Mental Health America Of Ohio Inc

MHA OF OHIO IS TRANSFORMING HOW PEOPLE THINK ABOUT MENTAL ILLNESS, MAKING IT EASIER TO GET HELP, AND GIVING PEOPLE THE SUPPORT THEY NEED TO GET BETTER AND STAY BETTER. OUR VISION IS A COMMUNITY WITHOUT BARRIERS TO ACHIEVING MENTAL HEALTH WHERE NO ONE FEELS ALONE ON THEIR ROAD TO RECOVERY.

THE WORKPLACE HEALTH PROGRAM TEAM CONDUCTED 26 OCCUMETRICS ASSESSMENTS WITH A COMBINATION OF NEW AND PREVIOUSLY ENGAGED AGENCIES AND THROUGH FUNDING FROM THREE DIFFERENT SOURCES. THE PROGRAM TEAM EXPANDED TO ADD A FULL-TIME PROGRAM MANAGER. OCCUMETRICS STAFF CONTINUE TO SIT ON MULTIPLE COMMITTEES ADDRESSING BEHAVIORAL HEALTH WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. TRAININGS WERE PROVIDED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR ON HOW TO LEAD A HEALTHY ORGANIZATION THAT PROMOTES STAFF RETENTION AND HOW TO IDENTIFY AND ADDRESS MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES IN THE WORKPLACE. OUR PEER RECOVERY SUPPORT (PRS) SERVICES FOR PROFESSIONALS WHO USE THEIR LIVED EXPERIENCE TO HELP OTHERS ON THEIR PATH TO RECOVERY CONTINUED TO GROW. OUR TEAM HELD NINE VIRTUAL TRAININGS IN 2023 WITH 138 PROFESSIONALS COMPLETING THE CLASS AND HOSTED TWO PRS EVENTS WITH CLOSE TO 150 ATTENDEES. WE EXPANDED OUR PROGRAMMING FOR PRS TO INCLUDE THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A PRS INTERNSHIP PROGRAM. THIS PROGRAM WILL PROVIDE ON- THE-JOB EXPERIENCE TO TRAINED PRS WITH THE GOAL OF DEVELOPING THEIR SKILLS IN THE WORKPLACE. IN THE FINAL QUARTER OF THE YEAR, THE PROGRAM SELECTED A FULL-TIME PROGRAM MANAGER, DEVELOPED A TIMELINE, AND CONDUCTED A NEEDS ASSESSMENT WHICH WILL BE FOUNDATIONAL TO PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT. IN 2023, OUR MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH PEER PROGRAM, POEM PEER CARECONNECT, RECEIVED 2,474 REFERRALS. POEM SERVED 238 PARTICIPANTS ATTENDING OUR SUPPORT GROUPS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR WHILE PROVIDING A NURTURING ENVIRONMENT FOR INDIVIDUALS TO SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES AND FIND SUPPORT. WE HOSTED FIVE CE TRAININGS, WITH 365 PROFESSIONALS AND PROVIDERS PARTICIPATING. POEM CONTINUES TO CLIMB IN VOLUNTEER SUPPORT AND MENTORSHIP SERVICES, WITH 73 DEDICATED VOLUNTEERS HELPING TO AID OUR POEM SUPPORT IN 2023. POEM RISE CONDUCTED THREE EVENTS FOCUSED ON BLACK MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH THAT INCLUDED TOPICS ON POSTPARTUM PSYCHOSIS AND MYTHS OF MOM GUILT, WITH 52 ATTENDEES PARTICIPATING IN PANEL-LIKE DISCUSSIONS. ADDITIONALLY, POEM RISE PARTICIPANTS REPRESENTED 32% OF THE TOTAL 2023 PEER PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS THROUGH ONE-ON-ONE MENTORSHIP OR PEER CONNECT SERVICES, ADDRESSING A CRITICAL GAP IN MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH CARE. THE GET CONNECTED FRANKLIN COUNTY PROGRAM OFFERED CARE NAVIGATION AND REFERRAL TO OVER 1500 CALLERS IN 2023. ONE PARTICIPANT REPORTED, "FINDING QUALIFIED PROVIDERS NEAR ME AND THE INTAKE PROCESS WHEN ONE THEY ARE LOCATED HAS OFTEN PREVENTED ME FROM CONTINUING THE COUNSELING I NEED. EVERYTHING MHA DID TO MINIMIZE THESE AFOREMENTIONED BARRIERS WAS A MONUMENTAL HELP. THANKS TO MHA, I HAVE A GOOD PROVIDER THAT IS ACCESSIBLE TO ME, AND ALL OF THE STUMBLING BLOCKS THAT HAD PREVIOUSLY CAUSED ME TO NOT PURSUE HELP WERE HANDLED BY THEM" THE FAMILY ADVOCATE SERVICE, WHICH OFFERS EXTENDED CARE NAVIGATION AND SUPPORT TO FAMILY MEMBERS SUPPORTING A LOVED ONE WITH A MENTAL ILLNESS, WORKED WITH 62 NEW FAMILIES IN 2023. IN 2023, THE GET CONNECTED PROGRAM IN FAIRFIELD COUNTY SERVED A TOTAL OF 375 PEOPLE, PROVIDING REFERRALS, INFORMATION, AND ADVOCACY SERVICES TO MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY. THE PROGRAM HAS CONTINUED TO GROW YEAR TO YEAR AND FUNDING WAS