Self-Determination and Self-Directed Care

2019 Self-Directed Care Calendar

Our 2019 edition of our yearly calendar is based on community participation as a medical necessity. The Temple University Collaborative recently conducted a study in which participants met with a recovery coach to develop their recovery goals and identify activities they were interested in that facilitated their mental health and wellness. The recovery coach and participants then worked together to submit requests for the resources to a managed care company for approval. Each request was assessed for medical necessity and was approved or denied based on whether or not the participant justified the request to improve his or her recovery. Once these requests were approved, participants received “freedom funds,” which they used to purchase the resource they had requested. This calendar features actual resource requests from participants to give you inspiration in creating your own ideas for enhancing mental health and wellness.

A Guide to Creating Self-directed Care Programming

The Temple University Collaborative partnered with the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania on a manual that provides a detailed review of a novel and successful self-directed care program that is currently being offered in Pennsylvania. The program is delivered by peer specialists who serve as recovery coaches to help individuals establish and support new goals for their participation in community life and get access to funds to help pay for related goods and services. The manual contains materials within the appendix that local agencies can use to replicate this initiative, including intake procedures, goal planning and program monitoring forms, and evaluation instruments.

Advanced Self Advocacy Plan – A Guidebook

The ASAP Guidebook is a companion to the Advanced Self Advocacy Plan, which  addresses mental health planning needs in a simple, inviting, and easy-to-use format. It discusses inpatient treatment options, and contains information about keeping personal responsibilities – finances, employment, education, mail, the care of children, etc. – on track during periods of crisis or hospitalization.

Advanced Self Advocacy Plan – A Planning Document

The Advance Self-Advocacy Plan (ASAP) is an easy-to-use customizable plan for people who want to create a Psychiatric Advanced Directive or Mental Health Crisis Plan. It is a practical and use-friendly tool that can be used by people with mental illnesses to keep them ‘in the driver’s seat’ with regard to their own psychiatric care and personal life – even in times of psychiatric crises.

In The Driver’s Seat: A Guide to Self-Directed Mental Health Care

Self-directed care programs in the mental health field allow consumers to better control the use of public dollars on the psychiatric treatment and rehabilitation services they receive.  This brief document answers key questions about self-directed care, providing definitions, models, and programmatic guidelines.

Psychiatric Advance Directives: Pros, Cons, and Next Steps

Psychiatric Advance Directives are documents that provide an individual with psychiatric disabilities with the opportunity, when healthy, to express their treatment preferences with they are not well.  These materials discuss the pros and cons associated with the use of PADs, and offers tips and additional resources for those who use PADS or implement PADs for others.

What is Self-directed Care?

This document provides a description of the Self-directed care is a way of managing mental health services that puts people with mental health issues in charge of how their mental health funds are spent. In a traditional care model, the options are limited to standard mental health services like case management, day programs, or seeing a psychiatrist. Self-directed care allows the person getting care to have a say not just in how their funds are used, but what their options might be.