Consumer Advisory Board (CAB)
October 20, 2006
On Call: Kathy Henderson , Estella Morris, Kim Arnold, Michelle Sherman, Eddie Schmidt, , Ray Wodynski, Terry Williams, Debra Hollis, Charlie Wynn
Agenda Topic Discussion
Consumer Advisory Councils (CAC) Discussed importance of local councils sharing information with one another...and means for doing
Networking Plan so. Options included:
Lucia Freedman (VACO) has national mental health conference calls open to consumer
groups – anyone can call in. The phone number is 1-800-767-1750 and the access code is
#44816. The last meeting was Oct 11 at 1pm EST (will find out the date of next call). There
is a national newsletter on the following website http://www.mentalhealth.med.va.gov/cc/
Houston CAC Coordinator Charlie Wynn suggests forming workgroup—perhaps once a year
hold a 1 day conference brainstorm how to move CACS forward
We have already established a ―Consumer Corner‖ in the MIRECC Newsletter—article to appear this
month. There will be regular articles on local CAC activities etc.
We already have annual meetings—may wish to consider inviting local representatives to MIRECC
Conference
Plan to create a webpage on MIRECC website with information on CAB, list of local CACs, and
pertinent information.
Agenda Topic Discussion
Local Council Activity Reports Houston: Charlie Wynn, new CAC Coordinator for Houston, reported that they had organized and
held activities for National MH Week. The CAC had a large event to celebrate—completely done by
CAC members (200 people attended). Theme was Celebrating Recovery—CAC made a 16 min.
video presentation where 14 consumers made video communication messages on their recovery and
stakeholders provided information. The event was opened up to and involved other outside
organizations in community like NAMI. Kathy Henderson asked what we can do to energize other
new councils.
ACTION ITEMS:
Ray Wodynski agreed to accept responsibility of local CAC Coordinator/liaison. He will
contact the individual local councils to discuss their activities, get updates on issues and
needs. He will present this information to CAB.
Charlie Wynn will forward Debra all of the materials and information from their MH
awareness event
Debra Hollis will send Charlie Wynn 50 copies of the national brochures.
Consumer Proposal (IIR HSR&D)
Per the CABs suggestions, MIRECC Associate Director Dr. JoAnn Kirchner is preparing a proposal
to involve VSO’s in VA quality Improvement initiatives. The purpose of the study is to determine
how VSOs and the VHA can collaborate to improve the quality of mental health care for American
veterans. The proposal will interview 6 VSOs to learn about their structure, priorities, interest in QI,
and prior experience with healthcare QI initiatives. The information will be used to inform the
creation of linkages through which VHA can partner with VSOs to promote QI in the VHA mental
health services and also to create a forum for discussion and exploration of future collaborative
initiatives.
TIDE Project The feedback provided by the CAB members on the TIDES (Translating Initiatives in
Tools & National Dissemination Depression into Effective Solutions) tools was excellent. CAB input has been incorporated and
the tools will now go to participating sites for their feedback.
CAB member, Ray Wodynski, has been involved with the National initiative for TIDES and
is participating in the development of plans disseminate the program nationally.
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Agenda Topic Discussion
Two articles are scheduled to be published on the CAB
CAB Newsletter Articles
MIRECC Newsletter
CeMHOR Newsletter
Tom Teasdale asked ―How can the SC MIRECC help CAB and CAB help it?
CAB Webpage
MIRECC has an internet presence (website is www./va.gov/SCMIRECC)
Internal Networking
External Communication
Agreed to:
Create page on the website for VISN 16 CAB
Include a descriptive paragraph on consumer events
Tom asked for authority to create a CAB page on the MIRECC website. The CAB granted
him that authority. CAB members agreed to communicate with him on regular basis to
improve the web-page.
ACTION ITEM:
Debra will send Tom the following information for the website.
Copies of the newsletter articles
Minutes of meetings
Current CAB membership, Mission, bylaws etc.
List of Local Consumer Councils
Next CAB Conference Call: Friday: 11AM (CST)
January 26, 2006 Phone #: 1-800-767-1750
Access#: 72647
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