Imagine an educational program consisting of personal stories, captured on video, that share firsthand experiences of our public mental healthcare system – past and present. This is the vision for our soon-to-be completed digital learning site, Unlocked: Stories of Public Mental Health Care.
Thank you for your interest and we are asking today for your help with the Last Push in the months ahead. Despite the wrenching challenges of the past year, we have made wonderful progress towards the completion of the Unlocked program and we are proud to share this short clip-reel of highlights from our new work. Take a look!
Our Mission
Students are taught little about the development of our public mental healthcare system and the impact of that history in shaping conditions we face today. To achieve person-centered, recovery-based care and promote approaches that rely on mutual respect, we believe it is necessary to address this serious gap in healthcare education.
It is our goal to see Unlocked available and in use any place healthcare is taught. The vivid and deeply personal stories at the heart of Unlocked have not been heard before. Using short movies, interviews, and multiple teaching resources, the Unlocked program brings to life the history of our mental healthcare system. challenging viewers to think beyond the scope of their own experience.
Online Learning
Part of what sets Unlocked apart is that it is ideal for both in-person and online learning. Especially today, with the widespread need for remote learning, we have seen the power of firsthand story-telling to engage students despite the barriers of distance.
Over the past year, Unlocked was successfully used in teaching second and fourth-year medical students at Hofstra University Medical School. Preliminary feedback from second-year students was overwhelmingly positive. Comments from fourth-year students expressed appreciation for hearing patient perspectives and learning about the history of public mental healthcare and policy.
Student Comments
“I think that this course should be integrated into the larger school of medicine curriculum as I strongly believe that learning about the history of mental healthcare in this country would be of great benefit.”
Fourth-year medical student, Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
“Thank you so much for creating this wonderful program that promotes knowledge of the past, hope for the future, and empathy for people suffering from mental illness!”
“It definitely furthered my education and complemented what we learn in medical school with historical and humanistic perspectives, which is really important. It got me thinking about why we do things the way we do in patient care nowadays, how that is influenced by what we’ve done in the past, and how the mistakes of the past can help us improve the future.”
NEXT STEPS AND HOW YOU CAN HELP
It’s our goal to complete website revisions and begin distribution in the coming year!
We are asking for your help to raise the $25,000 needed to cover the funds required for web development, video editing, and initial promotion.
Your tax-deductible donation will help us take these significant next steps and complete the ground-breaking work that Unlocked has already begun.
VISIT THE SITE
It is now possible to make an appointment to visit the Unlocked site! If you are interested, please contact us and we will schedule a presentation. See for yourself what we are up to.
With our heartfelt thanks for your interest and support.
Lucy Winer
Director/Producer
Who We Are
Project Directors: The site is being developed by award-winning documentary filmmaker and person of lived experience, Lucy Winer, and critically acclaimed author and Distinguished Professor of History at Stony Brook University, Nancy Tomes, PhD.
Partners: Project development and testing has been done in collaboration with four partners: University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing; The Columbia University Psychiatric Residency Program; The SUNY Stony Brook Department of History; and Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey (CSPNJ): A Peer Led, Statewide, Non-profit Organization.
Production Team: Without the talent, creativity and unflagging commitment of this team, this prototype would not exist. A special thanks to web developer GPowerHost, designer Sean-Michael Fleming, film editor Spiro C. Lampros, researcher and writer Michelle Spinelli, project manager Jennifer Avril, and production adviser Karen Eaton.
Advisers: This project is supported by a diverse team of advisers and consultants committed to recovery and person-centered care.
Funding: The creation of this prototype has been made possible by a generous grant from the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care, a U.S.-based community foundation with funders, grantees and volunteers from across the globe. The foundation envisions a world in which all people have hope, knowledge, tools, a sense of community and access to care to recover from mental health and trauma challenges. We connect donors from around the world to independent research projects and innovative programs that lead to recovery.
Questions?
If you have any questions, concerns or feedback, feel free to: