Workshop 1

 

A. Challenges and Advantages for Physicians in Working with Families: Resistance, Choice, HIPAA, and Outcomes

Molly Finnerty, MD
Theater 310

This session will focus on the benefits and challenges that physicians working with people with SPMI face in engaging families in treatment. Dr. Finnerty will review issues and strategies to address resistance issues, consumer choice, HIPAA, and other confidentiality concerns. In addition, Dr. Finnerty will address consumer outcomes in the context of family involvement in treatment.

 

B. NAMI Hawai‘i and Family Education

Marion Poirier, MA, RN; Jim Mihalke; Andrea Chandler; and Charlotte Boyd
Room 304 A/B

Presentations will discuss NAMI Hawai‘i’s Family 2 Family Education Program; current information about major mental illnesses; anxiety disorders and co-occurring disorders; and information on medication and side effects. The moderator will cover NAMI Hawai‘i, NAMI on Campus, and Sibling Support.
Objective:
• Describe the Family Program of NAMI Hawaii


C. Au No Keia: Supporting Hawai‘i’s Mahu, Mahuwahine, and Their Families.

Palama Lee, MSW, QCSW; and Panel: Ku‘umeaaloha Gomes, Ashiiana Hawelu-Fulgoni, and Charles F. Ah Nee
Room 305 A/B

Presenters will describe their `ohana and the ways these are similar and different for gay, lesbian (mahu), and transgender people. They will share strategies for advancing the nurturing factors of their `ohana and to address the hindering forces that impact the mental health well-being of mahu, mahuwahine, and their ‘ohana.

 

D. ACT Review: Building on our Past, Success with Treatments that Work

Rodney Powell, MSW; and Pam Haina, MS, APRN, BC
Room 309

This workshop will review and emphasize the critical elements of ACT and continue discussions on engaging difficult consumers. It will also focus on how to help bring their families into the treatment process and ways in which family psychoeducation can be use to complement Assertive Community Treatment.
Objectives:
• Understand basic ACT principles
• Understand the relationship between the ACT model and Family Psychoeducation
• Understand ACT fidelity views and assesses teams working with formal and informal supports

 

E. Ho‘oponopono

C. Kimo Alameda, PhD; Kamana‘opono Crabbe, PhD; Richard Panglinawan; Lynette Panglinawan
Room 308 A/B

Participants will learn about the Native Hawaiian traditional concept of health and wellness through the art of Ho’oponopono. The use of this technique in the area of mental health will be discussed and compared and contrasted to Family Psychoeduction. Examples of this general approach to wider ranging community issues will also be presented within the social context of interpersonal problem solving.

 

Workshop 2

 

A. The Nuts and Bolts of Behavioral Family Therapy (BFT) for Psychiatric Disorders

Shirley M. Glynn, PhD
Theater 310

BFT is an intensive individual family psychoeducational intervention program, which has been found to reduce relapse rates in schizophrenia and bipolar illness by almost 50%. In this presentation, the rationale and components of BFT— engagement, assessment, illness education, communication skills training, and problem-solving instruction—will be presented. The use of out-of-session assignments to bolster skill generalization will also be discussed.
Objectives:
• Articulate the five components of BFT
• Discuss different strategies for engaging families for BFT
• Tailor BFT to the specific needs of families

 

B. Increasing Family Involvement in Supported Employment

Kim Golis, Ryan Momohara, Joan Momohara, Kathleen Rhoads Merriam, and
Sandra Fitzgerald
Room 304 A/B

Family members can play an important role in the successful supported employment of persons with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI). In panel presentations, supported employment staff, consumers/members, and family members will describe their experiences and offer suggestions for maximizing family involvement for successful supported employment of persons with SPMI.
Objectives:
• Understand and describe the issues, including benefits and barriers, related to family involvement in the successful supported employment of persons with SPMI


C. Consumer Panel: Building Our Own Families’ Supports and Spirituality

LeeAnn Kobayashi and Steve Kishimoto
Room 305 A/B

This is an open forum with personal stories of recovery and of building our own families’ supports and spirituality.
Objectives:
• Gain an understanding of what works and what doesn’t
• Identify available resources

 

D. Mental Health Transformation: Collaborations from Prevention to Recovery

Rupert Goetz, MD
Room 309

This session provides an overview of the Mental Health Transformation State Incentive Grant (MHT-SIG) and the current status of the its implementation. Following several consent decrees, the State of Hawai‘i now has this “chance of a generation” to transform its Mental Health service system to one that spans from prevention through effective treatment to recovery. A Needs Assessment and Resource Inventory lays the foundation for a comprehensive Mental Health Plan developed by the Transformation Working Group and its subgroups.
Objectives:
• Gain an understanding of the MHT-SIG as the “opportunity of a generation” to transform Hawai‘i’s mental health system, spawning from prevention through effective treatment to recovery
• Identify at least two different ways to participate in the process

 

E. Mental Health in the Pacific Basin: What Works in Guam

Andrea Leitheizer, PhD; and Reina Sanchez
Room 308

Participants will learn how practitioners in Guam work with family strengths to improve recovery for people with mental illness. Engagement strategies which address common barriers to family involvement will be presented.
Objective:
• Participants will learn about the unique cultural and systemic issues that both support and challenge families and consumers in Guam

 

Workshop 3

 

A. Meeting Families Where They Are: Strategies for Engagement

Shirley M. Glynn, PhD
Theater 310

To date, successfully engaging consumers and relatives in treatment has been an unattended aspect of implementing family interventions. Provider, relative, and consumer obstacles to engagement will be outlined, as well as strategies for addressing these common problems. Special attention will be paid to empowering consumers to make an informed decision about involving their relatives in their mental health care.
Objectives:
• Articulate common consumer barriers to participation in family psychoeducation
• Articulate common relative barriers to participation in family psychoeducation
• Articulate common clinician barriers to participation in family psychoeducation
• Outline motivational strategies to overcome participant obstacles

 

B. Family Perspectives on Recovery: Voices of Experience

Paula Morelli, PhD; Kerry Causey; Michelle Scofield, MSW; Chae Im Davenport;
Mincha Saito; G.M. Durant; and Kyong Hui Kim
Room 304

We will learn from a panel of family members about ways to collaborate with them in the recovery process.

