Beginning in 2014, the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Leadership Council (PPLC), with financial support from the Staunton Farms Foundation, Fayette County Behavioral Health Administration, Value Behavioral Health, and Chestnut Ridge Counseling Services embarked upon a process to assess and enhance the employment of Recovery Model principles among psychiatrists in the public behavioral health system of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
This process included:
- Creating an Engaging and Welcoming Environment
- Strengths-based Recovery Planning
- Person-Centered Planning and Shared Decision-Making
- The engagement and effective use of Peer Supports in Recovery
- Evaluating the Role of Medication in a Recovery Plan
- Encouraging Health and Wellness Focused Care
- Developing Living Skills and Natural Support
- Promoting Trauma-Informed Care
After meeting with a number of staff from the County mental health and intellectual disabilities administration, PPLC staff scheduled a dinner meeting with Psychiatrists working in the public behavioral health system to further discuss and assess both current practice and future interest in increasing the use of a Recovery Model of support and treatment within their practices and the agencies in which they work.
After distributing and receiving results from a survey on the topic of Recovery Model practices, it was determined that the psychiatrists in the area might be interested in, and benefit from, training and practice using Recovery-oriented methods and principles.
The PPLC then contacted and met with staff from the Fayette County Behavioral Health Administration. From that meeting, it was agreed that there was sufficient interest in the topic to support the securing of funding for training and consultation on the topic of promoting Recovery Oriented Psychiatric practice in Fayette County.
The PPLC is currently in the process of blending funding from several sources to provide this training plus ongoing consultation.