NAMI Central Virginia promotes recovery and seeks to improve the lives of Central

Virginians with serious mental illness through education, support, resources, advocacy,
and anti-stigma campaigns. Our affiliate proudly provides free education programs and
support for individuals, families, and the Central Virginia Community.

NUR 4144 – Service Learning Project

Jennifer Pierce
Demographic Data
 Demographic Data
• Prevalence Of Mental Illness
• Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S.—43.8 million, or 18.5%—
experiences mental illness in a given year.1
• Approximately 1 in 25 adults in the U.S.—9.8 million, or 4.0%—
experiences a serious mental illness in a given year that substantially
interferes with or limits one or more major life activities.2
• Approximately 1 in 5 youth aged 13–18 (21.4%) experiences a severe
mental disorder at some point during their life. For children aged 8–15,
the estimate is 13%.3
Citations
Any Mental Illness (AMI) Among Adults. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2015, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/any-mental-illness-ami-among-adults.shtml
Serious Mental Illness (SMI) Among Adults. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2015, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/serious-mental-illness-smi-among-us-adults.shtml
Any Disorder Among Children. (n.d.) Retrieved January 16, 2015, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/any-disorder-among-children.shtml
Economic Data
Serious mental illness costs
America $193.2 billion in
lost earnings per year.

The Kaiser Foundation

reports that medical bills
related to getting care for a
mental illness contribute to 62
percent of personal
bankruptcies
 Economic Data
Consequences of Lack of Treatment

• Mood disorders, including major depression and bipolar disorder, are the third most
common cause of hospitalization in the U.S. for both youth and adults aged 18–44.

• More than 6.4 million visits to emergency rooms, or about 5 percent of total visits,
involve patients whose primary diagnosis is a mental health condition or substance
abuse

• Spending by general hospitals to care for these patients is $38.5 billion ANNUALLY

https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-By-the-Numbers
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/26/health/er-costs-for-mentally-ill-soar-and-hospitals-seek-better-
way.html?_r=1&
 Environmental Data
Psychologists have long known that people's surroundings
can influence their moods and mental health, and that
mental health services are unevenly distributed in
communities.

All sorts of small interactions can influence a person's mood

over the course of a day.

Larger events, such as school shootings or natural disasters,

can drastically affect the mental health of an entire region.

Certain environmental factors related to mental illness are

modifiable. Awareness of the numerous environmental
factors that contribute to mental illness could help
individuals, family members, friends, teachers, employers,
coworkers, and health care providers
 Environmental Data
Examples of the environmental factors associated with mental illness include:
• stressors such as the death of a loved one, separation/divorce, changing schools, job
loss, and financial hardships
• cultural and social variables
• prenatal exposure to viruses, toxins, alcohol and/or drugs
• nutritional deficiencies
• chronic medical disorders, autoimmune diseases
and infections
• tobacco use and excessive alcohol intake
• air pollution and toxicant exposure
• high weather temperatures, seasonal patterns; natural disasters; and rural geographical
location

http://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/01/location-health.aspx
 Health Resource Data
Examples of Mental Health Resources in Virginia

• Community Services Boards (CSBs) are local government agencies

responsible for the delivery of community-based mental health, mental
retardation and substance abuse services. Emergency services and case
management are required services, and are usually provided to individuals
with serious mental illness.
• Mental Health America/Virginia (MHAV) has 14 affiliates statewide working
to developing services to prevent mental illness and assuring the proper
care and treatment of mentally ill children and adults.
• 2-1-1 VIRGINIA provides links to mental health service providers by zip
code, by region, or statewide.
 Health Resource Data
Are there adequate health resources in the community? - No
• Only 50% of adults with mental illness in
Virginia receive any form of treatment from
either the public system or private providers

• The remaining 50% receive no mental health

treatment.

• Virginia is ranked 38 out of 50 states and

Washington D.C for providing access to
mental health services.
SAMHSA
Mental Health America
Kaiser Permanente
 Mortality
People with severe mental disorders have a higher prevalence
of many chronic diseases and are at a higher risk for
premature death associated with these diseases than the
general population.
Leading causes of death:
• Cardiovascular disease
(including hypertension)
• Respiratory
(lung cancer, pneumonia, etc)
• Diabetes
(weight gain – Rx)

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40596-017-0738-9
 Morbidity
Major Health Problems in People with Mental Illness

• Chronic disease - higher prevalence and less likely to receive treatment

• Infectious diseases - higher rates of infectious diseases such as HIV and
hepatitis infection. Studies have indicated that people with severe mental
disorders are often at a socioeconomic disadvantage and have a greater
prevalence of risky behaviors such as intravenous substance abuse and
risky sexual practices.
• Suicide - severe mental disorders are associated with elevated suicide
rates. For example, the mortality rate due to suicide is estimated to be
over 12 times greater among people with schizophrenia compared to the
general population.
http://www.who.int/mental_health/management/info_sheet.pdf
 Creative Meetup for Peers in Recovery
• The Creative Meetup group is growing quickly, and is in need of more
supplies!
• Creative Meetup is an art group that explores positive coping skills
through a variety of projects. NAMI CVA is seeking donations
of new/unused art supplies for use in the Meetup.
 Community Liaisons
Jeff Conley – Program Coordinator
Jeff coordinates consumer and family members programs
and represents NAMI-CVA at stakeholder meetings, local
health fairs, and regional health summits.