 

C. Strengthening Natural Networks: Clubhouse and Peer Support Strategies

Steven Onken, MSSW, PhD; Kathleen Rhoads Merriam; and Panel: Michelle Ribillia, Terri Ribillia, and Sanya Fujiwara
Room 305

Social support acts as a buffer to life stresses. Natural networks—‘ohana, peers, friends—provide a rich resource of such buffers. This workshop explores natural networks and how clubhouse and peer support strategies can, as one consumer said, “pull in community, family, faith, work—be holistic in recovery.“
Objectives:
• Describe social support and the major characteristics of natural networks
• Describe strategies developed and used in clubhouses for strengthening a person’s natural network
• Describe peer support strategies for strengthening a person’s natural network

 

D. Adapting Family Psychoeducation for the Elderly in a Culturally Diverse Community: Potluck, Talk Story, and Honoring Our Elders

Deborah Arendale, MC, LMHC, CSAC; John A.H. Tomoso, MSW, ACSW; and Pat Uchigakiuchi, PhD
Room 308

This workshop will describe a community-based project to provide services for elderly persons with major depression and their families. The project involves interventions at the family level utilizing the Family Psychoeducation EBP, community level coordination of information and resources, and systems level development of a coordinated network of services and resources.
Objectives:
• Attendees will be able to describe a community-based participatory research approach in developing a coordinated system of care for elderly persons experiencing major depressive disorder and for families providing support and care for the elderly. Attendees will also be able to describe a model for adapting and implementing an evidence-based practice in a culturally diverse community. This methodology involves the “selective and directed” adaptation strategy based on a model proposed by Anna Lau (2006) in which important cultural adaptations are integrated into an EBP while maintaining the integrity of the intervention.

 

E. Psychological Wellbeing of Asian Americans

Tazuko Shibusawa, PhD, LCSW
Room 309

This session will engage workshop participants in an exploration of enhancing protective factors and inhibiting destructive factors within Asian American individuals, families, and communities.
Objectives:
• Explore the ways in which traditional cultural values and expectations influence individuals and families
• Explore the differences between Western and Asian notions of well-being
• Explore cultural conflicts from a strengths perspective

 

Workshop 4

 

A. Challenging Burdenhood

Steven Onken, MSSW, PhD; Patrick Uchigakiuchi, PhD; Eva Kishimoto, MSW;
C. Kimo Alameda, PhD
Theater 310

Viewing one’s self as a burden and assimilating such shame and guilt can lead to disconnecting from one’s ‘ohana. Practitioners, citing consumer self-determination, sidestep this burdenhood and indirectly reinforce such disconnect with family. This workshop will deconstruct burdenhood and explore psychoeducation and culturally responsive strategies to reconstruct personhood and ‘ohana connections.
Objectives:
• Describe burdenhood and contrast it to personhood
• Identify the ways burdenhood separates ‘ohana members
• Identify how such disconnect can be reinforced by current mental health practices
• Describe stategies for regaining personhood and reconnections to ‘ohana

 

B. Strategies and Legal Issues for Family Members: “Are There Any?”

Anson Rego, JD
Room 304

This workshop will address some of the most commonly raised concerns of family members regarding loved ones with a mental illness. These concerns range from issues such as, “Who will take care of my family member once I’ve passed on? How can I find out more information about whether my family member is in treatment? How can I be of help? How can I get help for a family member who refuses treatment?” Use of an advance mental health care directive will be reviewed as one tool for families and consumers to find common ground.

 

C. Youth to Adult Transition: Opportunities and Challenges

Lesley A. Slavin, PhD; Jason Schiffman, PhD; Alofa Taei; and Moevao Petelo
Room 305

This panel presentation will feature transition-aged youth mental health consumers, parents who have experienced the transition process, and staff of the Ho‘omohala Project, a CAMHD initiative focused on transition-aged youth. They will present information on challenges and useful supports and describe an evidence-informed approach: the Transition to Independence Process (TIP) Model.
Objectives:
• Increase understanding of the challenges framing transition-age youth and their families
• Increase ability to support transition-age youth mental health consumers
• Increase ability to support parents of young adults transitioning into the adult mental health system

 

D. Family Matters in Integrated Dual Disorders Treatment: Implementation Implications

Heather Jablonski, LCSW, CSAC
Room 309

This workshop will discuss the importance of family and significant others in the treatment of people with co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders. It will bridge implementation science and cultural competency principles to provide strategies for programs to enhance family and significant others’ involvement in IDDT.
Objectives:
• Supporting family and significant others’ involvement in providing treatment for people with co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders
• Identify lessons learned in implementing the EBP IDDT
• Recognize the importance of understanding cultural meaning and place of family for implementation of IDDT
• Identify implementation strategies to enhance family and significant others involvement in IDDT

 

E. Mental Health in the Pacific Basin: What Works in Palau

Chesnee Jonathan, RN; and Sherilyn Madrisau, MS
Room 308

Participants will learn how practitioners in Palau engage families of people with mental illness in supporting recovery and participating intreatment. Successful strategies are grounded in the unique cultural and geographic context of Palau. The framework for adapting engagement strategies based on the cultural needs of the population is relevant and applicable outside of Palau.