Consumer involvement is recommended for programs that serve people with experiences of homelessness, mental illness, trauma and/or substance use disorders. Consumer involvement is cited as instrumental for improving services and achieving recovery-oriented care. Some people believe that consumer involvement is a nice endeavor but it is not essential. What do you think?

Marlene Chandler From New Orleans

I Feel that involving the consumer is very important, it not only give you a sense of active experience but helps to save time in trying to assist someone who already have a large amount of knowledge about their issues and also resources that have already been tapped. Including the consumer is the most important part of the helping process

Marlene,

Hello and welcome to this forum! Thank you for your important comments. I am wondering if consumer involvement is happening in your agency? Also, what role do you think you can play in helping to integrate consumers into your agency?

Consumer involvement is essential in understanding how as a team we all can work together in helping the homeless. We currently utilize consumers some of whom were previously homeless in our outreach program.

I am the director of the Burlington County PATH program in NJ. We employe a part time Outreach Counselor who is also a consumer of MH services. She's been there - done that in a way most professionals cannot relate to. Her position was the first of many consumer-provider positions our agency now has. We now have such positions in our PATH, Supportive Housing, Crisis Residential, Family Reunification, Intensive Outpatient, and Screening and Crisis Intervention programs. Most of the positions have the purposes of engaging consumers in a way professionals cannot - and it works!

Gloria Dickerson, Recovery Specialist PATH TA Center
I want to thank you for your comments. As readers can see in the comments above that consumer involvement is happening and is valued in PATH services. Consumers involved in homeless services also bring up many issues. Consumer disclosure in the workplace is often discussed in national workshops on consumer involvement. I would like to know your opinion. What do you think of consumer disclosure in the work place?

My story begins with consumer involvement. I was living in the woods when PATH found me and the first thing they did was ask how they could help me. I was involved from the start although I didn't want help at the time. When I did decide I wanted help, they let me decide what I wanted to do and helped me decide the best route to take to ensure my recovery and encouraged me to volunteer and become active in helping others which helped me rebuild my self esteem and feeling of self worth by feeling important to others. I really believe consumer involvement can play an important role in anyones recovery because it calls on one to help others which in turn really helps themselves. I grow as I help others grow.
I think self disclosure is up to the individual but I believe it helps me to become a stronger person in many ways by discussing my issues with others and it can also be a useful tool. I am a peer support specialist and when I am working with a peer it helps to let them know that I have been through and have felt many things that they have experienced. When we share stories of our experiences we find a lot of common ground that helps form a bond of trust that is essential in helping others recover.