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Module 1 Activity - History of Mental Health Services and Interview 

Objective: Identify the contributions and impediments to care for Individuals with Psychiatric Disability.

Instructors: Edna Hamera and Tonya Hinman

Directions:

1. To understand the present Rehabilitation and Recovery focus in mental health services explore the timeline and trace the evolution of mental health services during the twentieth century.   Consider what role if any your discipline has had with individuals who have psychiatric disabilities and the factors that have led to the emerging role of the consumer of mental health services as an active partner with practitioners.

Review the timeline below, the timeline is also available in a text version.

2. Interview Assignment:

     Engage an individual with a psychiatric disability as a partner in health promotion to learn what health promotion practices the individual has incorporated into his/her daily life, what role if any health professional have had in facilitating healthy behaviors, and what health promotion practices he/she is interested in learning more about.

    You may interview a friend, acquaintance or family member with a psychiatric disability or contact an organization that provides services to people with psychiatric disabilities to arrange an interview.  Please let the project faculty know right away if you are having trouble identifying a person to interview, so that we can help you with this process.  Ideally, a face to face interview is preferred, but if this is not possible you can conduct the interview on the phone or through the web. 

     Below are questions that you can use as a guideline for the interview.  Please feel free to reorder, edit, delete or add questions for your particular situation, and be sure and expand upon the initial question by asking follow up questions once you receive a response. 

1. What kinds of activities or practices do you engage in to help you stay healthy? (you might want to give examples – or follow up with specifics – do you exercise, brush teeth, manage stress, get enough sleep, eat healthy?)
2. What supports or help do you get to stay healthy? (other people, resources in the neighborhood, etc)
3. What challenges or barriers do you face in trying to stay healthy? (time, money, opportunities, transportation, etc.)
4. Do you have any specific health concerns?  If so, how do you manage them? Do you see yourself as a healthy person? 
5. Does your mental illness contribute to your overall health?  If so in what way?
6. What kinds of experiences have you had with doctors or other health care providers when trying to get information or treatment related to your physical health?
7. What areas of your health do you think you should change your lifestyle or do more to take better care of yourself?

    Write a three paragraph summaries of the interview covering the following points.

1) Is the interviewee actively engaged in his or her health?  Why or why not.  Include a discussion of the supports and barriers available to the individual. 

2) What  the interviewee would like to learn more about and/or change to be healthier.

3)  What insights did you gain from conducting the interview?  Using your reflections on what it means to partner with individuals who have psychiatric disabilities and what the interviewee shared about experiences with other health professionals, discuss the kind of relationship that would be most effective in promoting healthy behaviors.

Post your summary

4) In your small discussion groups, discuss your interview summaries.  Identify themes that emerged as well as differences among the interviewees

Go to the discussion

Evaluation Criteria

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