Insuring health in America is an ever-evolving prospect. For the past 30 years, health insurance has transitioned from traditional indemnity insurance companies to the early HMO system.

Today, managed care focuses on health and wellness through person-centered care and evidence-based best practices that deliver positive outcomes for members. The emphasis on best practices and person-centered care includes integrating physical and behavioral healthcare. In a recent study, people with depression received integrated treatment in a primary care setting from both the primary care physician and a behavioral health provider. The result was dramatic: 74 percent of the people with major depression in the integrated treatment plan showed significant symptom reduction while only 44 percent of patients who had physician treatment and referral to mental health services at a separate site showed similar improvement.¹ Integration, or collaborative care as it is sometimes called, is not a new topic in healthcare. But only recently have managed healthcare organizations maximized the opportunity for integration available in combined physical and behavioral healthcare programs by taking an active role in supporting integrated health interventions.

Studies have also demonstrated that integrating healthcare is a cost-effective approach. This is due, in part, to increased opportunities for individuals to address behavioral health and physical health concerns simultaneously. This reduces overuse of medical services, which reduces healthcare costs over time.² For people with chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, the cost savings maybe even greater—and so may the opportunity to increase wellness.

Knowing that integrated care produces better outcomes for consumers and is more cost effective, Cenpatico has developed intensive case management programs customized to each market we serve. These programs work with our Centene affiliated health plans or external managed care organizations (MCOs) to support and develop integrated care plans for consumers with chronic physical and behavioral health conditions. Through outreach to consumers and community providers, we have successfully coordinated care across systems by building relationships with community care agencies, facilities, federally qualified community health centers (FQHCs) and community mental health centers (CMHCs). These efforts help us to better identify and coordinate the overall care of our members. In addition, our collaborative efforts to remove barriers to treatment work to advance continued recovery for consumers, and are the core of our integrated efforts.

Cenpatico provides innovative solutions for our healthcare system that are intended to increase integration of care. We work with both behavioral and physical health provider agencies to remove financial and administrative barriers for providers, which will improve access to integrated healthcare for consumers. We will continue to develop strategies to support evidence based best practices that produce better outcomes for consumers, and provide cost effective results for the healthcare delivery systems we manage.

Marianne Burdison, Director, Business Development

and Cyndi Campbell, Manager, Business Development

¹Katon, W., Von Korff, M., Lin, E., et al (1995) Collaborative management to achieve treatment guidelines: impact on depression in primary care. JAMA, 273, 1026 –1031.
²Levant, R. F., House, A. T., May, S., & Smith, R. (2006). Cost offset: Past, present, and future. Psychological Services, 3, 195-207. doi: 10.1037/1541-1559.3.3.195

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I have a gripe: as a psychiatrist, I just don’t care for the term “Eating Disorders.” It is just so general and does not do justice to the psychological and physical problems that often lie beneath these different and serious disorders. It really just describes the end result; a person who eats too much or too little to the extreme. Often a person may have just started out by eating smaller or larger amounts of food. But after a while, it gets beyond their control and they eat so little, or so much, that they not only pose a danger to their health but to their very life. Here are some of the most common examples:

Anorexia Nervosa – These are usually (but not always) teenage or young adult females who eat so little that they are at risk of starvation and even death. They can have low blood pressure, brittle hair, thinning bones and heart failure, among a whole host of other physical symptoms.

The real problem here is a distorted body image. Even when they have dieted, vomited, used laxatives and exercised to the point of being only skin and bones, they still see themselves as “fat.” That makes this a body image disorder, and nothing that one says or does can change their minds. Treatment is often long and very difficult, and the object is to help these people gain enough weight to keep them alive and healthy. Fortunately most actually outgrow this illness, but some can have it off and on for a lifetime. And sadly, for a few, Anorexia can actually be fatal since they never learn to accept their body as being “normal” at a weight necessary to sustain life.

Bulimia Nervosa – This is usually quite different from Anorexia. Here an individual has the sense of a loss of control. A person eats an unusually large amount of food, and then often feels guilty about it. That leads to them secretly compensating for such a huge intake by vomiting, using laxatives, fasting and/or exercising to excess. This can also lead to serious problems such as severe tooth decay, dangerous electrolyte imbalances and stomach abnormalities.