MAINTAINED. THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, THIS PROGRAM FOCUSED ON GROWING RELATIONSHIPS WITH POTENTIAL REFERRAL SOURCES AND PUBLICIZING THE SERVICE DIRECTLY TO THE COMMUNITY. THE GET CONNECTED PROGRAM MANAGER ALSO REPRESENTS THE FAIRFIELD COUNTY ADAMH BOARD ON THE COUNTY'S GUARDIANSHIP BOARD. OUR SUPPORT GROUPS PROGRAM CURRENTLY HOSTS 19 ACTIVE GROUPS ACROSS FRANKLIN COUNTY AND FAIRFIELD COUNTY COVERING TOPICS OF ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, BIPOLAR DISORDER, OCD, SYMPTOMS OF PSYCHOSIS, AND FAMILIES OF INDIVIDUALS WITH MENTAL HEALTH CONCERNS. AMONG THESE GROUPS IN 2023, THIS PROGRAM PROVIDED 3,008 CONTACT HOURS REACHING 535 UNIQUE PARTICIPANTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. THIS PROGRAM IS MADE POSSIBLE WITH A ROSTER OF THIRTY VOLUNTEER FACILITATORS, EIGHTEEN OF WHOM (60%) ARE INDIVIDUALS WITH LIVED EXPERIENCE. FACILITATORS ARE TRAINED TO SUPPORT PARTICIPANTS IN SHARING THEIR EXPERIENCES AND BUILDING SUPPORTIVE CONNECTIONS IN THE GROUP. OUR PARTICIPANTS SHARE FEEDBACK THAT SUPPORTS THE PROPOSED OUTCOMES OF THESE GROUPS, WITH STATEMENTS INCLUDING, "THIS GROUP HELPS ME TO FEEL LESS ALONE WHILE TACKLING A VERY ISOLATING AND MISUNDERSTOOD DISORDER." OUR WORK CONTINUES TO FOCUS ON MEETING EMERGING COMMUNITY NEEDS, ALIGNING THE GROUP WITH PARTICIPANTS' FEEDBACK AND OUR BEST PRACTICES, AND INCREASING SUCCESSFUL OUTREACH TO UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY MEMBERS. IN 2023, FRANKLIN COUNTY SUICIDE PREVENTION COALITION (FCSPC) MEMBERS DONATED 299 HOURS AND 6,886 OF IN-KIND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES TO MHAOHIO. TOGETHER, FCSPC MEMBERS DEVELOPED AND PUBLISHED THE 2023 FRANKLIN COUNTY SUICIDE REPORT, 2023 FRANKLIN COUNTY BRIEF COMMUNITY READINESS ASSESSMENT, AND 2024-2026 FCSPC STRATEGIC PLAN. ADDITIONALLY, THE FCSPC PROVIDED 1,441 PEOPLE WITH CRITICAL SUICIDE PREVENTION INFORMATION THROUGH OUTREACH EVENTS. THIS INCLUDED PARTNERING WITH 20 ORGANIZATIONS TO COORDINATE 37 EVIDENCE-BASED SUICIDE PREVENTION TRAININGS, PROVIDING 404 INDIVIDUALS WITH LIFE-SAVING SKILLS AND RESOURCES. IN ADVOCACY AND SYSTEMS-BASED WORK, MHAOHIO'S POEM PROGRAM LAUNCHED THE OHIO PERINATAL MENTAL HEALTH TASK FORCE, BUILDING A MEMBERSHIP OF NEARLY 365 INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS FROM ACROSS THE STATE. AT THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR, THE TASK FORCE COMPLETED ITS OHIO PERINATAL MENTAL HEALTH POLICY AGENDA. IN AUGUST 2023, MHAOHIO NOMINATED STATE REPRESENTATIVE ADAM MILLER FOR A MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA LEGISLATIVE MENTAL HEALTH CHAMPION AWARD. IN 2023, THE PRO BONO COUNSELING PROGRAM (PBCP) CONTINUED TO SERVE UN- AND UNDERINSURED RESIDENTS OF FRANKLIN COUNTY BY CONNECTING 105 OF THE 180 INDIVIDUALS SCREENED INTO THE PROGRAM TO VOLUNTEER CLINICIANS FOR FREE SHORT-TERM COUNSELING. THE PROGRAM RECEIVED 526 TOTAL REQUESTS FOR COUNSELING AND EACH OF THE 287 INDIVIDUALS SCREENED WERE PROVIDED RESOURCES AND INFORMATION, EVEN IF THEY WERE NOT SCREENED INTO THE PROGRAM. VOLUNTEER CLINICIANS DONATED 726.5 HOURS OF COUNSELING IN THE CALENDAR YEAR. OUR TEAM RECRUITED 35 NEW VOLUNTEER CLINICIANS, EACH OF WHOM COMMITTED TO SEEING A MINIMUM OF ONE CLIENT FOR AT LEAST 12 FREE COUNSELING SESSIONS EACH YEAR. MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID IS AN EVIDENCE-BASED TRAINING THAT TEACHES ADULTS HOW TO RECOGNIZE AND RESPOND TO SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE CHALLENGES. IN 2023, THE MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID TRAINING PROGRAM IN FRANKLIN COUNTY FACILITATED A TOTAL OF 24 TRAININGS WHICH RESULTED IN 405 NEW MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AIDERS. OF THOSE, THERE WERE 11 YOUTH MHFA TRAININGS, WHICH TRAINED 203 PEOPLE, AND 13 ADULT MHFA TRAININGS, WHICH TRAINED 202 PEOPLE.