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HIV Positive Mental Health Consumer
Support Group Leadership Training
Background and Purpose
As one of the training projects of the former UIC National Research and
Training Center, the HIV+ Mental Health Consumer Support Group Leadership Training Manual builds upon two distinct yet complimentary trends in mental health and rehabilitation service delivery. The first
is consumer-to-consumer peer support offered by persons coping with psychiatric disability, and the second is the peer support and mutual assistance model commonly used among persons affected by
HIV/AIDS. This project explores the use of consumer peer support for HIV+ persons with psychiatric disabilities. A training manual currently is being developed to guide and support consumers who
wish to facilitate peer support groups for other HIV+ mental health consumers.
The Project
Support groups offer benefits to participants that span the spectrum
from medical, clinical and services knowledge, and practical advice to emotional support and an improved sense of well-being and quality of life. The many issues confronting mental health consumers, such
as stigma, medication compliance and interactions, symptomatology and illness exacerbation, and coping with a chronic disability are quite similar to those faced by people living with HIV/AIDS. Furthermore,
mental health consumers with HIV/AIDS must address issues specific to their "dual" status, such as interactions between psychotropic medications and HIV drugs, high risk behaviors related to
increased symptoms, and a paucity of integrated mental health and HIV/AIDS services for people with psychiatric disabilities.
As part of the initial stages of the project, a literature review has
been conducted with existing support group manuals, curricula, and other program materials from both the HIV and psychosocial rehabilitation fields. In addition, project staff have consulted with local, state,
and national HIV/AIDS and mental health organizations, community groups, and advocacy/empowerment centers involved in conducting peer support groups in order to obtain information about training programs and
on-going clinical support provided for consumer group leaders. With the knowledge gained from these materials and relevant contacts, topics which are being addressed in the project include:
- Outreach to potential members
- Publicizing the group
- Support group formation
- The group's purpose
- The length of time the group will meet
- Group members' composition
- The group leaders' characteristics
- The meeting context
- Stage of infection of group members
- Handling loss and grief
- Sources of support for group leaders.
The support group format can be used to address these concerns and offer
emotional support that comes from group interactions. In addition, the manual also will address common issues and important resources and support systems for group leaders. With the help of a
project Advisory Board, a training manual is being developed and reviewed.
Related Materials
The following related materials are available from our HIV/AIDS
Publications page:
- HIV/AIDS & People with Serious Mental Illness: Strategies for Service Providers Working with Mental Health Consumers
- Living with Psychiatric Disability and HIV/AIDS:
Mental Health Consumers
Speak for Themselves
For more information about this project, please email Lisa Razzano, Ph.D. or phone her at (312)422-8180 extension 20.
Project Staff
Lisa A. Razzano, Ph.D., Principal Investigator
Judith A. Cook, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator
Marie M. Hamilton, L.C.S.W
., Training & Curriculum Development Specialist
John Perry, M.A., Consultant
Dan Curley, M.A., Consultant
Project Advisory Board
Kate R. Donegan, Ed.D., Matrix Research Institute, Philadelphia, PA
Heather K. Horton, M.A., Thresholds Bridge Programs & The
University of Chicago
Karen McKinnon, M.A., Columbia University HIV Mental Health
Training Program, New York, NY
Christopher Mitchell, D.S.W
., UIC Jane Addams College of Social Work
Armando Smith, A.C.S.W., Teen Living Programs, Chicago, IL
Center for Mental Health Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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