The treatment here is frequently psychotherapy and helping a person regain a sense of control, not only of eating, but of their life in general. Other psychological disorders, such as depression, can also be present and need to be addressed in order for treatment to be successful. Medications can often be very useful here.

There are other eating disorders such as Binge Eating, which is similar to Bulimia, but the person does not try to compensate for the over-eating and is often quite obese. This is also a type of loss of control where finding the underlying psychological reasons for the eating behaviors can be very useful.

Lastly, one should not forget overeating, a national health disaster. According to the National Health and Nutrition Survey of 2001-2004, two-thirds of adult Americans are overweight and one-third are obese — figures that have only gotten worse in the previous six years. Overeating can lead to diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, osteoarthritis, some forms of cancer and many, many other physical problems that can ultimately lead to a premature death. Here, dieting is not the answer, and it generally does not work as the weight, and often more weight than before, is almost always regained.

Leading a better lifestyle, such as eating more quality foods — including whole grains, fresh vegetables, and fruit, etc. — eating in moderation, exercise and adequate sleep can go a long way in solving this American health crisis.

National Eating Disorder Awareness Week continues through Saturday. If you would like to find out more information on Eating Disorders, I highly recommend the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) website at: www.nimh.nih.gov. You can also call them toll-free at 1-866-615-6464 or email them at nimhinfo@nih.gov.

Bernard Engelberg, M.D.
Cenpatico Medical Director

These are the views of  Bernard Engleberg, M.D. and not those of Cenpatico.

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I had the privilege to attend the 90th Annual Meeting of the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) from Jan. 24-28 in Washington, D.C. The CWLA is the oldest and largest membership-based child welfare organization in the United States and a prominent leader in advocacy, policy, research and service for this population.

Also attending this conference were approximately 800 private and public agencies and their administrators and various providers, advocates, researchers and students, among others. The five-day event allowed for non-stop opportunities for me to network with others from across the country and to learn about programs in other states. This was my second trip to this conference, so I was familiar with the schedule and knew to wear my comfortable shoes and to take lots of business cards with me for sharing.

As most of my colleagues know, I love talking about our experiences with the Texas Foster Care program, and I am always full of questions for representatives from other states to gauge where we are and what we can learn to improve our program.

This year, the conference consisted of four “mini summits,” each with a series of five workshop sessions on a focused area of practice, including Leadership, Residential Treatment, Juvenile Justice Systems Integration and Early Childhood Mental Health.

The Residential summit was of particular interest in that we have approximately 1,500 members in residential treatment in Texas and transitions between residential and community care can be very challenging.  We also have concerns about identifying behavioral or mental health disorders in young children to refer them to appropriate treatment.  Likewise, many of our children have involvement with Juvenile Justice, and the network of services is the same for both populations. Each of these areas a critical for program designs for foster care.

I began the week by attending a “Professional Institute” on Sunday. This Institute was an introduction to the Building Bridges Initiative sponsored by SAMHSA that was started several years ago through a grant to “strengthen partnerships between community and residentially based service providers, policymakers, advocates, families and youth.” The initiative “seeks to improve integration, collaboration and innovation and promote best practices that will lead to positive outcomes for children and families.” The work done through this initiative has a great deal of applicability to our Texas program as we have participated in a Texas Public Private Partnership group focused on the top-20 youth in the Texas system that have had difficulty maintaining stability in residential treatment and the community.

Probably the most impactful presenter was a young man who was sent from his home in a large Midwest city to a residential program in Arkansas for most of his teen years. He has since graduated from college, earned his master’s degree and is now an administrator of a mental health program. This young man made a moving presentation on how it feels as a youth to be in a residential program far from family and supports with rules and programs that seem to not have an individual correlation to what the youth needs to improve to return home or to become independent. I look forward to sharing these presentations with my colleagues at the Public Private Partnership in Texas and within the STAR Health program.

I came away from the conference reaffirmed that we all share the responsibility of promoting positive outcomes in an integrated, comprehensive child- and family-focused manner.  Foster Care happens within a system that has many stakeholders.  Behavioral Health is a key stakeholder, but in order for us to be successful in promoting resiliency and recovery we must integrate our services with the rest of the system.  This requires relationships with all of the other stakeholders and understanding of their role within the member’s life.

For anyone who would like more in-depth information on the conference, please contact me at mmcmann@centene.com or at 512-406-7253.

