Welcome to Irvine!
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2012 NAMI CA Annual Statewide Conference
When: Friday, August 17th & Saturday, August 18th
Where: Marriott Hotel, Irvine, CA
Our conference kicks off Friday!
Join us for the Opening Ceremony, August 17, 8 am in the Ballroom.
The Conference Agenda has been posted at NAMI California. Organize your plans! Discover who is speaking, on what topic, and when.
Read about all our speakers. Or view the agenda.
Affiliates are invited to attend the Affiliate Leadership Institute on Thursday, beginning at 10 am, with informative breakout sessions on topics ranging from new programs and fund raising to marketing strategies and NAMI Walks.
Voting
Online voting for NAMI California Board Candidates has ended, but you can vote in the ballot box at our Annual Conference.
Please visit our website now to review Candidate Statements and be prepared to vote for the candidates who represent your concerns: http://www.namicalifornia.org/annual-conference.php?page=vote&lang=eng.
Register!
We'll see you this week!
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NAMI CAN!
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This is the big week! You have the opportunity to participate in Advocacy in Action, a short introduction to NAMI Smarts, and a NAMI CAN! Forum - all in one day. That day is the Affiliate Leadership Institute preceding the NAMI California Conference in Irvine on Thursday, August 16th. The conference itself, on the 17th and 18th, provides more advocacy information ranging from NAMI President Keris J�n Myrick's opening plenary presentation on Advocacy in Action to a NAMI Smarts: Emails and Phone Calls training during the breakout sessions. If you can't join us, we will miss you, but we will report back to you next week.
Let's jump forward a bit and talk about what changes we can expect in the health care arena. 2014 will bring more than a greater number of people covered by health insurance along with increased benefits. We can expect, finally, increased evaluation of services and more access to that evaluation. As customers of health care providers, we will find that the web can be our friend. It is there we will be able to shop for services, reading reviews and reports of outcomes.
In the near future, a provider's "virtual" reputation will garner a lot more reputation than it does now. Providers are already adjusting their focus to things that Nordstrom could have told them long ago such as the best way to avoid negative online reviews is to address customer concerns before they have a chance to go home and log onto their computers. Taking the initiative and the time to address customer concerns at the time of service is an extremely effective customer service practice. Did you know that 27% of health care consumers already post comments and reviews of medications, treatments, physicians, or health insurers?
As great an opening as this will be to make informed choices about health care providers, it also involves risk. We already know that we have to be careful that we don't give up privacy as we gain online convenience. If social media are used for any of these reviews, confidentiality can be breached. If good guidelines are not in place, we can lose either privacy or usefulness of the information. Let's keep each other posted about opportunities to advocate for responsible use of online reviews and outcome reports.
- - Bettie Reinhardt, MPH
NAMI CAN! Coordinator
[email protected]
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Priorities for New Division of Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Services
| Stakeholders: Make your priorities known by responding to the DCHS' partnership with California Institute of Mental Health (CiMH) and the Alcohol and Drug Policy Institute (ADPI) to administer their business plan.
Here are three critical documents to help you make an informed response:
2) NAMI California letter to DHCS - requesting consumer and family representation on workgroups for this process because no mention of this was included in their plan;
3) Questionnaire administered by Dr. Rama Khalsa, local NAMI member and contractor for CiMH for this process. The questionnaire asks for our opinions on priorities for the business plan. This is an opportunity to inform a wider survey that will be going out to stakeholders in September.
Actions:
We will also have paper versions of this questionnaire available at the NAMI California Resource Table at our conference in Irvine this week.
NAMI California
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New Director for SAMHSA's Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
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Paolo del Vecchio, M.S.W., has been selected to serve as the next Director of SAMHSA's Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). After a full and open search, Paolo proved himself to possess the vision, energy, and leadership capacity necessary to steer CMHS into the years ahead.
Paolo has had a long and successful career at SAMHSA. Over the course of his 17 years in CMHS, he served as the Acting Director, the Associate Director for Consumer Affairs, and the Acting Director for the Office of External Liaison, and was the first Consumer Affairs Specialist hired by SAMHSA. Throughout his work, Paolo has been a leader, pushing the envelope on a wide range of consumer issues, including consumer participation and education, issues of discrimination and prejudice, wellness, recovery, trauma, and access to treatment. He also is a strong and capable leader and manager, serving as a critical part of the SAMHSA leadership and management teams.
Prior to joining SAMHSA, Paolo worked for the Philadelphia Office of Mental Health in the areas of policy formulation and the planning of a comprehensive system of community-based mental health services addressing homelessness, HIV/AIDS, and many other issues. He graduated summa cum laude with a master's degree in social work from Temple University.
Paolo has been involved in behavioral health for over 40 years. As a consumer, a family member, a provider, and a policymaker, he has been and will continue to be a strong advocate for those with mental health conditions and/or addictions and their families, and a valuable asset to SAMHSA. Please join us in congratulating Paolo and wishing him the very best in his new position.
--Pamela S. Hyde, J.D. SAMHSA Administrator
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Orange County Community Forum on the MHSA, Sept. 13
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If You Paid for Paxil�, You Could Get a Payment from a Class Action Settlement
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A class action settlement will provide money to California residents who were 18 years old or older and who paid for any portion of the price of the prescription antidepressant Paxil� while living in California from January 14, 1999 through January 1, 2003, and who qualify under the settlement (these people are called "Class Members"). If you're included, you may ask for a payment, or you can exclude yourself from, or object to, the settlement. The Superior Court for the State of California, County of Los Angeles will have a hearing to decide whether to approve the settlement so that payments can be issued. The lawsuit claims that GlaxoSmithKline falsely advertised and promoted Paxil� as being non-habit forming or non-addictive and that GlaxoSmithKline's advertisements and promotional materials failed to disclose the risk of symptoms from stopping or discontinuing Paxil�. GlaxoSmithKline denies each of these allegations. Click here for details.
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Contact Information
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Weekly Report
NAMI California 1851 Heritage Lane,
Suite 150 Sacramento, CA 95815
Phone: 916-567-0163 Fax: 916-567-1757
www.namicalifornia.org
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