2009 Centennial Conference

Mental Health America’s Centennial Conference Explores Ways to Forge the Future of the Mental Health Movement

Mental Health America celebrated its Centennial with a star-studded gala, but also looked ahead to the future of the mental health movement at its Centennial Conference. This year’s event featured five plenary sessions that informed attendees on some of the top priorities of our organization, including mental health coverage for our veterans, cutting-edge research and treatment, the importance new Web 2.0 media communication in building the movement, and mental health’s position in health care reform.

Health Care Reform: Forging the Future & American's Opinions on Health Care
As Congress and the Obama Administration prepare to tackle a comprehensive overhaul of the health care system, the Centennial Conference featured two plenary sessions addressing what that might entail. Google Executive Bob Boorstin moderated a panel exploring Americans' attitudes on health care and reform. Bill McInturff, pollster for the McCain campaign; Michael Bloomfield, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of The Mellman Group; Lisa Davis of AARP's Divided We Fail Campaign; and Dr. Michael Hogan, Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health participated in the discussion.

“When the public thinks of ‘health care reform’ their thinking of its cost,” Davis said.

McInturff elaborated that 8 percent of Americans said they had to live with an untreated mental health condition because they couldn’t afford to seek help, citing a recent Kaiser Foundation poll. Of that 8 percent, 75 percent said the condition worsened as a result.

Another roundtable of political and health experts, including White House policy veteran Chris Jennings; Thomas Wilder of America's Health Insurance Plans; Ron Dozoretz, founder and CEO of ValueOptions; and JoAnn Volk, senior health care lobbyist at the AFL-CIO, examined the next steps for health care reform. The panel said that even though Mental Health Parity is now law, advocates must continue to play a role in the broader health care reform debate.

“I believe (mental health advocates) deserve and enormous amount of credit for their work on parity, because it sets you up for this broader discussion,” Jennings said.

Innovations in Research and Treatment

Once again, Mental Health America invited leaders to discuss the latest in research and treatment. The roundtable, featuring Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN moderated a discussion between Dr. Ronald Kessler, the world's most cited mental health researcher; former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, a founding member of the Council for American Medical Innovations; and Dr. Alan Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, advocated prevention as the next step in mental health.

"We are practicing 1950's cardiology; we are waiting for the heart attack," said Dr. Kessler. "Most of the (damage) is done way beyond after it happens."

The Next Generation of Mental Health: Leadership and Technology

The Next Generation of Mental Health plenary session featured a speech from Ross Szabo, author of Behind Happy Faces; Taking Charge of Your Mental Health and Director of Youth Outreach for the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign (NMHAC). Szabo also presented this year’s mpower award to 18-year-old advocate Taylor Carter. 

Szabo reinforced the idea that it is up to the next generation to harness momentum from past achievements and said that our first step must be talking about the issue.

“We don’t talk about emotions period,” Szabo said. “I believe this young generation can remove the stigma by talking about emotions. We just need the guidance of older generations to foster our generation. It is time to remove the stigma.  It is time to stop losing to mental illness.”

This plenary session also hosted a discussion on the importance of the Internet, and demonstrated just how important technology will be in the future of the mental health movement. Moderator Bob Redpath of Mental Health America and speakers Lawrence Patrick III of Inspire USA Foundation and David Nickelson of the American Diabestes Association identified  the “big 3” online marketing sites as Google, Facebook and Twitter, and added that the Internet might be the movement’s biggest ally in years to come.

“The Internet gives us all the opportunity to get in the conversation and turn volume of our message up really, really loud,” Patrick said.

Addressing the Mental Health Needs of America's Veterans

Mental Health America’s final roundtable focused on ensuring America’s veterans receive proper mental health coverage and treatment. Mark Benjamin, an award-winning reporter with Salon.com, moderated a panel that included Brig. General Lorree K. Suttton, director of the Defense Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury; Matt Kuntz, executive director of NAMI Montana and recognized by President Obama as one of 18 Ordinary Americans Who Have Made an Extraordinary Difference; and Rick Weidman of the Vietnam Veterans of America.

Weidman and Kuntz advocated for a recovery model in treating returning service members.

“Until we shift the paradigm from sickness to wellness it is not going to get better," Weidman said. 

Kuntz also said that the Montana National Guard has seen many advances by having military leaders promote help-seeking behavior.

Thank You to Our Sponsors!

Mental Health America would like to thank our sponsors for their generous support of our Centennial Conference and Gala.