Marsha McMann
Director, Foster Care

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As we begin a New Year, it is important for us to take the time to look back on the events of a year that has gone by quickly. Some of these reflections will no doubt bring to mind some wonderful and incredible memories such as the time we were able to spend with family and friends, or celebrating the birth of a child or remembering how you got that job or promotion you’ve been working so hard toward. Or maybe you said “I do” to the one you love or went on the vacation for which you had been saving for months and months. Maybe you finally reached that weight-loss goal you had been shooting for since the last time New Year’s came around.

Unfortunately, for many of us, this past year may have also included some difficult and challenging times.

But as we look forward to this New Year, it is even more important to reflect on the changes we want and need to make, and to make sure that we follow through on those changes.

To that end, it is now time to begin creating your New Year’s Resolutions. What are your goals personally and/or professionally? Have you created a plan to achieve your resolutions/goals? What can you do to keep the momentum going with sticking to your resolutions?

For many of us, one of the top New Year’s resolutions is to exercise more. Of course, for the first few weeks in January, we are in the gym several times a week along with everyone else that made the same resolution. Then, February and March roll around and the number of people in the gym fades – no more waiting around for a treadmill machine to be available, no more crowded exercise classes. So, what happened to everyone’s resolutions?

Here are a few tips to help keep you on track with your goals for the upcoming year:

Write Down your Resolution(s)

• Make sure your resolutions are meaningful & important to you

Create a Plan (be sure to write it down)

• Make sure your resolutions/goals are reasonable & attainable – losing 30 pounds in two weeks is probably not a reasonable one.
• Establish timeframes and deadlines
• Monitor and track your progress

Think “Year ‘Round”

• Rome wasn’t built in one day. Accomplishing your resolutions won’t happen in one day, either. Yes, it may take only a day or two to determine your resolutions but there are many steps that happen throughout the year to successfully achieve them.

Be Flexible

• Life has a funny way of throwing curve balls at us unexpectedly. You must be prepared to revise your plan, and sometimes it may even require changing the goal. For example, if your plan is to lose weight but you find out you’re pregnant, you’re going to have change that goal around. The new goal might be to eat healthier, exercise more, etc.

A few of my New Year’s Resolutions are to improve my balance between work/life – I want to spend more time at home with my family; help more people by donating to various charitable organizations and/or volunteer more of my time at community events; obtain the Strategic Professional Human Resource (SPHR) certification; and last, but not least, I simply want to Enjoy Life More!

Life is a precious gift. Take the time to take care of and pamper yourself. If you don’t, it will have a negative impact on your happiness and health. As a result, this will affect your family, friendships and productivity at work.

What are your New Year’s Resolutions? I encourage you to follow these steps to help you successfully achieve your own resolutions for 2010. Good Luck!

Larissa Sutton

Human Resources Manager

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We at Cenpatico can look forward to 2010 with the benefit of another year’s worth of experiences and lessons learned that continue to allow us to provide our stakeholders, providers and members with the best possible managed behavioral healthcare.

From new acquisitions to new innovations, Cenpatico’s various experiences ran the gamut in 2009. In association with Centene, our parent company, and our affiliated health plans, 2009 has seen us begin to offer services in three new markets, and we now serve members in all of our markets with an improved, more wide ranging array of services than ever before.

“We were very busy this past year. We did a platform migration in Ohio, fully implemented Florida and implemented in South Carolina and Massachusetts,” said Cenpatico Chief Operating Officer Len Whyte.  “A lot of effort went into this because of the simultaneous nature of it.

“We had a lot of parallel processes going on at the same time, and I’m really proud of the fact that all of them were done with a high quality and functioned appropriately when we went live,” Whyte added.

A New Addition
Not only did Cenpatico open business in several new markets, we expanded our services to include speech therapy services via an acquisition by Cenpatico in the school-based division, Cenpatico School Products.

As of July 1, Cenpatico acquired InSpeech, Inc., an Arizona-based practice of Speech/Language Therapists who contract with school systems to provide services to eligible student populations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

“We bought InSpeech really to compliment what we are doing in the schools with our Cenpatico School Products line,” Whyte said. “And yet, it has opened some doors for other opportunities for us.”

InSpeech is a dynamic practice of speech-language professionals who work, learn and grow together while serving the needs of a broad range of clients in a multitude of settings.

