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A priority for public action:

Changing social norms

around behavioral health
Kana Enomoto
Principal Deputy Administrator
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
National Press Foundation
Washington, DC September 21, 2016

The Substance Abuse and

Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA)
is an Agency within the U.S.
Department of Health and
Human Services.

LEADING PUBLIC HEALTH EFFORTS TO

ADVANCE
THE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH OF THE NATION
MAIN ROLES

STRATEGIC INITIATIVES

Leadership & Voice

Surveillance, Data Collection &

Reporting

Prevention of Substance Abuse

and Mental Illness

Health Care and Health

Systems Integration

Trauma and Justice

Recovery Support

Health Information Technology

Workforce Development

Practice Improvement
Public Awareness/Education
Regulation/Guidelines
Strategic Grant-Making

SAMHSA IS DELIVERING
IMPACT

340 People Diverted

SUDs: 105 people (31%)
Co-occurring Disorders: 184 people
(54%)
SMI: 51 people (15%)

Recidivism
Rates
!
60%

SAMHSA BUDGET

FY2017 PB
proposes $4.3 B
investment in
SAMHSA

+$590M

LOOKING AHEAD:
2017 Budget Priorities

Engaging Individuals with

Serious Mental Illness in Care

Addressing the Opioid Crisis

Preventing Suicide

Maintaining the Behavioral

Health Safety Net

In 2015, 55 million peopleone

out of five adultsmet the criteria
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for a mental illness or substance
use disorder.

Only 39 percent
of them received
services.

Why arent more

Americans seeking care
for their
behavioral health
problems?

What do Americans
think and feel about
their behavioral
health?

They believe they have

control over their mental
health (62% a great
deal/32% fair)

They are less likely to

seek professional medical
help for depression and
more likely to handle it
themselves

Denial and shame are the

top barriers for seeking
help from a medical
professional

They believe depression

is not as common or as
harmful as other
conditions such as
obesity, cancer and heart
disease

Some believe mental

illness and drug
abuse/alcoholism can be
a sign of personal
weakness

They care about issues of

mental health and drug
treatment, but at a lower
level than other issues

They believe there is a

link between mental
health and gun violence

Hyde, P. S. & Enomoto, K. What is Behavioral Health

Worth? 2015 Jan-Feb; 130(1): 69.

Science of
Changing Social
Norms
Initiative

A multi-year project designed to raise

the profile of behavioral health and
make the case that Americans can
and should do more to address these
important public health issues.

LESSONS LEARNED
Successful efforts focus
on a particular
audience, give that
audience a particular
action, and saturate it
with their message.

Reaching Your
Audience Through
Paid Advertising
Television is the best channel
to reach a high # of target
audience.

Content integration
embedding messages about health
into storylines of shows that are
already on the air.

GenX (Truth 1.0)

Millennials (Truth
2.0)

Anti-establishment
and idealistic

Emphasize social
responsibility, more
cautious, more likely
to live and let live

Smoking was
ubiquitous (both
socially and in the
media)

Smoking is much less

ubiquitous

TV and movies were

the primary ways of
engaging with
messages

Many more ways to

consume, share and
engage with
messages (social
media, web)

ENDING DISCRIMINATION
Sponsored by HHS, the
National Academies of
Sciences, Engineering and
Medicine report calls for a
coordinated multi-decade
national effort to reduce
negative attitudes and behavior
toward people with mental and
substance use disorders.

PROMISING APPROACHES TO
REDUCE DISCRIMINATION

Source: Ending Discrimination Against People With Mental and Substance Use Disorders: The Evidence for Stigma Change

The media can influence

how the public thinks
about behavioral health.

Comparison of Coverage: Top 7

Newspapers

5% NY Times stories link MH and violence

11% of Pittsburgh Post Gazette link MH and violence

Why?

Source: Eric Goplerud, Ph.D.; Mental Health Coverage in the US News Media: A new tool for advocacy .

Source: Eric Goplerud, Ph.D.; Mental Health Coverage in the US News Media: A new tool for advocacy
.

What can you

do to make
behavioral
health part of
the national
discussion?

Love Has No Labels

FOR MORE INFORMATION

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SAMHSA Website
www.samhsa.gov
SAMHSA Grants & Programs
www.samhsa.gov/grants
www.samhsa.gov/programs-campaigns
National Survey on Drug Use and Health
http://www.samhsa.gov/data/
National Institute of Mental Health
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/index.shtm

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

https://niaaa.nih.gov/
National Institute on Drug Abuse
https://www.drugabuse.gov/