Empowerment effects of teaching leadership skills to adults with a severe mental illness and their families

As consumers become proficient with advocacy skills, they are better able to impact the planning and provision of mental health and support services at the state and local levels. A Leadership Academy was conducted in Idaho to teach the basic skills necessary for adults with a mental illness and family members to become effective leaders in grassroots advocacy organizations. Participants learned to identify issues and develop and implement action plans to address those issues within the context of their local communities. While the first three sessions of the Academy were facilitated by professional instructors, the last two were led by consumers and family members who had graduated from the Academy. In the course of five sessions in three years, 160 consumers and family members graduated from the Leadership Academy. In a 27 months period, graduates took 1,345 action steps to address issues of concern, with 400 outcomes, ranging from the establishment of a speakers bureau to starting a respite facility.