Heart Forward Conversations from the Heart
The American mental health system is broken beyond repair. Rather than trying to tweak a system which fails everyone, it is time to commit to a bold vision for a better way forward. This podcast explores the American system against the plumb line of an international best practice, recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), in Trieste, Italy. The 40-year old Trieste model demonstrates how a community-based treatment system upholds the human rights of the people served. The Trieste story is anti-institutional and models the therapeutic value of social connection. Topics will address contemporary challenges in the American failed mental health system as contrasted with the Italian approach toward accoglienza – or radical hospitality – as the underpinning of their remarkable culture of caring for people. Interviews will touch upon how the guiding principles of the Italian system – social recovery, whole person care, system accountability, and the human right to a purposeful life – are non-negotiable aspects if we are to have any hope of forging a new way forward in our American mental health system. This podcast is curated and hosted by Kerry Morrison, founder and project director of Heart Forward LA (https://www.heartforwardla.org/). Heart Forward is collaborating with Aaron Stern at Verdugo Sound as the technical partner in producing this podcast (https://www.verdugosound.com). Kerry Morrison is also the author of the blog www.accoglienza.us.
Heart Forward Conversations from the Heart
My week in Los Angeles. A conversation with Dr. Roberto Mezzina: shadowing LASD’s Homeless Outreach Services Team, visiting LA County jail and an update on the situation in Trieste.
Dr. Roberto Mezzina headed the Dipartimento di Salute Mentale in Trieste until his retirement in late 2019. Both of the California delegations that visited Trieste (in 2017 and 2019) were graciously welcomed by Dr. Mezzina and his staff in our quest to understand the culture and principles that make this system so noteworthy. Within those two delegations were representatives from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD), harboring a deep desire to embrace a more human-focused posture on how to come alongside people with mental illness, both in the county jail system and in the community.
The Department is also interested to lean into guiding principles of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights – which is espoused by the Italian system – as a framework to guide how people with mental illness are cared for in our society.
In April 2022, Dr. Mezzina was invited to Los Angeles at the behest of the L.A. Sheriff’s Foundation to come alongside some specialized divisions in the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department: the Homeless Outreach Services Team (HOST) and the Mental Evaluation Team.
Dr. Mezzina also toured the remarkable program that was initially started in 2016 at Twin Towers to provide a more caring and therapeutic environment for the most seriously mentally ill patients in the jail. Under the leadership of the Sheriff’s Department and the Department of Health Services Correctional Mental Health division, this program, described in an article which appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, has expanded. (See website created by the Mental Health Assistants for more information about this innovation.)
Dr. Mezzina’s visit to Los Angeles coincided with the filming of an episode of the CNN documentary series, "Life with Lisa Ling." This episode focusses upon the mental health crisis in Los Angeles County. The producers and host of this show participated in some of the outreach and engagement conducted by the LASD HOST Team and Dr. Mezzina.
This interview was conducted in person in the podcast studio at Verdugo Sound on the way to the airport. Dr. Mezzina also provides an update on the changing political climate in Trieste – a topic that was introduced in a podcast interview that can be found in Season Two, Episode Seven.