Demonstration and Evaluation of Self-Direction in Mental Health
New Jersey
Opportunity
Working with partners at Applied Self Direction/National Resource Center for Participant-Directed Services and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the New York State Health Foundation with support from SAMHSA, we led an evaluation of mental health self-direction in six states, charting best practices and exploring its impacts at the individual and system level.
Approach
Charting best practice for self-direction
With research partners from Applied Self Direction, we conducted a formative process evaluation in six states to document implementation of the mental health self-direction model and develop guidelines for replication and sustainability. We used the RE-AIM framework to understand the Reach, Efficacy, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance of this model over time in different state contexts.
Fundamentally, self-direction recognizes that effective supports are not one-size-fits-all. Every person’s journey of recovery is unique.
Impact
According to our own preliminary findings and those of other researchers, self-direction has the potential to produce better outcomes that facilitate mental health recovery, including employment and housing stability, self-sufficiency, and engagement in mutual support and self-advocacy.
Related publications
- “Housing and Employment Outcomes for Mental Health Self-Direction Participants,” published online in the journal Psychiatric Services, May 2018
- “Mental health leadership perspectives on self-direction,” published online in the journal Social Work in Mental Health, December 2017
- “The emergence of mental health self-direction: An international learning exchange,” published in Psychiatric Services Open Forum, January 2017
- “Participants’ assessment of the impact of behavioral health self-direction on recovery,” published in the Community Mental Health Journal, February 2016
- An environmental scan of self-direction in behavioral health: Summary of major findings, project report