HopeX

Changing the world of mental health

HopeX is Miller-Dwan Foundation’s revolutionary three-phased response to eliminating the mental health crisis in our region.

Phase 1 Problem Management Plus (PM+) To effectively address our current mental health crisis, we must prioritize innovative solutions. This means challenging the status quo and creating new mental health programs that ensure timely and fair access to treatment. PM+ represents such a program. It will alleviate pressure on mental health resources by increasing access to those who can help individuals facing anxiety, depression, or stressful life problems— with the goal of intervening before those needing care hit a crisis point. This preventive mental health model will start right here in our region, with the aim of spreading throughout our state and the nation at large. It’s that big and that bold. A bold solution to our region’s mental health crisis.
Phases 2 & 3 Creating Added Resources The Miller-Dwan Foundation, in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Superior, has already identified priority needs in Douglas County including elevating peer support and focusing on gaps in mental health care for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities, as well as developing clear mental health workforce recruitment and retention strategies that include PM+. We will also enhance service offerings at Amberwing – Center for Youth & Family Well-Being to augment resources, support, and skill development for parents and families.

“The implications of waiting any amount of time for behavioral health care can compromise one’s functioning and quality of life.”

—Katie Onofreychuk, Essentia Health Operations Manager, Psychiatry

Hope X Phase I—Expanding the Workforce

Miller-Dwan Foundation, along with its national partners, has put the first phase of HopeX in motion with a program developed and tested by the World Health Organization called PM+ (Problem Management Plus).

Global and national research has shown that to see dramatic and positive change in the mental health of people throughout the community, care must be brought to people in the communities where they live, by people they trust and with whom they feel a sense of connection.

PM+ is more than peer support. It is a true, evidence-informed psychological intervention, supervised by licensed mental health clinicians. In its initial phase, lay-people, or paraprofessionals, from a variety of cultures and groups in our region will be trained to assist people with mild depression, anxiety, and stress. As those paraprofessionals build skills and proficiency they will train more people to do what they do and so on—building community connections people can turn to before they are in a mental health emergency.