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OLYMPIA -- The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) is currently reviewing a new federal tool kit designed to help ensure that consumer-operated services and programs are developed according to rigorous standards based on scientific evidence from studies across the country.
The tool kit is dubbed "K.I.T." for "Knowledge Informing Transformation."
"Evidence-based consumer-operated services and programs are much more likely to provide the positive outcomes that mental health providers, patients, and mental health consumers in recovery expect," said Richard Kellogg, Director of the Mental Health Division of the Health and Recovery Services Administration in DSHS.
"Evidence-based practices are just another way of saying health care that works," Kellogg added.
Washington, Connecticut, and Missouri were selected for the field tests. Federal officials said the selection was based on the strength of the three states' commitment to evidence-based practices and commitment to fusing consumer voice into their treatment plans and recovery process.
"We in Washington State are already believers in evidence-based practices, but in December and January, we are asking representatives of our mental health programs around the state to use the federal guidelines to take a second look at our programs and see how they measure up," Kellogg said.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, began building the series of mental health tool kits back in the late 1990s. The effort began after researchers, clinicians, consumers, and advocates identified evidence-based practices as a significant link between mental health recovery and treatment modalities that produce positive outcomes.
Federal officials say feedback from the three states will help fine-tune the guidelines before these kits are implemented nationally.
Currently, similar tool kits have been developed in a half dozen areas, among them illness management and recovery, supported employment, family psycho-education, assertive community treatment, integrated treatment for co-occurring disorders (i.e., substance abuse and mental illness), and medication management.
The field testing in Washington State is being supervised by Stephanie Lane, MSW, head of the Office of Consumer Partnerships in the Mental Health Division.
"Washington State was selected because we have a very consumer and family-friendly Mental Health Division that is committed to a Best Practice Office of Consumer Affairs," Lane said.
Lane said she selected six field sites for Washington State:
Lane said another 10 ad hoc reviewers were selected from mental health professionals and consumers around the state who can provide independent feedback on the KIT guidelines. The statewide Ethnic Minority Advisory Committee (EMAC) will also be participating in the review to evaluate the cultural and linguistic aspects of the tool kit.
Lane noted that the information included in the kit include multi-media presentations – slideshows, video, compact disks, and computer Web sites.
"SAMHSA is particularly interested in knowing what materials were used, how effective they are in training, and what was found to be the most and least helpful," she said. "Consumer-operated services are especially important because they help break down years of misperception and stigma. They show the community that people with mental illnesses can and do recover."
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND BACKGROUND:Stephanie Lane, Office of Consumer Partnerships, MHD Headquarters, HRSA, DSHS, 360-902-0202.
Jim Stevenson, Communications Director, HRSA, DSHS, 360-902-7604 (Pager: 360-971-4067).
