Research: Topics: Health Care: Summary of A Strategic Plan for Documenting Mental Health in NY
Summary of A Strategic Plan for Documenting Mental Health in New York State
Where to look for more records (preliminary suggestions only)
- Priority: Document the experiences of people who receive mental
health services.
For first-person accounts by mental health consumers and ex-patients:
- OMH Bureau of Recipient Affairs
- Organizations that are part of the consumer/survivor/ex-patient movement
- Mental health advocacy and support organizations, statewide and local
- Mental health-related web sites in New York
- Newspaper stories and features on mental health
For case histories and other third-person accounts:
- Records of municipal and county mental health departments
- Other government agencies (for example, the New York City Department of Homeless Services, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, law enforcement agencies, and the courts) that may serve or otherwise encounter people with psychiatric histories
- Private mental health service providers
- Mental health advocacy organizations
- Priority: Document the experiences of family members and others
close to people with psychiatric histories
- Private mental health service providers, advocacy organizations, and self-help groups' correspondence files
- Organizations and support groups, statewide and local, for families of people with psychiatric diagnoses
- Newspaper accounts and letters to the editor
- Priority: Document the functions and services of mental health
support and advocacy organizations and consumer/survivor/ex-patient
groups
Support and advocacy activities are carried out by:
- Government agencies and private mental health service providers that have advocacy or support divisions or programs
- Organizations of mental health professionals that engage in advocacy and public education
- Mental health support and advocacy organizations
- Peer-led, self-help organizations and groups representing the consumer/survivor/ex-patient movement
- Priority: Document significant approaches to the diagnosis and
treatment of psychiatric conditions.
- Pioneering and long-standing research facilities and medical schools
- Sponsors of mental health research
- For alternatives to medical models of diagnosis and treatment, some self-help, peer led organizations
- Priority: Document the mental health and related services
provided by institutions, organizations, and individuals and the training
and personal experiences of service providers.
- General hospital psychiatric units
- Private residential and non-residential mental health agencies
- Self-help networks and groups
- County and regional mental health associations and programs, public and private
- Professional organizations of mental health service providers
- Priority: Document the policies and legislation that have defined,
influenced, and funded mental health services.
- Records of relevant legislative committees, committee members, and chairs at the state and local levels
- Records of lobbying and advocacy organizations and the New York State Lobbying Commission
- Records of politicians’ campaign positions and policy statementsregarding mental health
- Minutes, publications, and correspondence of stakeholder organizations and individuals related to mental health policy and legislation
- Newspaper and other media accounts, letters to the editor, editorials
- Priority: Document societal attitudes toward mental health issues
and people with psychiatric histories
The items listed under the goals above suggest a number of places to seek documentation. Public debate around major legal and policy developments such as the deinstitutionalization of mental health services and the passage of "Kendra’s law" tend to include extensive public and private expressions of attitudes about mental health.