|
President's New Freedom Commission and VA Action Agenda
Frances Murphy, MD, MPH
Saturday October 29, 2004
Presented by the MIRECC of the VA Desert-Pacific Healthcare Network,
Department of Veterans Affairs Employee Education System, and the UCSD Department
of Psychiatry in cooperation with the Chesapeake Health Education Program, Inc.
and the VA Maryland Health Care System .
Objectives
At the conclusion of the program, participants will:
- Be familiar with the six goals identified in the President's New
Freedom Commission on Mental Health report and with the VHA's Action
Agenda - Achieving the Promise Transforming Mental Health Care in VA;
- Be familiar with the plans for transformation of VA’s Mental
Health Care; and
- Understand the relationship between the mental health strategic planning
effort and future implementation of the Action Agenda.
Synopsis
In April 2002, Executive Order 13263 created and charged the President’s
New Freedom Commission on Mental Health to conduct a comprehensive study
of the United States mental health service delivery system, and to advise
the President on methods of improving that system. In their final report
of July 22, 2003, the Commission envisioned “---a future when everyone
with a mental illness will recover, a future when mental illness can be
prevented or cured, a future when mental illnesses are detected early,
and a future when everyone with a mental illness at any stage of life
has access to effective treatment and supports-essential for living, working,
learning, and participating fully in the community.”
On July 30, 2003, the Under Secretary for Health of the Veterans Health
Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs charged a Work Group to
review the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health’s
Report “to determine the relevance of the Commission’s goals
and recommendations to veterans’ mental health programs and to develop
an Action Plan that is tailored to the special needs of the enrolled veteran
population.”
The six goals of the Commission and their accompanying recommendations
were turned into an eighty-two item Action Agenda designed to help the
Veterans Health Administration transform its mental health delivery system
to ensure that the mental health needs of veterans are met using a recovery
model of treatment and support and to achieve the vision of the President’s
Commission on Mental Health where every veteran at risk for or having
a mental illness has the opportunity to participate fully in his or her
community.
Disclaimer:
This web site, is offered as a public service and is not intended to substitute for professional medical care.
|
