Jewish Community Mental Health Education Project
Next Steps for the Jewish Community Mental Health Education Project
We are working on the following "next steps" based
on suggestions from Jewish community members including family members,
persons with a mental illness, advocates, providers, and Jewish communal
professionals. This is a summary of these suggestions and related action
steps.
Support for Families Who Have a Family Member with a Mental Illness
- Jewish Family Services will offer a new support group to provide
support, networking and resource-sharing opportunities to parents
of children and teens with mental health problems, in addition to
the current JFS support groups for parents with an adult child. The
new group will serve families with children under the age of 21. Both
groups are facilitated by Melanie Wasserman, MSW. Contact Melanie
at 414-390-5800 for more information.
- Plans are underway to offer a NAMI Family to Family class, a 12
week course for families of individuals with mental illness. The course
is taught by trained family members. The curriculum focuses on bipolar
disorder, schizophrenia, clinical depression, panic disorder, and
obsessive-compulsive disorder. It discusses the clinical treatment
of these illnesses and teaches the knowledge and skills that family
members need. Several Jewish parents have agreed to be trained as
course facilitators. We anticipate that the class will be offered
this fall at a northshore location, at the facility of a Jewish organization.
For information, call NAMI at 414-344-0447 or Judy Strauss at 414-390-5800.
- " Family members and persons with mental illness expressed interest
in educational programming. Topics of interest including parenting
a child with a mental illness, transitioning to independence, recovery
models, medication management and updates, and getting the most from
a treatment relationship. We are looking at options for organizing
programming to address these topics.
Support for Jewish Community Professionals
- Plans are underway for a December 11 training on mental health issues
for Jewish community professionals, which will be hosted by the Helen
Bader Foundation. Rabbis, cantors, chaplains, and Jewish educators
will be invited to attend. There was also discussion of the need to
provide Jewish communal professionals with support and technical assistance
as issues arise, as well as a curriculum bank on mental health issues,
stigma, etc. for use by Jewish schools and agencies.
Education for the Overall Jewish Community
- Many comments expressed the need for continuing education for the
overall Jewish community to increase awareness and decrease stigma.
Strategies mentioned for this included community conference/ mini
conference, congregation/organization based programs, rabbinical involvement,
and educational articles in the Chronicle including "faces" of mental
illness.
Topics of interest included medication, depression,
how to recognize emerging mental health problems, stress and anxiety
in teens and college students, the high expectations placed on young
people, as well as the mental health concerns associated with aging
and their impact on older adults and family members. Planning is underway
for a program to be held in 2007.
- We are exploring opportunities to increase awareness of depression
among community groups and Jewish communal professionals using the
training materials available from InHealth Wisconsin.
Advocacy
- " Many community members discuss the need to advocate for mental
health parity, and for increased funding and improved mental health
services and housing. These issues are being addressed by the Milwaukee
Jewish Council for Community Relations. To be added the MJCCR Action
Alert list, call 414-390-5777.
- There was also discussion about the need for a Jewish community
sponsored group home, and Jewish community sponsored housing, as well
as the need for Milwaukee area recovery/ educational/ work program
for 20 year olds, the young people who are so often struck by mental
illness. These suggestions have been shared with JFS and the Milwaukee
Jewish Federation, as they are outside the scope of this project.
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