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January 2016 | Vol. 5, Issue 7
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We make it easy to keep up with what's going on with services for mental health, substance use or intellectual or developmental disability in western North Carolina. Whether you're an individual receiving services, a family member, a provider or a community partner, we're honored to share with you how we're striving to meet local needs in a way that only a public managed care company can. It is our pleasure to share with you information about our news and events.
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CEO SPOTLIGHT:
Message from Brian Ingraham
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Last year, Governor Pat McCrory appointed me to the N.C. Mental Health and Substance Use Task Force. Along with 23 other members, I've been tasked with working together to make recommendations to improve the lives of people with mental illness and substance use disorders. Additionally, I co-chair the task force's Subcommittee on Prescription Opioid Abuse, Heroin Resurgence and Special Topics.
To give you some perspective on how substantial this problem is, a recent study found there were 97 painkiller prescriptions written annually per every 100 North Carolinians - and the consequences are no less staggering. In 2014, the number of overdoses was 1.5 times greater than the number of motor vehicle fatalities. Increases in heroin use and subsequent deaths complete the deadly cycle. To really impact this epidemic, we must intervene on multiple levels. As such, our work group was tasked with providing recommendations in five areas:
- Efforts to raise awareness of the dangers of prescription opioid misuse
- Efforts to raise awareness of Medication Assisted Therapy (MAT) and reduce stigma
- Evaluate heroin use in the state and make recommendations to support recovery
- Review the state plan to reduce prescription drug use and misuse and make recommendations
- Review related aspects, including judicial, legal and court-related issues
Opioid epidemic: Taking action
That's a tall order, but our talented, knowledgeable and dedicated group took the challenge to heart and presented recommendations to the public last week. First, we fully support enforcement of laws that deter the illegal manufacture, sale and distribution of opioids and heroin, but we know we can't "arrest" our way out of this problem. It's essential that we support education and training for community members, prescribers and dispensers on the risks of prescription drug abuse and safe storage and disposal of unused medication.
 Our recommendations will also strengthen requirements for participation in the Controlled Substance Reporting System (CSRS), already in use in North Carolina. We strongly believe in increasing access to naloxone, which has already reversed 1,984 life-threatening overdoses statewide, and expanding other measures already in place. Another recommendation involves conducting a large-scale anti-stigma campaign to change ideas about addiction and promote access to treatment, especially best practices like MAT. We also want greater availability of services to anyone seeking care for these concerns, regardless of their ability to pay or any involvement in the criminal justice system.
Other recommendations are too lengthy to list here, but stay tuned: we hope to soon begin a dialogue with state legislators, asking them to consider key recommendations in this spring's short session.
My thanks go out to our co-chairs, Secretary of Health and Human Services Rick Brajer and Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Martin, and task force members for their time, effort and dedication, and to the governor for giving us this opportunity to make a difference. Learn more about the work of the task force and facts about the ongoing opioid epidemic.
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More than a job: Project SEARCH interns learn skills for work, life
Mission Hospital plans to offer up to 12 internships this year to young adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) through Project SEARCH, a national job-readiness program coordinated locally by partners including Smoky.
Project SEARCH helps participants develop job skills, increase their independence and improve communication and problem-
solving skills. While the ultimate goal is employment, interns often find the program also boosts their sense of self-worth.
 "It's the 'value of being valued' concept," Sinners said. "The program gives them the opportunity to be 'just like everybody else' - just like a sibling, or a neighbor. They benefit from knowing they're contributing to society and being an active part of society."
One initially unenthusiastic intern in Sylva now loves her work washing dishes, Simmers said. Where the woman once hung down her head, she now makes eye contact and talks about her life and her job.
Project SEARCH, a nonprofit, was first developed in 1996 at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Learn more.
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With mobile apps, SAMHSA puts health resources at your fingertips
Did you know that the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has mobile resources to promote positive behavioral health? The following apps can be downloaded for free on the SAMHSA website:
- Suicide Safe helps providers integrate suicide prevention strategies into their practice and address suicide risk.
- KnowBullying provides information and guidance for parents and educators on preventing bullying and building resilience in children.
- SAMHSA Disaster App provides responders with access to critical resource and SAMHSA's Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator to provide support to survivors after a disaster.
- Talk. They Hear You is an interactive game to help parents and caregivers prepare for conversations with children about underage drinking.
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MV - Resilience Scale (Canada)
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VIDEO: Tipping the scales toward positive outcomes
(3 min.)
What makes one child more vulnerable to negative experiences, while another child may "bounce back" easier? This three-minute FrameWorks Institute video examines the "Resilience Scale" within each one of us. Click in! |
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From the doctor
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Dr. Craig Martin is our Chief Medical Officer
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References to mass shootings and mental illness may appear side-by-side in news headlines, but they really don't go together the way some pundits claim. The New York Times hit the nail on the head with its December editorial, "Don't Blame Mental Illness for Gun Violence." "Blaming mental health problems for gun violence in America," the editorial board concurred, "gives the public the false impression that most people with mental illness are dangerous, when in fact a vast majority will never commit violence."