Gay Plack – Volunteer

Coordinates the Peer Recovery Creative Meetup.
 Community Needs
Many heartfelt thanks for your desire to help fill the needs for our
creative arts group. Activities we have provided so far consist of
watercolor painting, creating handmade cards, beading, acrylic painting
on canvas, collage cards, tissue paper candles, mosaic coasters, even a
little woodburning. I'd like to add some working with clay to the mix, so
I'm hoping for some self hardening clay. So far, I have supplied all of the
materials myself. To have supplies that will really belong to the group
will be helpful in growing the group. I believe creative pursuits
promotes wellness and has all the benefits of self expression and being
in community. So thank you again for your choosing this project.
- Gay Plack
 Community Needs
• 4 watercolor sets
• watercolor paper preferably 140 lb
• watercolor cards
• cardstock
• odds and ends for card making
• Amaco Marblex self hardening clay • stamps and waterproof ink pads
(air hardening) • watercolor brushes (rounds)
• Amaco Mexican pottery Clay • acrylic glue for paper crafts: Adtech
• Clay modeling tools glue dots runners and refills
• rolling pin • Canvases or boards to paint with
• few boards of wood to work on abrush set
• mod podge • crylic
 Community Strengths
Volunteers (NAMI has 3 staff)
In 2015, NAMI-CVA provided the community with numerous free
programs and resources: six 10-week Peer-to-Peer classes, six 12-
week Family-to-Family classes, two 6-week Basics classes, 435 In
Our Own Voice presentations, 1 Mental Health First Aid Youth, 1
Ending the Silence, 14 support groups, and 2 Sharing Hope
programs. NAMI-CVA also provided FaithNet to clergy members, a
Hearts and Minds booklet distribution project, and 5000
Information & Resource booklets.

Peer Support (Evidence-Based Practice)

Peer support encompasses a range of activities and interactions
between people who share similar experiences of being
diagnosed with a mental illness. Peer support promotes
connection and inspires hope. Peer support helps people to
develop their own goals, create strategies for self-‐empowerment,
and take concrete steps towards building fulfilling, self--
‐determined lives for themselves.
Community Weaknesses
• Stigma
Public stigma is the reaction that the
general population has to people
with mental illness. Self-stigma is the
prejudice which people with mental
illness turn against themselves. Both
public and self-stigma may be
understood in terms of three
components: stereotypes, prejudice,
and discrimination.
• Funding and Resources
 Overview of Service-Learning Activity
Art Supplies Drive
Target Population
Members of Creative Meetup – an Art Group for Peers
(members have lived experience with mental illness)

Days/hours working with the community agency

• Outreach and planning with agency staff/volunteer via e-mail
• Requests made for supplies and/or monetary donations (in-person, e-mail, etc)
• Collection of supplies, purchase of additional supplies
• Group meeting, DATE ?Monday from 2:30 – 4:00 P.M.
Evaluation Tangible Measures
• Measure art supplies collected against wish list
– Did we get everything on the list?
• Quantify amount of art supplies collected –
how many of the different types of items?
Intangible Measures
• Collect verbal feedback from NAMI volunteer
and group members
 Resources Used
• Personal contacts – to solicit donations
• E-mail, in-person
• Background Information – to tell the story and
illustrate the need
• Money – to purchase art supplies
• Time – to plan/implement activities
 Community Involvement
Strengths Utilized in Planning and Implementation
Strength = Volunteers
Volunteer (Gay Plack) helped us identify the specific
needs of the group and served as our primary liaison for the activity

Strength = Peer Group

The peer group served as the target population for the
service-learning activity and engaged with us during our meeting
Methods Used to Include the Community
Asking Questions
Outreach to organization to determine interest in
participating in service-learning activity

Request for Wish List

What does the group really need?
(NOT what we think the group needs)
 Formative Evaluation
Target Population
• To ensure that the target population was being reached, we
attended the peer art group and met the members, identified
regular attendees, and listened to their stories
• Directly saw beneficiaries of service-learning activity

Challenges
• Expected challenge – collecting enough supplies to make
a meaningful donation
• Actual challenge – original idea to collect supplies
through school-based art supplies drive did not pan out
• Overcoming challenge – reaching out to people beyond
school, using personal contacts, etc
Conclusion