Public Education History

The Mental Health Association in Westmoreland County has a nearly forty-year history of advocating for the rights of persons with psychiatric disabilities, combating stigma through public education and building inclusive communities through specialized training to target audiences. Since 1997, we have been one of sixty sites in the National Mental Health Association’s (NMHA) 340 member affiliate field selected to coordinate and implement the Campaign for America’s Mental Health. This national public education campaign provides us with free mental health educational resources and training to work with target audiences, the goal of which is to confront barriers to mental health care and ensure that people in need of mental health treatment get it. Over those years, we have been responsible for educating more than 10,000 people about mental illness, screening more than 5,000 individuals for depression, hundreds of whom were referred on for further treatment and making over 8.5 million media impressions.

We have had success working with target audiences who are dealing with mental health issues but who often lack the resources or information to do so effectively, including primary care physicians, schools/educators and business/workplace. We have visited the primary care offices of a major health care system in Westmoreland County, providing training to office staff on coping with trauma, depression, anxiety disorders, childhood mental health problems and other mental illnesses. In addition to receiving a one-page listing of area mental health support groups and select mental health services, each site selects from our free fact sheets and brochures, tailoring their requests to the unique composition of their practice.

We regularly provide new information and insights on children’s mental health issues to our seventeen school districts through a bi-annual newsletter and occasional mailings, such as a “back to school” kit produced by the NMHA. This contact has led to trainings for guidance counselors, school nurses and Parent Teacher Organizations. One of our Parent/Child Advocates is a featured trainer for the county’s Student Assistance Program personnel.

Because children with ill-addressed mental health problems are at risk for school failure, drug and alcohol use and involvement with the juvenile justice system, our work with schools is aimed at prevention. Current projects include outreach to our four area colleges and universities using NMHA’s new Safeguarding Your Students Against Suicide materials, the development of an on-line mental health newsletter for employers/human resource professionals, programs for drop-in centers on NMHA’s Dialogue for Recovery materials which improve communications between physicians and consumers and training for staff at the county Juvenile Service Center (detention) and Emergency Youth Shelter.

Our Annual Meeting and Conference is attended by more than 150 school personnel, human resource professionals, mental health consumers, families and other target audiences. Over the years, this event has offered workshops on mental health and the law, mental illness and substance abuse in the workplace, children’s mental health and Balanced and Restorative Justice.

For sample outlines of possible trainings and/or educational programs, click on the Public Education link to the left.