“It’s very exciting to have an opportunity with a new product line that expands the range of services we are able to offer,” added Whyte.

Committed to Quality
In every market, Cenpatico worked to maintain and improve the quality of care offered by our provider networks while also expanding access to recovery supporting services for all of our members. In 2009, our Quality Improvement department conducted five quality improvement studies. Three of the initiatives were clinical and the other two initiatives examined administrative processes.

“In each of the five studies, we are happy to report we have achieved a statistically significant improvement in the care and services delivered to our members and providers,” said Suzanne Feay RN CPHQ, Director of Quality Improvement.

Cenpatico is also continuing toward accreditation by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), a year-long process that is expected to conclude in March 2010. Along with the rest of the Cenpatico staff, Feay, who is spearheading the project, knows how vital NCQA accreditation will be for the company’s future.

“It’s a measure of commitment from the organization that we are committed to having quality business,” Feay said. “Accreditation in NCQA will push us to a new level of excellence and commitment to quality in the managed care market.”

While we will continue to look back at these and many other experiences from a successful year gone, we at Cenpatico maintain a sense of excitement at what is to come in 2010, when we will work harder than ever before to provide our members, providers and stake holders with the best possible managed behavioral healthcare.

“I’m so proud that our company is excelling in all operational areas,” said Cenpatico Chief Executive Officer Sam Donaldson, PhD. “We are delivering the most appropriate care and support for recovery to consumers, with high satisfaction rates from consumers, state and health plan customers, providers and our employees. Every day we demonstrate the value of a managed behavioral healthcare company in achieving, supporting and maintaining behavioral health Recovery, Resiliency and Results.”

From all of us here at Cenpatico, best wishes for the New Year.

Jimmy Donovan

Web Administrator

This is the final of three reports in a series detailing Cenpatico’s 2009 Year-in-Review. Please see below for links to the other releases.

Title                                                        Release Date
Part I – Taking the Clinical Initiative — Monday, December 28, 2009
Part II – Improving Provider Relations — Monday, January 4, 2010
Part III – Recovery. Resiliency. Results. — Friday, January 8, 2010

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Throughout the past few years, and specifically in 2009, Cenpatico has worked unceasingly to offer its providers with the best possible service, specifically in terms of claims processing. Heading that charge has been Cenpatico’s Director of Operations Implementation, Amy Onest, with the support of various other departments.

“Because of the interventions my team has done over the past two-and-a-half years, we are now in a position where claims are going out the door faster and more accurately,” Onest said. “All problems haven’t been eliminated, but they have been significantly reduced.”

And the proof is in the pudding. In a year-end survey of provider satisfaction, overall satisfaction with being a network practitioner for Cenpatico increased from 76.4% to 86.8%.

“This increase reveals how hard Amy’s team has worked this past year, in getting the systems improved so we pay claims better,” said Cenpatico Chief Operating Officer Len Whyte.

“The best provider relations in the world can’t make a provider happy if we don’t pay their claims,” added Onest.

In 2009, Cenpatico paid its claims with more accuracy than ever. For example, two years ago, claims received needed to be manually reworked at a ratio of 95 per 1,000. By the end of 2009, that ratio was expected to be only 37 per 1,000.

“Len [Whyte] gave us the objective of making the system work lights out, to where if we turned off the lights and walked out the door, the system would work perfectly,” Onest said. “And for two years, we’ve been working towards that.”

Onest expected that, by Dec. 31, 2009, Cenpatico will exceed industry standards in all areas of its claims processing. It’s an achievement that looks even more impressive when considering that, from 2007 through the end of 2009, Cenpatico will have seen its claims received more than double from fewer than 500,000 to more than 1 million.

Jimmy Donovan

Web Administrator

This is the second of three reports in a series detailing Cenpatico’s 2009 Year-in-Review. Please see below for links to the other releases and a complete release schedule:

Title                                                        Release Date
Part I – Taking the Clinical Initiative — Monday, December 28, 2009
Part II – Improving Provider Relations — Monday, January 4, 2010
Part III – Recovery. Resiliency. Results. — Friday, January 8, 2010

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In the clinical arena, 2009 was a year of innovation for Cenpatico.

“We manage many different markets and lots of different products,” said Vice President of Clinical Operations Cindy Peterson LCSW. “We recognize there is no one-size-fits-all from a clinical perspective.”

