Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Stopping Schizophrenia in Its Tracks
By Darcy Gruttadaro, Director, NAMI Child and Adolescent
Action Center
For those experiencing psychosis, early identification and
intervention matter—a lot. It lessens the long-term severity and often prevents
psychosis from worsening. An effective early identification and intervention
program should include the following coordinated array of services and
supports:
·
Supported education and employment.
· Cognitive behavioral therapy.
· Peer support.
· Family support and education.
· Case management.
· Community outreach.
· Low dose antipsychotic medication.
· Cognitive behavioral therapy.
· Peer support.
· Family support and education.
· Case management.
· Community outreach.
· Low dose antipsychotic medication.
These services work so well because they are offered
together to provide the skills and support that youth and young adults need to
get better. They also take into account the context of a young person’s life
and the key role that peers and families play in recovery.
FEP (First Episode Psychosis) programs reduce costly
hospitalizations and put youth and young adults with psychosis on an early path
to recovery.
When you fund upstream interventions, you can prevent the
tragedies associated with untreated mental illness: school failure,
unemployment, hospitalizations, homelessness, jail and suicide. Investing in
effective programs that intervene early produces far better outcomes for
individuals, families and communities.
There are effective strategies available, so why aren’t more
young people getting help? One of the main reasons is that these services and
supports are simply not available in communities. However, there has been
progress made recently that to help ensure the availability of these resources
in more towns and cities across the U.S.
One significant event is that Congress has now required
states to use 5 percent of their Mental Health Block Grant for First Episode
Psychosis (FEP) programs. This means that states are obligated to set aside a
certain amount of their federal funding to address the importance of early
intervention.
How Is NAMI Helping
We recognize the urgency in expanding these programs. Our
advocacy work and involvement in these programs is happening at all levels of
the organization.
NAMI NYC Metro is partnering with OnTrackNY, an FEP program,
in providing support groups and peer support for youth and young adults
experiencing early psychosis. NAMI Connecticut is offering peer-run young adult
support groups located close to FEP programs to make it easy for young adults
to join. NAMI Minnesota has partnered with an FEP program and is creating
education and support programs for youth experiencing early psychosis and their
families.Oregon was an early adopter of these services and supports, having
witnessed the success of these programs in Australia. Tamara Sale, the director
of the Early Assessment and Support Alliance (EASA) in Oregon and a former
long-time NAMI Oregon board member, shared how their program works successfully
with youth and young adults experiencing early psychosis.
The EASA program recognizes that it can be difficult to
engage youth and young adults experiencing early psychosis, so it uses
strategic community approaches that meet young people where they are with
messages of hope and relevance to their lives. They are flexible and
persistent, even with youth and young adults that seem entirely uninterested in
mental health care.
What You Can Do
FEP programs exist in a handful of communities and more must
be done to spread these programs across the country. Here is how you can make
sure that happens. Learn more about FEP programs. Understand why these programs
are pivotal in creating better outcomes.Email or Tweet your Congressional
members to thank them and to ask for their continued support of FEP programs.
Connect with your NAMI Affiliate in advocating at the state
and federal levels for FEP programs so that youth and young adults experiencing
early psychosis can access effective services and supports.
We can and must change the trajectory of people’s lives by
intervening early with recovery-oriented and effective services. We simply
cannot afford to wait.