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Minutes of the December 10, 2010
WUMH Joint Advisory Board and Steering Committee Quarterly Meeting
Meeting held at NAMI-Wisconsin in Madison


1. Introductions/Welcome/Attendance: In Person: Co-Chair, Rebecca Cohen; Sue Cochran, Kris Freundlich, John Easterday, Millie Jones, Peggy Helm-Quest, Shel Gross, Lannia Syren, Kit Kerschensteiner; On phone: Co-Chair, Patty Branton; Recorder: Marilyn Duguid.

2. Strategic Planning: Kris Freundlich led the group by defining aspects of the planning process. The notes below will be discussed at future WUMH Exec team and quarterly meetings.

What do we want to achieve?
  • Decrease stigma; Increase stigma busting
  • Increase mental health acceptance
  • Understood correlation with chronic health conditions, co-occurring, causative for disease state
  • Educated about mental health / mental illness:
  1.  Media
  2.  Health care providers
  3. Business
  4. Entertainment
  5. Legislature – policy makers
  6. School system
  7. Higher education
  8. Public
  • Decrease isolation; increase social inclusion; community integration; normalization (across life course)
  • Society has life course perspective
  • Note: parallels above with substance abuse / addiction
  • WUMH knows
  1. What activities can be used to achieve the points listed above
  2. How to address double stigma (ethnic, LGBT) and be culturally competent
  3. Life years lost due to mental illness (is a measure); impact of stigma; quality of life indicators
  4. How to market best practices

What do we need to improve and what are the most important things for us to do right now?

  • Marketing – general public for larger community awareness
  • Ensure that WUMH has social inclusion / integration and important alliances
  • Challenge: figure out how to best coordinate, integrate, collaborate
  • Find commonalities with potential allies
  • WUMH is a big coalition – which is a strength but infrastructure is not stable – has been opportunistic (note MIG grant ending)
  • Identify the “WUMH core” so others fit in with us – what partnerships do we need to advance OUR mission? What happened to prior relationships (West Allis?) … will we keep relationships with Pathways, etc.?
  • Lack of comparative data / experience
  • How do other similar organizations operate? (good and bad)
  • Reconnect with MHA philosophy –“open minds, open doors”
  • Explore federal campaign for mental health – an umbrella for MH advocacy groups – can they be of service to us?
  • Question: Are we seeking advocacy for all, or in addition to…? (Social inclusion for all including ethnic groups, etc.)
  • Continue to develop attitudinal information; also recognize that we likely cannot gauge our success at a macro level.
  • Who should be a part of us?
  • Soon will know if we need to do the Partnership grant --- that will require some time and planning

Health Care reform –
  • Need to have awareness, develop linkages, identify opportunities, build on and use as a lever
  • Explore the federal campaign – health care reform focus (was the only mental health testimony)
  • Jan – July – health care exchanges being developed – will have major impact on mental health benefit package structure
  • Understand national picture
  • Review other state models
  • Integrate


Operational functioning
  • WUMH needs a designated Coordinator – let interested, capable parties know ASAP
  • Consider stigma in younger audiences – and early identification of mental illness
  • Mental Health Council has a Children’s Mental health committee – WUMH needs to know what they are doing in terms of priorities, concerns/issues
  • Attention to ongoing suicide linkages
  • Work with higher educational systems to train upcoming professionals about mental illness and associated stigma
  • Train DPI and teachers


3. Items that need attention now: Marilyn will send out the current WUMH Project Coordinator position. A new coordinator is needed for 2011. If WUMH is awarded a Wisconsin Partnership Program (WPP) grant, then staff, budget and 2011 workplan will need further review and more strategizing.

4. September minutes were accepted: with the change of Patty to Theresa in item 8.

5. Recap of 2010 Deliverables: The first module for Mental Health in the workplace is behind schedule and this has impacted other deliverables. In recent discussions with Synergy Ink, Seth Pfaeler has stated that the module will be delivered to Rebecca the week of December 13 along with all project-related materials such as tapes, materials, and other items done for a health care providers anti-stigma learning module. The plan is to work with a different vendor to complete the production, duplication and marketing materials. MHA will assist (2011) with the second module that focuses on workplace interactive training for supervisors and managers. Rebecca is in the process of writing the final 2010 MIG report, which summarizes trainings held, module development, media outreach through the Wisconsin Newspaper Clipping service and total hits and page visitation to the WUMH web site.

The reception for Lt. Governor Lawton on September 28 went very well.

6. 2011 funding and Activities: Mental Health Block Grant funding will provide $20,000 in 2011 to continue WUMH’s work. A $5,000 grant from the Charles E. Kubly Foundation will be used to disseminate the module DVD, place ads and promote the module at conferences. Regarding the WPP grant, notification comes during the week of December 13th to determine whether or not WUMH is awarded a $50,000 Planning Grant to identify with partners what are best practices for workplace mental health.

7. Announcements:

  • Special note of appreciation to Division Administrator, John Easterday for his support and active participation in WUMH.
  • Dr. Linda Oakley of UW-Madison, School of Nursing and former principal investigator in the WPP grant with WUMH has submitted a manuscript on the Women, Stigma and Depression grant findings to a journal for submission and review.
  • December 1 was the start date of the Wisconsin’s Parity Law.
  • Millie Jones provided the link to the October 4 issue of Time magazine, which featured an article on the Life Course Model: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/ 0,8599,2020815,00.html
  • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender health info describing the risk of suicide and depression: www.dhs.wi.gov/LGBT
  • NAMI-Wisconsin trainers are available to present on “Parents and Teachers as Allies: recognizing early-onset mental illness in children and adolescents.” Contact Lannia Syren at 800-236-2988 or www.naiwisconsin.org.
  • The Family Planning Waiver is now part of the state plan amendment.

8. Meeting Adjourned. Special thanks to NAMI for hosting our December meeting!

2011 Quarterly Meetings schedule: (to be confirmed…..)
February 11, May 13, August 12, November 11
(Second Friday of the month, 9-11 am)



April 13, 2007, WUMH Steering Committee Meeting Minutes Summary

We continue to make progress on our Guide for the Media on reporting on suicide and mental illness and we are continuing to present the Workplace Symposiums: “Mental Health-Friendly Workplaces” around the state. The Partnership Planning to Grant to develop a Multicultural Women’s Education Program to Eliminate the Stigma of Depression is also well underway with the research design for future focus groups. The next Steering Committee Meeting is June 8 in Madison.