Among the many initiatives that were put in place and/or piloted this year, the Caring Voices cell phone program in Ohio was undoubtedly one of the most successful.

“In every one of our other markets where we’ve identified the need, we have gotten a few phones out. But it really seemed in Ohio that there was more of a need” for Caring Voices, Peterson said. “The reception from our consumers to this program has already been incredibly positive in this short period.”

More than 100 qualified consumers were served through Caring Voices in Ohio. Each of them received a preprogrammed cell phone that included predetermined phone numbers from both their clinical support system, including their primary care and behavioral health providers and other professional contacts, and their community support system.

“We give a cell phone to consumers that we think are struggling to stabilize,” said Peterson, who also noted that the idea was originally conceived in one of Cenpatico’s sister health plans under the Centene umbrella for selected perinatal consumers. “We conscripted their idea and said, ‘Let’s try that with behavioral health.’ And we’ve had as much or more success with it.”

Another of our clinical innovations in 2009 was the Discharge Tool Kit.

“One of the things we noted is that when you leave a medical facility, you get these huge packets of information,” Peterson said. “But when people leave the psychiatric hospital, they really weren’t receiving anything besides a piece of paper for a follow-up appointment.”

With the Discharge Tool Kit, Cenpatico’s members can count on leaving their respective stays in psychiatric hospitals with the educational information that can help them stay resilient and informed about their respective illnesses. The kit will let the consumer know they are not alone in their individual battles while also decreasing the likelihood of a return trip to the hospital. For children, Cenpatico provides a Build-a-Bear and a Wal-Mart gift card when the child attends their follow-up appointment. In addition, there is an educational book for children written by Cenpatico’s own staff in both English and Spanish.

“The book is about how to express yourself, and the feelings you have and create,” Peterson said. “We’ve received a lot of letters from families telling us what an impact [the Discharge Tool Kit] has made.”

The Kit has passed through various state approval processes, and in the past month, members began receiving these materials following hospital stays.

Jimmy Donovan

Web Administrator

*This is the first of three reports in a series detailing Cenpatico’s 2009 Year-in-Review. Please see below for a complete release schedule:

Title                                                        Release Date
Part I – Taking the Clinical Initiative — Monday, December 28, 2009
Part II – Improving Provider Relations — Monday, January 4, 2010
Part III – Recovery. Resiliency. Results. — Friday, January 8, 2010

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As we struggle with shopping lists and invitations, compounded by December’s bad weather, it is good to be reminded that there are people in our lives who are worth this aggravation, and people to whom we are worth the same.
– Donald E. Westlake

To many people holidays are not voyages of discovery, but a ritual of reassurance.
– Philip Andrew Adams

As I enter into what will be my 52nd holiday season, I find myself to be constantly  reminded of the importance of ritual in our lives. Life is not easy; it is inherently chaotic, unpredictable and certainly not completely within our control. By any measure you use, life is inherently unfair.

Human beings have needed to develop rituals to bring some sense of stability in our lives, in an effort to at least try to impose some sense of order.  For example, have you ever tried to do something as simple as changing the order of tasks you do in the morning?  Do it sometime and you will have a very concrete example of the importance of those rituals, and just how important it is that they be done in an exact order.

It isn’t simply because we will forget to brush our teeth and feed our children if we don’t do this morning ritual.  It is really about waking out of the chaotic state of dreams and slumber and facing a stretch of time that is a new day, still formless, often with many challenges and demands.  In short, rituals of all forms and fashions ground us and help strengthen us to go forward each day.

I find, like many people, that the stretch from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day can feel overwhelming.  People report feeling stressed, and I’m among those that complain about the shopping, social events, putting on weight and travel. Yet, interestingly enough and in spite of the public’s perception, suicide rates are lower throughout this time of year, and fewer people access mental health services. This supports the idea that whatever stress this time of year imposes on us, the security and reassurances of these rituals comfort us more than we know.

As the quote above describes, the holidays, and all the rituals they bring, are a reassurance that we can count on some things to help us stabilize our lives, and, perhaps more importantly, give us concrete assurance that we are loved by others.  These rituals of the holiday season, year after year, remind us that we are not alone in this challenging existence, and that because of other people, life is worth the aggravation.

