| Information for WMR Participants
Information for Mental Health Providers
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What is Wellness Management & Recovery? (WMR)
The Wellness Management and Recovery Program (WMR) curriculum is presented through a 10 week psycho-educational group that is co-facilitated by a person providing services in the mental health system and a person receiving mental health services. The WMR program is delivered in a small group-level intervention with adults who have a psychiatric disorder and may have co-occurring substance use and other health disorders. It is based on Social Cognitive Theory and, as such, focuses on the development of skills, positive expectations, and promoting self-efficacy. New behaviors are learned through modeling and practicing new skills. The inclusion of a mental health peer as a facilitator not only enriches the group learning process but provides a model for recovery as an empowered, collaborative process between the peer and the professional treatment team.
In the WMR Program, knowledge about good health and recovery is developed collectively which supports individual empowerment. As a result of participating in WMR, individuals begin to
- Identify and achieve personal goals,
- Develop informed, collaborative approaches to selecting and managing effective treatment.
- Achieve an overall healthier lifestyle.
The skills developed are assertive communication, decision-making, and problem-solving which support individual choice and informed decisions about personal wellness. Topics covered in the WMR Program are:
- Mental Health Recovery
- Wellness
- An Understanding of Mental Health
- The Role of Medication in Recovery & Wellness
- Learning to Manage Symptoms and Side Effects
- Effective Communication
- Communicating with Your Providers
- Coordinating Your Care
- Building Social Supports & Involving Others
- Planning for Wellness.
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| Operational Resources |
In collaboration with the Ohio Department of Mental Health, the project is a partnership between Southeast, Inc. in Franklin County, the Lorain County Mental Health Board, and the University of Toledo in Lucas County. The WMR CCOE is centrally located in Columbus, Ohio, and operates under the umbrella of Southeast, Inc. a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) comprehensive behavioral healthcare agency.
The WMR CCOE is staffed by individuals with considerable expertise in mental health recovery, group process, and multicultural competency. The Wellness Management & Recovery CCOE provides training, technical assistance, implementation support, and evaluation activities to behavioral healthcare organizations for WMR implementation. The WMR CCOE developed and piloted the new Wellness Management & Recovery Program with a ten-session psycho-educational group curriculum during 2005 and piloted the program at six community mental health sites during 2006 with good consumer outcomes. Since then, the WMR Program has been implemented at multiple sites across the state of Ohio.
Outcome data for consumers who have completed the WMR Program reveal that 64% of participants showed improvement on measures of recovery. They reported increased knowledge and skills to manage their mental illness, an increased sense of empowerment, improved quality of life, decreased symptom distress, and evidence that they were integrating a recovery philosophy into their lives. There were no differences in these outcomes between WMR groups in traditional community mental health agencies and those in consumer-operated organizations, suggesting that WMR has the flexibility and adaptability to be utilized for recovery in multiple settings. Implementation sites include seven traditional community mental health agencies, six consumer-operated organizations, a vocational rehabilitation center, an outpatient Veteran’s Administration clinic, and two state psychiatric hospital settings. |
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| Fiscal resources |
| The Ohio Department of Mental Health provided initial funding for program development of the Wellness Management & Recovery Coordinating Center of Excellence (WMR CCOE) in 2005 as part of a statewide initiative to improve the quality of care for individuals with serious and persistent mental illness through the adoption of evidence-based clinical practices (EBP). The CCOE is moving forward in establishing the WMR Program as an EBP based on the outcomes of the pilot initiative. |
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Wellness Management & Recovery Coordinating Center of Excellence
16 W. Long Street, Suite 340
Columbus, OH 43215
Contact: Kelly Wesp, Director
614-225-0980
Fax: 614-360-0399
kwesp@wmrohio.org
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