HONOLULU — The state Department of Health Adult Mental Health Division will conduct a series of community focus group meetings to solicit input from communities and stakeholders statewide about AMHD services for adults with severe and persistent mental illness.
“Gathering input from community members about the mental health system in each county plays a critical role in the state’s planning process for improving services,” DOH Director Loretta J. Fuddy says in a press release.
The meetings are open to the public and will be held in every county. The first meeting will be on Maui on Wednesday, and the last one will be on Moloka‘i on Feb. 20. The meeting on Kaua‘i will be on Jan. 31. There will also be a meeting on Lana‘i, two meetings on O‘ahu and two meetings on Big Island.
“These sessions offer an important venue for the public to provide their thoughts and insights about mental health services where they live and work,” Fuddy says in the release. “We invite and encourage all community members to participate in these focus groups.” Information gathered at the meetings will be used for developing plans for 2013 and beyond, according to DOH.
AMHD operates under the DOH Mental Health Administration, which also oversees the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Health Division, the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division and the Developmental Disabilities Division.
AMHD’s mission is to “provide a comprehensive, integrated mental health system supporting the recovery of adults with severe mental illness,” and its vision is, “Everyone has access to effective treatment and supports essential for living, working, learning and participating fully in the community.”
“The Adult Mental Health Division seeks to improve the mental health of Hawai‘i’s people by reducing the prevalence of emotional disorders and mental illness. Services include mental health education, treatment and rehabilitation through community-based mental health centers, and an in-patient state hospital facility for the mentally-ill, including those referred through courts and the criminal justice system,” states the DOH website.
AMHD’s core values are commitment, integrity, collaboration, diversity, excellence, wisdom, innovation and accountability.
The federal Centers for Disease Control states on its website that access to healthy food and health care can be a challenge for Kaua‘i’s 67,091 residents.
“Additionally, Kaua‘i is designated as a mental health and primary care Health Professional Shortage Area,” CDC states.
The Jan. 31 meeting on Kaua‘i will be at the Kaua‘i District Health Office Conference Room, at 3040 Umi St. in Lihu‘e. Registration is not required.
Contact Judith Clarke at the AMHD at (808) 586-4686 to request accommodations for hearing or visual impairments.
Contact Mark Fridovich, Acting Chief of AMHD at (808) 586-4686 for more information.
Kaua‘i’s AMHD Community Mental Health Center is at 3-3212 Kuhio Highway and can be reached at 274-3190.
