#13: Nothing about us without us! Mental Health Peer Support in Oregon

Thursday May 17 | 6pm to 7:30pm | Lucky Lab Beer Hall | 1945 NW Quimby Street Portland

Tap in to the best of Public Health at Public Health Portland Style. This month we talk about ‘Nothing about us without us – Mental Health Peer Support in Oregon’. Join us to learn about peer support specialists as Medicaid billable services, and about peer advocacy efforts upstream around government policy and service delivery planning. 

In 1970, mental health service consumers and survivors in Portland, Oregon started the civil rights group called the Insane Liberation Front, pioneering a movement of peer support groups for patients around the country. From its origins organizing alternatives to traditional, coercive mental health services, this self-determination movement has evolved as traditional services have sought progressive, sustainable ways to integrate more recognition of the social determinants of health. Unlike most doctors, nurses, or social workers, peers help peers develop better natural supports with knowledge from first-hand experiences coping with and/or overcoming trauma, disability, poverty, discrimination, stigma, unemployment, housing instability, homelessness, medication side effects, substance use changes, alienation, and other life logistics complexities. 

At this event Kevin Fitts, Executive Director at the Oregon Mental Health Consumers Association (OMHCA), will provide a brief introduction of the topic,  Charlie Woerner will talk about his personal experience, and Janie Gullickson, Executive Director of the Mental Health Association of Oregon (MHAO) will close with a call to action. 

Can’t attend in person? Good thing we are on Facebook Live the night of the event! Check out our Facebook event page and spread the word!

This event is free and open to the public of all ages.

Questions? Please email us at sphcomms@ohsu.edu.