Psychiatry's Parent Advisory Committee
Lifting the Burden of Stigma
More children are hospitalized at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center for mental health care issues than for any other diagnosis. For Julie Webster, the irony of this fact is powerful: Despite mental health being the single largest reason for hospital admission, stigma still surrounds psychiatric illnesses. Lifting the burden of that stigma has become her mission and passion.
Julie's daughter, Helen, now a junior at Xavier University, was admitted to Cincinnati Children's for major depression when she was 17, following a suicide attempt. "Having a child diagnosed with a mental illness can be very isolating for families. There are no casseroles at the door or cards in the mail and few people to network with," Julie says. "No one prepared us for the shock of our initial visit to the psychiatric inpatient acute care unit. The door locked shut. Our child was locked in and we were locked out, physically and emotionally."
But today in Psychiatry doors are opening, as a more family-centered approach takes hold. Three years ago Julie joined the Psychiatry Department staff in a newly created role: family advocate and co-leader of the department's Parent Advisory Committee. Her position, she says, "speaks volumes about the hospital's commitment to embrace family-centered care. With the support of the department, I've had the opportunity to help transform the advisory committee from a group that gave feedback into a proactive agent of change."
Within the last year, parents worked with staff to create an Inpatient Family Guide. The guide helps parents know what to expect. It includes a slide tour of the inpatient unit, information to ease parents' anxiety, a list of resources and answers to frequently asked questions.
Another parent-initiated project is an email newsletter, Changing Minds, produced by parent volunteers to educate and empower people in order to change attitudes and treatment for psychiatric illnesses. The Parent Advisory Committee also is offering to train parent volunteers to share their personal stories effectively in order to achieve positive change.
"We need to make it as safe for families to talk about psychiatric illnesses as it is to talk about other treatable biological diseases," Julie says. "I thank my daughter for having the courage to share her story in order to help others, and in so doing, giving me the courage to do the same."