Causes and effects are clear when it comes to things like smoking and premature death, or obesity and diabetes. But to further stigmatize people with mental illness by blaming them for gun violence is not only grossly misleading - it's also just plain wrong. Let's look at the facts:
- Fewer than 5 percent of the 120,000 gun-related killings in the United States from 2001 to 2010 were perpetrated by people diagnosed with mental illness.
- People with serious mental illness are 11 times more likely to be victims of violence than the general population.
- People with mental illness and guns are much more likely to be suicidal than homicidal.
- A psychiatric diagnosis cannot reliably predict gun crime before it happens.
Mental illness: a perennial scapegoat
Yet, people with mental illness have become scapegoats in the search to find a way to stop these horrible acts of violence. As the 2015 article "Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the Politics of American Firearms" in the American Journal of Public Health noted, "Notions of mental illness that emerge in relation to mass shootings frequently reflect larger cultural stereotypes and anxieties about matters such as race/ethnicity, social class, and politics. These issues become obscured when mass shootings come to stand in for all gun crime, and when 'mentally ill' ceases to be a medical designation and becomes a sign of violent threat."
Let's focus on what really helps those with mental illness, their families and our communities. Let's improve access to quality mental health and substance use services, broaden prevention activities and build a system that steers people toward treatment, not jail. And let's stop spreading stigma against people with mental illness. Stigma - which, at its worst can lead to more lives lost - has never been known to solve a problem.
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It takes a village: 2016 START institute coming to Atlanta in March
 We are proud to be a sponsor of the START National Training Institute, held this year from March 14-16 in Atlanta.
The institute is provided by the University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability's Center for START Services as part of the START Professional Learning Community. The event is geared toward anyone who is interested in improving services and supports to people with intellectual/ developmental disabilities (I/DD) and behavioral health needs. This may include START teams and their partners, families, self-advocates, social workers, direct support professionals, case managers, service coordinators, educators, physicians, nurses, emergency services personnel and mental health crisis team workers.
This year's event, "It Takes a Village: The Value of Community Networks," features nationally-recognized keynote speakers and presenters, networking opportunities, interactive sessions and panel discussions on evidence-based practices to improve the lives of individuals with an I/DD and behavioral health needs. Review the event brochure or visit the center's website for more information. |
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State news: Task force weighs in on mental health, substance use
Eyes are on Governor Pat McCrory's Task Force on Mental Health and Substance Use. The task force, whose members include Smoky CEO Brian Ingraham, made its recommendations public in January after examining issues ranging from affordable housing to opioid overdoses to how teenagers are charged with crimes. Ideas focused on needs such as workforce development for behavioral health professionals, the use of trauma-informed care and the use of specialty courts.
- N.C. Medicaid officials say they plan to move ahead with a waiver request to allow more flexibility in services for individuals with a traumatic brain injury and children with severe emotional disturbances. The waivers would allow North Carolina to expand home- and community-based services to both groups.
- CenterPoint Human Services in Winston-Salem may learn as early as March whether the state will allow it to consolidate with a peer MCO operating in the Piedmont region, Cardinal Innovations Healthcare in Kannapolis. According to the Winston-Salem Journal, the announcement could be made as early as March.
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Need services? We're here to help. |
 Smoky Mountain MCO manages services for mental health, substance use and intellectual and developmental disabilities in Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey counties.
For information about services or help in a crisis, call us toll-free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-849-6127 (TTY: Relay 711).
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OUR MISSION
Smoky is a public manager of care for individuals facing challenges with mental illness, substance use and/or intellectual/ developmental disabilities. Our goal is to successfully evolve in the healthcare system by embracing innovation, adapting to a changing environment and maximizing resources for the long-term benefit of the people and communities we serve.
OUR VISION
Communities where people get the help they need to live the life they choose
OUR VALUES
Person-centeredness ~ Integration ~ Commitment ~ Integrity
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I/DD listening session in Asheville Feb. 2
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services will hold an I/DD Innovations listening session on February 2 in Asheville. The session will take place from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. at Western Carolina University Biltmore Campus, 28 Schenck Parkway, Room 346. Learn more.
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New mental health poster helps students get 'right start'
Designed with young people in mind, a new infographic poster from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) shares information on teen warning signs and how to get help. It may be particularly useful in schools and community centers.
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5 conversations about behavioral health
What behavioral health topics made headlines in 2015? Linda Rosenberg, President and CEO of the National Council for Behavioral Health, lists the top five conversations of 2015, including the role of institutions, suicide prevention and racism. View this year's list.
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