It’s not so easy to see the connection between people and plants, and yet that connection is all around us. Plants are represented in our food, clothes, homes, medicines and even the air we breathe. However, this story is about what many people consider a deeper connection.

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The ACT model was born in the 1970s, in an early wave of de-institutionalization for some mentally ill patients. Research studies showed that a team approach was most helpful to patients making the transition to independent living. “We try to recreate the security and safety that they get in the hospital,” Carol VanderZwaag, MD, says. “You can’t take people who’ve been institutionalized and expect them to live their lives without help.”

The UNC PAWS program (Puppy Development Center) of the UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health trains puppies that become service dogs for veterans and others with disabilities.

The UNC PAWS (Peer-Assisted Wellness Support) shelter-to-pet program, which started at the farm in 2014, is on track to graduate its 11th dog by mid-July. Another 25 puppies have gone through the more recently established Puppy Development Center.

Providing a place to live, along with support services, for people with mental illness is the goal of a partnership that aims to begin building a small community of 200-square-foot “tiny homes” at The Farm at Penny Lane in Chatham County

The Center's ACT Team is piloting a new program that will fill an important gap in community-based treatment of individuals with severe mental illness in Orange and Chatham counties. A Medicaid-funded service that will be a subset of the current ACT team, the new Step-Down program will aid individuals as they transition from the high-intensity treatment of the ACT team to independent office-based care.

UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health launched a new evidence-based supported employment program for individuals with mental illness in June of 2014. The program recently received an exemplary rating by the NC Department of Health and Human Services.

Robin Reed, MD, MPH, assistant professor of psychiatry and director for the Center’s integrated care program, is the principal investigator for the four-year grant.

Tag: center-in-the-news

Healing Gardens

UNC therapy farm helping people with mental illness

Psychiatrists making house calls

The power of cute for mental health

UNC mental health clients, dogs grow and serve together at Penny Lane

Tiny Homes to house people with mental illness

Pilot Step-Down program fills a gap in transitioning ACT clients to lower intensity care

Supported employment program achieves early successes

SAMHSA Grant will allow the UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health to expand its integrated behavioral and primary care

Thanksgiving meal to be held for UNC mental health clinic clients, others

Dog training therapy program is win-win for clients and trainers

A call for help WRAL Documentary Interview John Gilmore, MD