ADVOCATING FOR CHANGE
RESOURCES AND MATERIALS |
WHAT CAN I DO? |
Our most popular fact sheets - print and share with legislators, providers, other advocates: |
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Resources for you:
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Short on time? Try our 30-minute Advocacy Challenge! |
AUDIO: TIPS FOR GETTING HELP FOR THOSE IN CRISIS
An audio recording of a presentation from the 2005 NAMI Convention, Austin, Texas
LISTEN NOW. It is a frantic and critical time when someone with a severe mental illness is rendered incapable of accessing treatment or is hospitalized. Learn from an expert panel how to overcome governmental, bureaucratic, and legal barriers and obtain optimal care for people in these situations.
Moderated by Fred Frese, PhD, Treatment Advocacy Center and NAMI National Board of Directors
PANELISTS:
Joe Lovelace, JD, executive director, NAMI Texas, Austin, Texas
Janet Edelman, MS, chair, Public Policy Committee, NAMI Maryland, Columbia, Maryland
John Snook, JD, legislative and policy counsel, Treatment Advocacy Center, Arlington, Virginia
NEWSLETTER: GETTING HELP FOR THOSE IN CRISIS
Edition of TAC's Catalyst newsletter especially for family members
READ IT NOW ONLINE. This special issue includes a feature article on preparing for crisis and fighting for treatment, with some checklists and instructions on pulling together a CARE kit in case you ever need it; and information on a new study showing that assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) reduces caregiver strain. There is hard data on New York’s successes with AOT and a detailed legal article on navigating the HIPPA privacy law, which many people ask us about.
ACTION: CREATE A CRISIS BROCHURE
Tips for advocates from advocates
Some localities have brochure that can be of great help to people in a psychiatric crisis and their families. NAMI Maryland created one to help consumers and family members in their state. This one-page brochure gives an overview of what to do in a crisis and lists emergency contact numbers. Janet Edelman, with NAMI Maryland, also offers helpful information and suggestions for others who wish to make crisis brochures for their states in this PowerPoint Presentation.
ACTION: TAKE THE 30-MINUTE ADVOCACY CHALLENGE!
It doesn't take long to make a difference ...
DO IT NOW. You wouldn’t be asking how you could help if you weren’t already passionate and committed, the most important tools for any advocate. But you are also busy – that’s why we pulled together some ideas for when you have a small window of time. We call it “thirty-minute advocacy.”
ACTION: YOU ARE THE MOST POWERFUL PERSON ...
You don't have to have any experience to make a difference.
While still in the early, letter-writing stage, my boss offered to do anything to help me. I said, “Well, do you know anyone who is really powerful?” He looked at me awhile and then said, “You are the most powerful person I know.” - Sheree Spear, family member who led the successful effort to change North Dakota law |
People often ask us where they can start in trying to change, implement, or publicize their state's treatment law. These materials may help - remember to also explore the rest of our site for more information. And most importantly, believe that you can make a difference, that your passion is power.
There are a number of things that are critical to getting help for people who are too sick to understand they are ill.
- Does your state allow for assisted outpatient treatment, also known as court-ordered outpatient treatment? All but eight states do - Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Tennessee. As inpatient beds continue to dwindle and hospitals continue to close, the lack of an outpatient treatment option means people who are in crisis end up in the streets or in jails instead of in treatment. Look up your law in our chart to see where your state fits in, or get the details of your statute.
- Does your state require someone to be dangerous before they can be court-ordered to treatment? About half of states require someone to be dangerous, which limits help for people until they are in crisis. Look up your law in our chart to see where your state fits in, or get the details of your statute.
- Does your state use the law it has? If your state law has useful components to it, find out whether or not it is ever put into action.
- Is there activity already happening in your state? Check out our state activities section to see.
- Assisted outpatient treatment works. Recent statistics show that of those placed in six months of assisted outpatient treatment, 77 percent fewer were hospitalized, 85 percent fewer experienced homelessness, 83 percent fewer were arrested, and 85 percent fewer were incarcerated. (Need the full report?)
- The consequences of lack of treatment are severe. They include homelessness, victimization, suicide, violence, and arrests and incarceration. Find out more in our series of fact sheets - or search our database of preventable tragedies to see the impact in your state.
- Anosognosia is a medical condition. The majority of those not receiving treatment have no awareness of their illness (anosognosia). Stigma and dissatisfaction with services are relatively unimportant reasons why people do not seek treatment. The greatest reason for non-treatment by far is lack of awareness of illness. Such individuals will not voluntarily utilize psychiatric services, no matter how attractive those services are, because they do not believe they are sick.
- Severe mental illnesses are real diseases. Multiple studies confirm that schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (manic depressive illness) are diseases of the brain, in exactly the same sense that Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and multiple sclerosis are brain diseases.
The letter to the editor is one of the most commanding tools of advocacy. With one, your passion can reach tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands readers. Find out more about the goals of a letter and how to write and submit a letter to your local paper.
Find out who your legislator is
DID YOU KNOW? The three top factors that influence the decision process of elected officials most are: Visits by constituents; Individualized correspondence from constituents; and Local media attention to constituent issues. - from "Communicating with Congress," a study conducted by Peter Hart Research Associates. |
One easy way to do this is through www.congress.org or www.vote-smart.org. These websites allow you to enter your ZIP code and get the names of your legislators. If you don’t have internet access, call your library to get the name of your legislator.
Even a handful of letters can have a tremendous impact on your state legislator and their decision on whether to focus on or support treatment law reform. Letters do not have to be long-winded or full of statistics – in fact, short letters with personal stories are the most likely to be read. Find out more.
Meeting with your legislator is the most effective way to explain the importance of treatment law reform. These visits allow you to personally "read" your representative’s reaction to your request of support. Find out more.
Help and implement and publicize good laws
After you get a law passed, or if you discover that your state already has a good law that just needs to be used, you can help ensure effective implementation. Some of the things you can do to let stakeholders know about the law include:
- create a guide for family members to understand and use the new law to get treatment - some examples are a guide to California's AB 1424, a guide to New York's Kendra's Law, and a guide to California's Laura's Law;
- make presentations (here's one example) to various stakeholder groups like service providers, judges, and law enforcement; and
- and look for media opportunities to highlight the reform. Did a news article in the paper get the law wrong? Send a letter and educate readers. In one good example, this Maryland advocate saw a general article about the issue of medicating someone to be competent to stand trial - she jumped on that as an opportunity to tell readers about the new law in her state. Media coverage can make a tremendous difference - see some more examples here of the power of the media in advocacy.
Find your local newspapers at www.usnpl.com or put the name of your town into www.epodunk.com and it will tell you which papers are your local paper. If you know which paper is your local paper, go to their website and search the OPINION or EDITORIAL section for a way to submit letters to the editor. We have done the research for you if you live in one of these states ...
Questions or suggestions for this page? Let us know!
