+RECOVERY+SUPPORT+ TREATMENT +TRAUMA+FAITH+DISABILITY+
Dream it
+RECOVERY+SUPPORT+ TREATMENT +TRAUMA+FAITH+DISABILITY+ Dream it
Preliminary Research Themes From Data Coding
“I thank god for this program, and being in mental health.” - Participant Four
“I thank god for this program, and being in mental health.” - Participant Four
"I'm fighting my cancer fight." - Participant Five
"I'm fighting my cancer fight." - Participant Five
“Sometimes, we don't think about the consequences. I have learned that here."- Participant One
“Sometimes, we don't think about the consequences. I have learned that here."- Participant One
A total of six consumers from the CCBHC grant participated in Café Photovoice, a participatory action research project that put cameras in participants hands and encouraged them to visually capture their experiences with mental and physical health service use, access and barriers issues pertaining to the receipt of services and their satisfaction with service providers. Participants engaged in group and individual sessions and our facilitators used open ended questions to explore issues that were salient to their experiences. Our preliminary analyses of the transcripts point to themes of recovery [what it looks like] in the face of dealing with their mental health and other problems. Additionally, these themes encapsulated participants' lived experiences highlighting themes of the importance of social support, comprehensive treatment services for mental health, substance use, and physical health, as well as nature and the built environment.
RECOVERY
RECOVERY
“The only goal I have is, what helps me a lot is, always everyday I wake up with a mentality of carrying that responsibility, that I have to finish my house and stop taking (drinking).”
~Participant One
“I do my best to do the right thing. I stay on track, not drinking. And I thank god for this program, and being in mental health…”
~Participant Four
“I speak with a therapist every week.”
~Participant Six
“My goals are you know, to get my daughter back and have a decent life without alcohol.”
~Participant One
“I’m fighting my cancer fight.”
~Participant Five
TRAUMA
TRAUMA
“I sort of had a mental breakdown last year. I was in a bad spot in my immigration case. And I just didn’t know what to do. And a person that knew about my case recommended getting therapy, that's what I did. And it was very good. Well, my goal right now is, since I just got a job would be moving out of the shelter.”
~Participant Six
“I’ve been coming here since I was 14 years old, and the first time was because my mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia. She threw me out, so my friend’s mother—I went to stay with friend. I was only 14…”
~Participant Four
“…I was in the ‘93 bombings so when 9/11 hit, I was very ripped apart—diagnosed as PTSD on like September 10, 2001.”
~Participant Five
FAITH
FAITH
“…Now I am dedicating one hundred percent to being a different person and finishing my house…In two weeks I am going to install the windows, thank god.—My goal is this year I will work with the house and first God. I can’t touch any alcohol.”
~Participant Two
“I have a lot of faith in god, and thank god, and I have to include him in this survey, in this interview, because if I didn’t have faith, I don’t know where I’d be. God is good all the time. I mean, I say, “Let your will be done.” When I pray, I say, “Let your will be done.” And his will is—Can’t nobody change it. A man could say what they want to say, but when God has a plan…”
~Participant Four
COMPREHENSIVE TREATMENT
COMPREHENSIVE TREATMENT
“When it comes to the psychiatrist or social worker, and the social workers are all like kind of empathetic and good listeners—And I think the video visits are very, very good because I don’t have to expend the energy to go to the facility.”
~Participant Six
“Everything that I need they are willing to, you know, help me. Yeah.”
~Participant One
“It helps me then. I mean, I don’t feel under because I’m just the one who doesn’t speak English, no. If I speak and they translate it to me and I feel comfortable, then I open up. I open myself to talk…”
~Participant Three
“I get help with anything I need, help with the doctor, looking for a job, looking for new things to do. Even for school too.”
~Participant One
“You know what I got from this program? I got help, and therapy, and the substance abuse groups helped me a great deal. I can’t even—it’s priceless, you cannot put a price on it. Do you know what I mean?
~Participant Four
SOCIAL SUPPORT
SOCIAL SUPPORT
“I feel good coming, do you understand me? —I feel happy when they say hello because they are like family, right? I feel like a family and they listen.”
~Participant Three
“Yes, it works that gives us that motivation, that we talk between groups and the experience of each person, what they have lived, and what is good and bad, the consequences, that has helped a lot because one learns a lot from mistakes, so the reality, the consequences are what one learns a lot.”
~Participant Two
“Oh, I can talk to them about anything. Anything. I’ve seen myself in situations and it’s good to have a phone number you can call and say, “Look this is what’s going on, I don’t know what to do.” And I call and I talk to them and they call me back saying you’re doing the right thing as long as you don’t drink. Don’t worry. Everything is going to be fine.” These are words that you need to hear sometimes when you see situations.”
~Participant Four
“It’s real good when she (case manager) always answered my text messages and whenever I need something. I text her and she answer back. She don’t have me waiting.”
~Participant One
DISABILITY
DISABILITY
“I feel like in some cases when I was going to seek help, I was told to do something but when I got there due to my disabilities I was not able to keep up with normal pace.”
~Participant Five
“When I used to go to the food pantry, before Covid you could wait inside the room with your number and then as you were called you would give your ID and you would wait until it was your turn to go and get your bag of stuffs…I can’t see that fast and I can’t see depth, so it would be hard to pick ten potatoes— Or they would have a whole lot of egg plants and they would say take six of them. I would say what am I going to do with six egg plants? I can’t even see to cut them up. I always thought there was pressure. You get up to the line and you just had to do what everyone else had to do and you couldn’t make any adjustments. And you had to do it quickly. And that was impossible for me. After a while I couldn’t handle the stress of it. And then making the fresh food when I came home, that was overwhelming. So, I had to opt out of that program. ”
~Participant Five
“When I started the collage project I was scared because of my visual impairment, but once I printed out the photos, I was able to see things closer to my vision of what I could do. Once I did that everything fell into place.”
~Participant Five
NATURE+BUILT ENVIRONMENT
NATURE+BUILT ENVIRONMENT
“It’s about my recovery and being sober. You’re going to see my pictures, I was close to Central Park. So, you might see people sitting in the grass, people walking with flowers and by trees. It just fascinates me and it’s like soothing when I see this.”
~Participant Four
“I don’t have substance abuse. It’s mainly just mental problems. So most of my mental problems come from being overly obsessive and over thinking things—That’s why the squirrel picture resonates with me. And the nature picture. I like it because it helps me to calm down. A big reason for my obsessiveness and anxiety is being stuck in a stupid immigration system and just not knowing what tomorrow holds for me—So, this mural gives me hope.”
~Participant Six
“…How is this word? Do not throw away the garbage, then. I mean, there are tires that are there too—Don’t throw away the trash or be hygienic…it’s not something like they should do that, then throw away the garbage. And I think that’s a problem, all of this here. That’s a problem that is occurring. And it’s not good to have glass and all that, isn’t it?”
~Participant Three
“This (community garden) is a peaceful place after group. I come out of group, I pass by there sometimes. It’s a good place to sit and appreciate. You see ladies in the back sitting down under the trees. This photo says a lot to me.”
~Participant Four
“Because I am physically challenged, I have gotten used to traveling to places that are easiest with my walker. So the pictures I shot were all in places where I felt comfortable and safe. Smooth side walks, curb cuts, clear signage, and less crowded streets. The seasons were changing and the trees were singing with their true colors.”
~Participant Five