Building Bridges: Mental Health Consumers and Representatives of the Disaster Response Community

In an effort to foster recovery by establishing productive communication and building effective relationships, the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), hosted a facilitated roundtable meeting to bring together mental health consumers, policymakers, providers, and others involved in the disaster response community. Participants in the dialogue included survivors of the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City; the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, 2005 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and other weather disasters. Dialogue participants also had served in the Federal and community response to those and other events; these participants spoke of the effect of witnessing the devastation and its effect on human lives. The dialogue between mental health consumers and representatives of the disaster response community helped to identify concrete steps they recommend to improve disaster response for all. The needs of mental health consumers and of the disaster response system were articulated during the dialogue through the sharing of experience and hopes for the future. Despite its focus on disaster and disaster response, the dialogue was ultimately hopeful. Mental health consumers and representatives of the disaster response community came together in their desire to help people recover, and the special expertise of mental health consumers in recovery was recognized and honored. Recommendations in the following areas emerged from this dialog: 1. Engage Consumers of Mental Health Services in Disaster Preparedness 2. Promote Consumer Community Resources 3. Promote Peer Support Services in the Aftermath of Disaster 4. Improve Disaster Response Strategies 5. Strengthen the Mental Health Workforce The full report with specific recommendations is available for download. Building Bridges: Mental Health Consumers and Representatives of the Disaster Response Community in Dialogue. HHS Pub. No. 4250. Rockville, MD: Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2007.