|
2 dec |
Beyond Medication | The Connecticut Office of Protection and Advocacy is sponsoring a
forum to be held at the Legislative Office Building (Room 2C), Capitol Avenue, Hartford.
The forum is for advocates and policy makers and will address questions and other issues related to
the direction of services for people with psychiatric disabilities.
Call (voice) 1-860-297-4345 or (TTY) 1-860-566-2102 by 7 dec 2000 if you plan to attend.
"Treatment is about more than medication,
and life is about more than treatment"
"Treatment" and "Recovery are terms heard frequently in discussions about mental health
policy. But...are mistaken assumptions distorting the policy dialogue?
What is "Treatment"?
Are "stabilization", "maintenance" and "increased functioning" enough?
Is coerced treatment ever justified?
What about people who :lack insight" or who are "actively delusional" or who are addicted
to substances or who may be considered dangerous?
What is "Recovery"?
How does it happen?
What really helps and how can advocates, service providers and policy makers support it?
Those are among the issues to be discussed at the forum.
Dr. Daniel Fisher and
Laurie Ahern, both from the
National Empowerment Center shall
be guest presenters, followed by a panel of people currently using mental health services and others
responding to Dr. Fisher's and Ms. Ahern's presentation. The panelists will share their own
experiences and insights of the mental health system and recovery.
Once again, call (voice) 1-860-297-4345 or (TTY) 1-860-566-2102 by 7 dec 2000
if you plan to attend, or if you need interpreters or other accomodations.
Outsider Art | Finally have a page up on Outsider Art.
1 dec |
Community planning efforts | Bruce and I went to a meeting tonight to discuss ways
that more people in our township could get involved in the public decision-making process.
Lotta work, that. People now moving to town oftne seem to be too busy to come to town
meetings. The group who hosted tonight's meetings is known as the Community Planning
Group. They have put together a survey questionairre which they hope to be able to
distribute amongst townsfolk on setting priorties regarding big projects.
What they hope to accomplish is to have a survey tool that could be used for anyone in town
to provide their assessment of future projects that would have an impact on the town and
its character. Certain values would be measured to determine whether a new project
fits with that character. What are those values?
What impact does a project have on the town's rural character?
How does it impact on the area's sense of community and volunteerism?
Does it have an adverse or positive effect on the quality of our educational system?
What impact has a project on the environment and on natural resources?
Has it any effect on historic characteristics of the town?
What impact has a project on cutural life, on recreation?
And what effect would a new project have on economic development?
Who put this survey together? Local folks comprise the Community Planning Group,
a non-political independent advisory group to the town goverment and to the community
at large. Membership is open to any East Haddam, CT Town resident who is interested in
helping with the process.
Work Changes | Finally have someone else working with me to help in doing the grievances
and advocacy efforts. She seems a quick study and has indicated that she is very interested
in the work we do. Sure am glad to have this. Now, maybe I'll have a chance to catch
up on long overdue paperwork || And today, a new Division Director comes to General Psychiatry.
I know of that person only by hearsay and reputation. It shall be interesting in learning more
about what this person is like || Though I may not get a lot of chance to get acquainted
since I have been spending more and more time working within the max security forensics section
of the campus. That is a whole 'nother world to explore ||
Patients and line staff alike are in an uproar about their move to a new ward on the Hill. While the move, conceptually, was no
great secret, (the ward has been "under construction" for well over a year) the actual move was
stressful. I spent over an hour on the new ward holding a meetings to hear what people'e issues
and concerns were resulting from the move. Some of the concerns are predictable: how will
supplies be distributed; can we get out to go shopping, or to movies, or to activities (like
the weekly dance, or to worksites on campus); Others more daunting and less certain: staff and
patients alike, for example, who plan on protesting that more actual treatment groups shall be
offered and available. Some patients, understand this please, take offense to having more to
do during the day than smoking cigarettes or watching aimless t.v. programs || As for me, I welcome
the increase of productive use of people's time
It's encouraging to see changes which point more clearly in a Recovery direction, rather
than one of simple maintenance. Sure, there shall be folks who oppose challenging themselves to
do better (and I mean this to apply to both staff and patients) but the very idea of recovery is
that which fosters both personal growth as well as a more comprehensive renewal for everyone
in society.
Now, if only we could get funding sources to acknowledge that they need to get off their
buttooks and show some real support to rebuilding resources that make facilitating recovery
more effective.
more Post-election stuff | Well, watching those Ryder trucks traveling along the
Florida Interstate was distressingly like watching OJ escaping from Brentwood. Made me feel
all the more certain that if the news media, with all its collective resources and power, are only
able to send out a couple of helicopters to follow in frikkin moving van, then we're all
in trouble.
There still isn't any significant coverage of so many other issues that affect, effect and
impact upon the USA citizenry being done by these corporate information beheomoths.
If I were a
conspiracy theorist I'd be going on a tirade right now about black helicoptors
and evil social-control freaks. But since I tend to think more that people rise to their highest
level of incompetence (the Peter Principle) when I watch what the news media is
giving us, I just consider that we have a whole cadre of incompetent boobs who obviously
couldn't do real researched news story no matter what you pay them.
>sigh!< Maybe they could just cover the tv screen with
emoticons and get it over with.
Then again, given the size and power of the organizations who control the media...
current entries |
 |
nov 11 - nov 17 |
nov 18 |
nov 19 |
nov 23 |
Catch you on the rebound!
~Will Brady
|
|
|
|
Go to:
mental health
homo ruminations
obligatory photo page
rondak.org
web essayists
Media / Journals / e'Zines
about "Short Notes"
"Short Notes" was the title of a column I wrote while
working for a newspaper in the Adirondack Mountains some years ago.
The format was similar to what you'll find here, except augmented
with pictures and maps. The subject matter shall sometimes be personal,
at other times comments on events or situations of which I am aware. Comments,
suggestions welcomed but not always acted upon.
search engines
scrub the web
dogpile
ask jeeves
yahoo
hotbot/lycos
altavista
northern light
google
LEGAL & DISCLAIMER NOTICE: © 2000 / Will Brady
I hope you've found this site interesting, even thought provoking || Occasionally
some images come from commercial sources and are reproduced here under
fair use guidelines of US Copyright law ||
Please don't write to me about the content of other peoples' sites linked
from here || On the other hand, please let me know of any inactive links ||
Constructive comments, suggested links to add, are welcome.
This website is maintained by Will Brady / wbrady@connix.com /
Last update: see most recent entry
|
write me |
reference |
favorite pages |
site contents |
diary archives |
What's up with this? |
main page |
