24-25
This training teaches consumers how to present to public
groups about insight into the hope and recovery now possible
for people with severe mental illness by people who have
been there.
When: June 24th-25th
Where: Beaver County, address tbd
Support
Group Facilitator Training
Spring/Sumer
Class
June 6-8
This three day training teaches participants how to operate
a support group differently than other, more traditional
"share-and-care" groups. The NAMI Support Group
model offers a set of key structures and group processes
for facilitators to use in common support group scenarios.
These structures come with clear guidelines to follow; used
together, they encourage full group participation in support
group meetings.
When:
June 6th – 8th, 2008
Where: Danville, PA
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NAMI
PA 2008 NORTHEAST
REGIONAL CONFERENCE
Pre-register
online
One
day Educational Event for members, supporters and friends
of NAMI PA local affiliates and interested community members.
-
Network with consumers, family members, providers and other
supporters
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Learn new information and sharpen skills in a relaxed setting
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Provide & receive peer-based support
- Interact
with NAMI PA leadership to obtain 1st hand information about
state-level initiatives and plans
There
is no cost to attend this conference, but registration is
necessary. Pre-register
online.
When:
Saturday, June 7th, 2008
Where: The Kirby House 381 Sunset
Road, Glen Summit, Mountaintop, PA 18707 Wilkes-Barre
Fall
NASW-PA Conference Information!
October
3-4, 2008 Valley Forge, PA
Creating Unity - Supporting Individuality
NASW-PA
is now accepting workshop proposals for the upcoming conference.
Workshop proposals accepted until May 5th at noon. Student
poster submissions due August 15, 2008 |
| Legislation
of Interest
HB
1448 Mental Health
Community Services Account
from Closure of MH Facilities Sale
Frankel
(PN 3003) Amends the Mental Health or Mental Retardation Facility
Closure Act providing for proceeds derived from facility disposition;
and establishing the Mental Health Community Services Account
(currently the Mental Health Community Services Trust Fund)
and the Mental Retardation Community Services Account (currently
the Mental Retardations Community Services Trust Fund). The
bill states if a State-owned mental health or mental retardation
facility is downsized, consolidated or closed, all State property
associated with the downsizing, consolidation or closure that
is no longer being used for facility purposes and that is
not transferred to another governmental entity must be sold
or leased at fair market value. If the facility is a mental
health facility, the net proceeds of the sale or lease, less
any costs and fees, would be deposited into the Mental Health
Community Services account. If the facility is a mental retardation
facility, the net proceeds of the sale or lease, less any
costs, would be deposited into the Mental Retardation Community
Services Account. The money in the accounts is appropriated
to the Department of Public Welfare to be used as outlined
in the legislation.
HB
80 Mental
Health Courts
Leach
(PN 104) Amends Title 42 (Judiciary) providing for a judicial
district to apply for a grant to establish a mental health
court division. The mental health court division will provide
a single point of contact where a defendant with a mental
illness may receive court-ordered treatment and support services
in connection with a diversion from prosecution, a sentencing
alternative or a term of probation or parole. The Administrative
Office, consulting with the Department of Public Welfare Office
of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, the Department
of Corrections, and the PA Board of Probation and Parole,
will establish standards, funding schedules, and procedures
for awarding grants to establish the mental health court division.
The bill provides guidelines for establishing these grants.
Contact
us to see how you can help
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Science
Corner
April
15th, 2008
NIMH:
Maintenance Treatment Crucial for Teens’ Recovery from Depression
Long-term maintenance treatment is likely to sustain improvement and prevent
recurrence among adolescents with major depression, according
to an NIMH-funded study published in the April 2008 issue
of the Archives of General Psychiatry. The study analyzed data from the Treatment of Adolescents with Depression Study,
a large, NIMH-funded trial in which depressed teens were randomized
to one of three treatments for 36 weeks—fluoxetine (Prozac),
cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) or a combination of both.
