Other Trunks

Beliefs

Assumptions

The Village's Designed Care Tree

• All people should have access to a full array of high quality, community based, integrated mental health services, regardless of ability to pay.

• Mental health consumers should be given the same opportunity for access to treatment of their mental illness as the victims of cancer, diabetes or other physical illness are given.

• Mental health services should be linguistically and culturally appropriate

• Consumers and their expressed needs come first. Consumers should "drive" a program through expression of personal interests, needs and goals.

• All services and approaches should be individualized based on the consumer’s needs and goals. The focus should be on the whole person and their capacities and abilities as an individual, rather than on their illness or disability.

• The goal of recovery for the mental health consumer should be full integration into all aspects of community life. Living, learning and working should be done via integration rather than segregation.

• Staff and consumer relationships should be grounded in mutual respect and equality. Adult-to-adult relationships should be established so as to minimize "professional distance."

• Mental health programs should not dismiss consumers for being "difficult" or "non-compliant."

• Program success should be measured by consumer quality-of-life outcomes.