Consumer-run mental health services: Results from five demonstration projects

How settings change people: Applying behavior setting theory to consumer‐run organizations

“…Consumer/survivor initiatives have taken many different forms including businesses, case management programs, drop-in centers, and advocacy organizations (McLean, 2000;Mowbray, Chamberlin, Jennings, & Reed, 1988). Consumer-run organizations are a specific kind of consumer/survivor initiative that provides warm, encouraging, and accepting environments where members can socialize and develop supportive relationships.…”

Against all odds: Revitalization of local self-help alternatives by longterm mental health consumers

“…To create an atmosphere of support and acceptance at the ABC Center is a struggle. There are also fights, power struggles between paid staff and volunteers, and the work is often very stressful and sometimes unrewarding (ABC progress reports; field notes; Mowbray et al 1988). But the struggle is authentic, and it is valued.…”

“…"In a helping context, power is the ability to help... [largely] attributed to the helper by the help-seeker" (Powell 1984, p. 120). Further, given research that documents "the support systems of the mentally ill are limited " (Pattison et al 1975); that "self-help programs have the potential to expand [both] social support and coping skills" (Borman et al 1982); and that "the Michigan Department of Mental Health [MDMH] has provided funds to support self-help initiatives for psychiatric patients" (Mowbray et al 1988), it seems paradoxical that members do not see ABC as a self-help organization. Instead, they define their focus as self-advocacy and themselves as consumer advocates.…”

“…The structural framework allows us to examine collective efforts to transform private and public identities colored by longterm psychiatric institutionalization (Goffman 1962) in a specific locale (Mowbray et al 1988) and in the broader societal milieu (e.g., Chamberlin 1978;Hirsch et al 1974). The revitalization framework helps to contextualize ABC as an organization which emerged during an era of profound change in the nation's mental health care system.…”

Outcomes From Consumer-Operated and Community Mental Health Services: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…COSPs have become a major component of the mental health system and have been recognized as effective in fostering recovery (1). Government agencies (such as the Community Support Program of the Center for Mental Health Services of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) and advocacy organizations (such as the National Empowerment Center and the National Coalition of Mental Health Consumer-Survivor Organizations) promote a wide range of COSPs, including drop-in centers, clubhouses, independent living centers, case management services, employment agencies, and supported housing (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). When surveyed, almost half of a national sample of community mental health agencies (CMHAs) reported that they have referred clients to COSPs.…”