Summary:
One in five people are living with the signs and symptoms of a mental health condition (NIMH, 2022). Many others support, live with, or love those living with a mental health condition. Living with a person that has a mental health condition is among the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) (Felitti et al., 1998). The children that live in homes with a parent or other family member that has a mental health diagnosis live with at least one ACE. We know that the more ACEs a person has, the higher likelihood that person will experience other poor health outcomes in adulthood like heart disease, diabetes, and a mental health diagnosis (Felitti et al., 1998). This public health intervention is to build resilience through a supportive, empathetic environment. This will be housed at a local National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) affiliate that is well versed in providing peer support and education in a trauma-informed environment.
Trauma-Informed principles:
This program will embrace the trauma-informed principles that the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) outlines. First, safety, the program will provide a safe environment for the participants (youth) to feel encouraged to share and relate to others who experience similar things in their homes (SAMHSA, 2014). The program will not discuss difficult topics in detail but will focus more on positive coping strategies and the promotion of positive well-being in the participants. The program will be facilitated by peers with lived experience as family members. This would build relationships with the participants and embrace a transparent environment as the participants communicate openly with the facilitators. These two principles (peer support & trustworthiness and transparency) are both outlined by SAMHSA (SAMHSA, 2014). Transparency will also be achieved by sharing topics that will be discussed beforehand and by including the caregivers in what outcomes are collected and reported. The program will promote not only positive coping strategies and resiliency but would teach through activities the importance of self-advocacy. The program will fully embrace empowerment, voice, and choice (SAMHSA, 2014) as another guiding principle in implementing trauma-informed approaches. The facilitators will demonstrate empowerment by sharing their stories while teaching self-advocacy. By promoting this program at a facility like a local NAMI affiliate that operates on the guiding principles of recovery and trauma-informed approaches, the participants will be fully supported while they participate. This organization not only implements the trauma-informed guiding principles in their programs but throughout the organization. Policy development, community approaches, and more are all thoughtfully executed.
Level(s) of the Social-Ecological Model:
The two levels that this program addresses are the individual and relationship levels according to the CDC model (CDC, 2022). The youth that participates in the program will learn strategies to cope in their home and ways to build resiliency within themselves. This individual level of the social-ecological model is used to change and impact personal attitudes and beliefs (CDC, 2022). Learning about conflict resolution and other ways to understand mental illness in the home is helpful for a developing child into adulthood. There is a benefit to learning these skills before adulthood. This would allow us to assist in building resiliency and potentially prevent the child from having poorer mental health into adulthood. Family history plays a role in childhood trauma and poorer mental health (Stowkowy et al., 2022), making this strategy beneficial.
The young people that attend the program will learn about communication strategies and ways to support the person in the home that is living with a mental health condition. This kind of strategy improves relationships and promotes support with peers that experience similar issues and therefore builds resiliency. According to the CDC, programs that support the family structure and promote positive, healthy relationships are at this level in the model (CDC, 2022). This intervention strategy will be marketed and discussed within the community. While it is not targeted to promote community-based prevention strategies, it will be promoted that this kind of programming is beneficial at this level of intervention.
Public Health Framework:
The KidShop program is in the primary stage of prevention because we are intervening prior to the poor health outcomes develop (CDC, 2020). By addressing their environment with a loved one that has a mental health condition and providing support, the program is helping to build resilience in those that attend. This also provides awareness of mental health concerns and prevents crises in the youth that attend this program. This affiliate provides support and education to the entire family structure and in turn, builds resilience among them all. Through these efforts, the affiliate is teaching the family how to prevent their crisis. By addressing education with those personally affected by mental health conditions, the affiliate is also teaching advocacy. This allows people to advocate for communities to change their perspectives on mental health conditions. This can mean changing perspectives and media reporting measures or advocating for better services for those living with mental health conditions. If enough people can address this recovery-oriented perspective, policies and laws follow suit.
References:
CDC. (2020). Prevention. Centers for Disease Control. Retrieved April 19, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/pictureofa...erica_prevention.pdf
Dixon, L. B., Murray-Swank, A., Brown , C., Sturm, V., Fang, L. J., Lehman, A. F., Stewart, B., Burland, J., Medoff , D. R., & Lucksted , A. (2011, June). Outcomes of a randomized study of a peer-taught family-to-family education program for mental illness. Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.). Retrieved February 26, 2022, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21632725/
Hancock County, N. A. M. I. (2021). What is the Nami KidShop program? - Hancock County, Ohio. NAMI Hancock County. Retrieved February 12, 2022, from https://www.co.hancock.oh.us/d...df?sfvrsn=3ec224c4_2
NAMI. (2022). Nami family-to-family. NAMI. Retrieved February 12, 2022, from https://www.nami.org/Support-E...N-57HqwaAgqmEALw_wcB
Rego, M. D. (2021, April 19). The importance of explaining our lived experience. NAMI. Retrieved February 26, 2022, from https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAM...YgvdopBoCmhgQAvD_BwE
Stowkowy, J., Goldstein, B. I., MacQueen, G., Wang, J. L., Kennedy, S. H., Bray, S., Lebel, C., & Addington, J. (2022). Trauma in youth at-risk for serious mental illness : The Journal of nervous and mental disease. LWW. Retrieved March 19, 2022, from https://journals.lww.com/jonmd...-jmKM5wLuXu4VPguuhX0
Verbitsky-Savitz, N., Hargreaves, M. B., Penoyer, S., Morales, N., Coffee-Borden, B., & Whitesell, E. (2016, July 14). Preventing and mitigating the ... - pacesconnection.com. Retrieved February 12, 2022, from https://www.pacesconnection.co...valuation-Report.pdf
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