PARTICIPATE IN THIS IMPORTANT SURVEY

While preparing for next Monday’s DBH performance review hearing, I also want readers to be aware of the survey being conducted by Georgetown University’s School of Medicine on the experience of people with disabilities and their caregivers with mental health services here in DC.  If:

- you or someone you care for relied on supports from 35 K before it closed

- you are a disabled person who has interacted with one of the DBH community service agencies

- you are a caregiver who has interacted with one of the DBH community service agencies

- you have experience supporting people with disabilities at one of DC’s community service agencies

Then this survey is for you!  And if Georgetown gets good participation from the community, the (confidential) information they collect will be indispensable to the DC council and to DBH itself as they focus on needed reforms to better serve DC residents.  As you know if you’ve been reading my blog lately, I’m very focused on this topic right now, and very much looking forward to the outcomes of the Georgetown survey.  Here's a short description:

"[Georgetown is] looking for participants who are either adults with physical and/or mental disabilities, the direct caregivers of adults with physical and/or mental disabilities, or community-based mental healthcare providers practicing in the DC area. The primary goal of this study is to identify perceived barriers to mental healthcare access in participants with disabilities and their caregivers…By collecting the perspectives of both patients and healthcare providers, the hope is to gain a better understanding of the experiences of the disabled community and…to continue addressing the barriers to mental healthcare access that still exist today."

For more information, take a look at the attached flyers for people and caregivers and for community providers, and be in touch with Mary Tresvalles (mat321@georgetown.edu) with any questions.  Please help if you can!