1. Melen Vue, Director of Community Engagement

2. About NAMI California Began in 1977 with nine parents
61 NAMI Affiliates throughout California
Over 19,000 members
Programs: Stigma and Discrimination Reduction, Education Courses, and Support Groups throughout the state.
Legislation and Advocacy
Annual NAMI California Conference
Overview of NAMI California

3. Community Engagement Department
Purpose:
Statewide effort
Improve services and engagement with different cultures.
Created in 2010
Purpose:
Statewide effort to enhance the ability to better understand, communicate with, and interact effectively with people across a variety of different cultures.

4. Community Engagement Department
Goal:
Increase Reach
Reduce Stigma
Goal:
Our primary goal is to reduce stigma among underserved communities and to increase reach into multicultural populations.
It is our belief that engaging directly with the community will lead to a positive change in knowledge, attitudes, and behavior toward individuals living with mental illness as well as insight into hope and recovery among the general population.

5. Mental Health 101 Principle of NAMI programs Evaluated key components
Cultural Inclusivity
Strengthening Statewide Reach
Mental Health 101
Principles:
Stigma and discrimination educational program – create a program to meet the needs of diverse communities
Took the principles of the In Our Own Voice (IOOV)
Utilized key components of IOOV to evaluate
Key Components:
IOOV curriculum
video
outreach materials
presentation format
Strengthening Statewide Reach
Focus Groups
Engaged 5 Cultural Experts
Conducted 25 focus groups throughout California reaching 266 participants from cultural communities.
Focus groups were a great opportunity for us to gather feedback from community members, which is a crucial component of the cultural adaptation project.
Feedbacks and recommendations were captured on the curriculum and video, evaluated the outreach materials, and demonstrated the newly adapted cultural videos vignettes.
A few sample questions during focus groups:
What was the overall impression?
Did the IOOV or program effectively incorporate cultural group’s perspectives on mental illness/mental health and wellness?
Does IOOV or program effectively address mental health stigma in cultural communities?
How is mental health/illness understood in cultural communities?
How can NAMI California incorporate cultural perspectives on mental illness/mental health and wellness?
Are there suggestions for improvement?
Storytellers
30 storytellers with lived experience of mental illness were recruited to describe their experiences (tell their stories) on video.
Utilized a video adaptation screening tool to evaluate the storyteller’s comfort, readiness to share, and signs of acceptance, hope, and recovery.
A few sample questions:
Why do you want to be a storyteller and have your story filmed?
Signs to look for: wanting to give back, help others, help my community, I want to be part of the program that breaks stigma.
Red flags: Want to tell others how to live, I want to be famous, I want to be an actor, etc.
How do you define recovery?
Signs to look for: Wellness, engaged in community, at peace with myself, have coping skills that help, etc.
Red flags: Talk about not having a treatment or wellness plan, wanting to give advice, no coping skills, etc.
Why do you think you would make an effective storyteller?
Signs to look for: I’m comfortable telling my story, I’m a good speaker, I want to let people know that they are not alone, etc.
Red flags: I want to be on TV, people want to hear from me, etc.
Why do you think it’s important for people from cultural communities to share their experience with mental health with their community?
Signs to look for: So they know they’re not alone, so they feel more comfortable seeking help, etc.
Red flags: A person’s cultural background isn’t important.
Their presentations would help audiences to have a more accurate and sympathetic understanding of mental illness through the lens of a cultural perspective.
Developed 5 cultural and 1 general video vignettes.
Cultural Inclusivity
5 cultural communities (Latino, African American, Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander, LGBTQ communities)
Capture a wide range of feedback

6. Create Multi-Generation of Culturally Diverse Individuals
Purpose of NAMI CA MH101
Spread Awareness
Create Multi-Generation of Culturally Diverse Individuals
The purpose of NAMI CA MH101 is that participants will learn symptoms and indicators of mental health conditions and are given ideas about how to help themselves, friends or family members who may be in need of support through the lens of their own cultural experience.
The goal of this program is to create a multi-generation of culturally diverse individuals that can help address the stigma associated with mental illness through education, support and advocacy.
In NAMI CA Mental Health 101, Presenters are trained to “share” in a culturally respectful approach as opposed to “teach” the material.
The tone that is set with that attitude is critical. Presenters talk with the participants, not at them.
Presenters interact in a culturally responsive manner when participants enter the classroom and remain available after the program to visit briefly, maintaining that same cultural responsiveness.
The goal is to have participants feel that the NAMI CA Mental Health 101 Presenters really care about them and to view NAMI CA as a non-judgmental, culturally-responsive organization that can help communities and people to accept and support those with a mental health condition.

7. NAMI CA Mental Health 101
NAMI CA Mental Health 101 (MH101) is a 60 presentation program
This program is devoted to giving individuals an opportunity to learn about mental illness through:
Informative presentation with7 posters that provides information on mental illness, signs, symptoms, recovery, stigma and support.
Short videos – 6 videos (API, Native American, African American, LGBTQ, Latino, General) – dependent on the community the presentation will be held in
Personal testimonies that represent a variety of cultures, beliefs, and values including a Consumer and family member.

8. MH101 Pilot
2015

9. Trainings Presentations Reach Trainings:
8 MH101 trainings – Training 71 new presenters
Presentations:
Piloted 97 presentations
Reach:
Nearly 1,500 participants to date with a specific target on the 5 cultural populations I identified earlier.

10. Community Feedback Strength of the Presentation
“In my opinion, the strongest part of the presentation when it explained the different illness because it informed me about them.”
“The personal experience that shared. I could feel their pain and then the acceptance of their disease”
“Knowing that mental illness is part of my community”

11. Community Feedback Presentation Improvements
“Perception of the community members who appear to have mental health and how best to deal with these individuals”
“A speaker my age”
“Making sure the public and law enforcement has the same information or contact info to receive help”
We are continuously making edits on the manual and presentation based on the feedback that we receive. This fiscal year, we are working with RAND to modify our evaluation tools and they have been really helpful through this process.
“More trans issues”

12. Mental Health 101 Presenter
Maria Rosa Alvarado
Mental Health 101 Presenter

13. Mental Health 101 Presenter
Emily Wu Truong
Mental Health 101 Presenter

14. Thank you again to everyone for attending the webinar today!!!

15. Questions?
Do you have questions? Please feel free to ask questions or share with us. (Be prepared with questions in case there are no questions from the audience.)
NAMI CA MH 101