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"Mobilizing Resources to Promote Mental Health Recovery and Resilience Among Katrina Survivors and Their Caregivers "
In early September, Lucille Norville Perez, M.D., former National Medical Association President and then Health Director for the NAACP organized the Katrina Health Coalition. This group, comprised of health professionals of various disciplines representing national organizations, committed itself to respond to the crisis brought on by Hurricane Katrina. Annelle B. Primm, M.D., MPH agreed to serve as the chair of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse subcommittee which later became known as the Katrina Mental Health Coalition. and now renamed as the All Healers Mental Health Alliance (AHMHA).
Dr. Primm, Director of the American Psychiatric Association Office of Minority and National Affairs, has served as the convener of AHMHA. Among the organizations that have been involved with the AHMHA are the Black Psychiatrists of America, National Medical Association, the National Urban League, the Congressional Black Caucus, African American Healthy Marriage Institute, Black Psychiatrists of Greater New York, Center for the Integration of Mental Health and Spirituality, Office of Minority Health, the Morehouse School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and National Primary Care Center, Howard University School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, Inner Link, Columbia Presbyterian Hospital College of Physicians and Surgeons Department of Medical Informatics and Telemedicine, Greater New York Hospital Association, Social Services Board of the New York Society for Ethical Culture, and the Council of Churches of the City of New York Care for the Caregivers Project, Stream57, the Cave Institute, Inc., Hilliman T& IT Services, and the Community Health Council of Chicago.
In mid-September, Dr. Primm and APA President-elect, Carolyn Robinowitz, M.D. joined a delegation of the NMA on a fact-finding visit to the Gulf Coast area including Baton Rouge and Houston. The group met with state legislators in Baton Rouge, visited shelters and churches in Louisiana and Houston, attended a Mayoral briefing session in Houston, and met with Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee in Houston.
AHMHA has developed a proposal to provide long term response to the mental health needs of people affected by the Gulf Coast Hurricanes of 2005 which involves:
~ Providing support to survivors and caregivers
~ Offering mental health screening, referral, tracking and follow up
~ Organizing a nationwide referral network of culturally competent providers
~ Developing telepsychiatry consultation services
~ Conducting training and consultation
AHMHA organized Heroes of Healing Salute in NYC February 2006 with Master of Ceremonies, Randall Pinkston of CBS TV News, during which APA members, Charlotte Hutton, M.D. (relocated from MA to New Orleans months prior to Katrina to join the LSU faculty) and Henry McCurtis, M.D. were honored for their work with survivors of Katrina in New Orleans. Dr. McCurtis was among those recruited to New Orleans by APA via the Westover/SAMHSA contract.
Dr. Primm, Dr. Hutton and other APA members attended the BPA Healing Cruise and Retreat which could serve as a model for providing respite to psychiatrists who have served in hurricane-affected and other areas affected by disasters.
Dr. Primm was invited by Dr. Satcher to be a presenter on a panel regarding primary care and mental health at the Morehouse School of Medicine Regional Workshop and National Conference on Challenges and Opportunities of Working to Improve Hurricane Affected Communities, April 2006 in Atlanta
AHMHA leaders Phyllis Harrison-Ross, M.D., Dr. Primm and others held a planning meeting in New York City, to further explore the Coalition's telepsychiatry collaboration with Morehouse Regional Coordinating Center for Hurricane Response. Dominic Mack, M.D. (Morehouse) and Thomas Kim, M.D. (Johns Hopkins) and Norwood Knight-Richardson, M.D. (Oregon Health Sciences University) both telepsychiatry consultants to the Morehouse Initiative, Dr. Charlyn Hilliman of Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and Hilliman Telemedicine & Information Technology Services, and Ben Chodor of Stream57 a networking company, and Darcel Suite and Derek Suite, M.D. of Full Circle Health were in attendance.
AHMHA is in the process of working with its partners to identify telepsychiatry demonstration sites in primary care centers, schools and churches in the Gulf Coast area and around the country in order to facilitate the delivery of mental health services to people in need affected by the Gulf Coast hurricanes and to provide consultation and support to their caregivers.
Over the last eleven months, AHMHA has been successful in building relationships with a number of organizations and institutions which will result in the creation of collaborations designed to foster the development of a nationwide effort to provide quality, cultural appropriate mental health services to Hurricane affected people and their caregivers.
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