From all of us at Cenpatico to all of you, our consumers, customers and providers, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Sam Donaldson, Ph.D.
President & CEO, Cenpatico LLC

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It is hard to believe, but here we are in the eleventh month of 2009 and the busy holiday season is about to be upon us.  Before we become engrossed in all of the festivities, let us each take a moment to reflect on the important work that we are a part of at Cenpatico.

November is Children’s Mental Health Month and a time of Thanksgiving.  Therefore, I want to take this opportunity to express my thanks to all of our providers, caregivers and dedicated behavioral health staff to making the world a better place for the over one million children who are our members. It is important to remember that everything we do from the time we read our first email of the day, process a claim, run a report, take a phone call or attend a meeting, we are engaged in a process with the goal of providing needed services to vulnerable people, many of them children.

While our industry is taking a hit in the media as of late, it is my belief that we can be very proud of the work that we are doing.  Our time, energy and the majority of our resources are spent ensuring that members access good care and making sure that our providers are paid appropriately for doing so.  We know that services and supports for our members is what facilitates recovery and that behavioral health issues need not be life-limiting.

I am particularly grateful at this time for our providers who are the closest to our members and carry out some of the most important work imaginable.  I experienced this in a very personal way in the last month when a dear friend of almost 30 years and Cenpatico provider in our Kansas market, died unexpectedly.  At his memorial service the room was packed with people whose lives were changed by this dear man.  Most touching were the numbers of young people who came forward to pay tribute to a clinician who they felt literally saved their lives by listening, providing counsel and direction and most important, by inspiring hope.  They told of a man who went above and beyond the therapy session to intervene with caseworkers, teachers, employers to advocate for them.   The impact of his work was not celebrated on a daily basis and he did not seek recognition for it.  However, his legacy lives on in the thousands of lives he impacted through his work.   It is my hope that we can all feel that we are a part of such work as well.  So thank you all, for your dedication and hard work for our members.  Throughout the county people are better off today because of you.

Marsha McMann MSW

Director of Foster Care STAR Health

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October 10th marked the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Walk in Austin, TX. As part of the Cenpatico Team, a major sponsor of the walk, I was proud of what we had done up to that point. We had set a company wide goal of raising $5000. By the morning of the walk we had obliterated that goal, raising over $7500.

Still that was only the first step. As important as raising money is, what makes the NAMI Walk even more special is the second, and more important step; the walk itself. The picture created by a crowd of people walking down the street can be just as, if not more powerful than any monetary donation.

The reason NAMI has this walk is to create that picture because one of NAMI’s goals is to raise awareness and end stigma.

Stigma is, in a better word: Fear.

Stigma and fear are dangerous barriers because they cast such giant shadows. They cast shadows over those who suffer from a mental illness stopping them from getting help. They cast shadows over loved ones of the sufferer. They cast shadows over the community as it causes those that don’t understand to shun, to pre-judge, to turn away, or to ignore. Stigma and fear cast a shadow far greater than any illness itself.

Seasons in Austin, TX don’t consist of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. They consist of hot and cold. On the morning of Saturday October 10 it was the cold that greeted the city; the first to really hit Texas. As I parked my car and started to walk to the gathering point, (while wearing shorts no less) I started to wonder how many people of the hundreds expected would show up. It would have been very easy to pull up the covers in bed.

But what greeted me when I reached the starting line was anything but cold. What was there were things much warmer and much stronger: Hope, Drive, and Togetherness.

Already before dawn participants had started to arrive, bringing along friends, family, and pets. By the time the walk had started hundreds of people had arrived to take part.
All of us there for the same purpose: to show how easily stigma and fear can be defeated.

On the walk itself, I looked around at my fellow walkers sharing smiles and hugs, holding signs, walking side by side in what could be better described as a parade than a walk. There was no stigma here; no fear.

We all proudly walked the streets downtown up to the capitol building. The walk past the government building brought thoughts of another politician; President Franklin D. Roosevelt whose words rang true for the message us walkers conveyed that day. “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.”

As I finished the walk and sat to eat with my fellow walkers, I noticed something else. That something was missing through the whole morning and afternoon….no shadows.

Hope. Drive. Togetherness. It is these that lead to the three most important words in mental illness: Recovery. Resiliency. Results.

Tags: behavioral, celebration, community, health, hope, illness, mental, mental illness, NAMI, recovery, resiliency, results, walk
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