Article:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/science-news/2008/maintenance-treatment-crucial-for-teens-recovery-from-depression.shtml
NIMH:
Rates of Rare Mutations Soar Three to Four Times Higher in
Schizophrenia—Multiple Genetic Glitches Disrupt Pathways Critical
for Brain Development
People
with schizophrenia have high rates of rare genetic deletions
and duplications that likely disrupt the developing brain,
according to studies funded in part by the National Institutes
of Health (NIH). These tiny anomalies were found in 15 percent
of adult onset schizophrenia patients and 20 percent of child
and adolescent onset patients, compared with only 5 percent
of healthy participants. Collectively, the mutations carried
by patients were significantly more likely than those in healthy
participants to disrupt genes involved in brain development
— potentially implicating hundreds of genes in the illness,
which affects about 1 percent of adults. Two independent teams
of researchers report on their combined findings in an article
published online in Science Express, March 27, 2008.
Article:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/science-news/2008/rates-of-rare-mutations-soar-three-to-four-times-higher-in-schizophrenia.shtml
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Criminal
Justice Training and the Forensics Interagency Task Force
NAMI believes that education about brain disorders at all
levels of judicial and legal systems is crucial to the appropriate
disposition of cases involving offenders with brain disorders.
Judges, lawyers, police officers, correctional officers, parole
and probation officers, law enforcement personnel, court officers,
and emergency medical transport and service personnel should
be required to complete at least 20 hours of training about
these disorders. Consumers and family members should be a
part of this educational process.
NAMI believes that state and local mental health authorities
must work closely in conjunction with state and local correctional
and law enforcement agencies to develop strategies and programs
for compassionate intervention by law enforcement, jail diversion,
treatment of individuals with brain disorders who are incarcerated,
and discharge planning and community reintegration services
for individuals with brain disorders released from correctional
facilities. |
Emergency
Preparedness Planning
Resource for the Disabled
Emergency
Preparedness Section
Emergencies/disasters
are part of every day life. Floods, droughts, earthquakes,
snowstorms, the accidental release of radiation and terrorist
attacks are just a few examples of problems we may face. Advance
planning and coordination of family activities will improve
the opportunities for managing and overcoming the challenges
of such emergencies. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “it
is better to dig your well before you are thirsty.”
Emergency
Preparedness Section |
Medicare
Part D- Prescription Drug Assistance
OPEN ENROLLMENT BEGINS NOVEMBER 15TH
for 2008
Medicare
Drug Benefit Update: 2008 Plan Year Enrollment Begins November
14, 2007 November 15 marks the start of the open enrollment
period for the Medicare Part D drug benefit for 2008. During
the “open season” period for 2008 drug plan enrollment,
Medicare beneficiaries will be able to select prescription
drug coverage that goes into effect on January 1, 2008. The
open season ends December 31.
As the 2008 plan year approaches, NAMI is watching closely
to ensure that beneficiaries with serious mental illness,
especially low-income dual eligibles, are able to maintain
continued access to drug coverage that meets their complex
treatment needs. Of particular concern are the 2.1 million
dual eligibles and low-income subsidy (LIS) Medicare beneficiaries
that are being required to switch to different prescription
drug plans (PDPs) on January 1.
There are a number of important web-based tools to search
available plan options, research whether or not a specific
medication is on a plan’s formulary for 2008 –
or is subject to an access restriction (placed on a tier requiring
higher cost sharing, prior authorization, step therapy, quantity
limit, etc.). Most can be searched by zip code to check on
availability by geographic region. Click here for
Resources for Medicare Part D- Prescription Drug Assistance
CONTACT
NUMBERS:
Medicare:
1-800-633-4227 |
DPW:
1-800-525-0674
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Medical Assistance:
1-866-542-3015
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Apprise:
1-800-783-7067
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SPBP:
1-800-922-9384 |
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Announcing
the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices
(NREPP), a service of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA).
NREPP
is a searchable database of interventions for the prevention
and treatment of mental and substance use disorders. SAMHSA
has developed this resource to help people, agencies, and
organizations implement programs and practices in their communities.
Online
Resource
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Other
News:
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